Shame on her for those she betrayed and deceived into believeing these animals were going to good homes. To go as far as to making buttons and pens advertising her “death trap” of an operation… just mind boggling.
I’m just appauled at this entire story. You got what you desevered lady. I hope you pay for it royally.
Where is that guy now? Did he slink back under his rock?
From our local Paper:
http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2012/01/19/news/doc4f186193ac211712936012.txt
In the third post on this thread, Dahoss has posted a photo of Kelsey with her daughter. Is it possible that either Dahoss or the mods could change this picture out for this one where her daughter is removed from the photo?
Kelsey has not been found guilty of anything yet, and even if she is when it goes to court, her daughter is certainly innocent in all of this and I think it is in poor taste to put the photo of a child out there like that.
Or here is a link to it, so you don’t have to use it from my photobucket account.
But what we be the purpose of doing that, when she could take so many horses from the track where the owners would not request that they don’t go to slaughter.
If she was tight on money, why didn’t she ship the horses on her property to slaughter instead? She has a ton of drafts there which would have brought more money.
Why did the woman who saw the horses on the kill buyers trailer not have them pulled from the feed lot before they were slaughtered?
Animals Angels don’t pull horses out of feedlots.
You can read about their very important work at:
Alex, surely you jest in inferring Kelsey is not guilty. Are you related to thatguy?
I am not familiar with Animal Angels, and I didn’t expect them to pull the horses, but I would have thought that the police or whoever would be the appropriate person would have pulled them. Once it was known that these horses were going to slaughter illegally, it should have been stopped while they were on the feedlot. Surely that’s what all of this is about, the horses.
Moonriverfarm. I am not related to thatguy, I have no idea who he is, nor do I really want to. The horse community is small, and with a well known horse trader it’s pretty obvious (to me at least) that many people local to her will know her. I knew that by joining this conversation that someone would think I am a troll. Sigh.
I am not saying that I think she is either guilty or innocent, I don’t know. The texts are pretty damning, and it would appear from the information available that much of the case would be determined based on those. If she is guilty, then I hope that she will be punished to the full extent of the law.
However I am shocked as I know her, I consider her to be a friend, and there are parts of this story that don’t seem to make too much sense to me.
I always find it so odd when stories like this come out, that people try to make sense of it and ask why the people who are exposing it didn’t do more to help in X, Y, or Z situations, while defending or excusing the person accused of the criminal activities.
Perhaps parts of the story don’t make sense to you because you are only seeing a portion of the story. My thought is that there are a whole bunch of folks involved, and it will all come out in the wash.
I agree FairWeather, I imagine that there will be more of the story that comes out in the trial.
I am really not defending her or excusing her at all. I am shocked and just trying to make sense of it. Maybe there is no sense to be made and she just wanted the quick money, but it’s shocking to know someone who would do something like this.
This is incredibly sad. The horse owners/trainers were tricked by this young woman that convinced them that their horses would find good homes. Obviously she is quite the con artist but hopefully will be doing time for her horrible crimes and will never get her dirty hands on another animal. There are still so many good kind people out there that are willing to bring home a racehorse from the track, give it the let down time, retrain, and find loving homes for these racehorses. Don’t let one rotten person ruin your faith in good people that truly care for these horses and do their best to find good homes for these beautiful racehorses whether they do it on their own or with a rescue organization. The good people that truly have their hearts in the right place for these horses still do exist.
AlexS, as I stated in my previous post, there really are 2 sides to Kelsey and one of those sides is completely likeable. The other side is horror stories. Like the pile of bones in the woods of horses that she didn’t want to get vet care for so she shot and dragged out there for the animals to eat, one particular horse she didn’t have anyone to shoot it so she gave it an overdose of some medication (Ace maybe?) until it finally died a slow death. She also really does not hesitate to use people for whatever she needs. That’s just how she is. Even knowing all the things I know, I still find her likeable. Not a person I would ever sell my horse to, or get involved with too much, but still likeable.
I also do not think she is an evil person who hates horses. I think she is deceptive, and sees dollar signs wherever she can. She told me directly once that she’ll buy a thin horse for cheap at NH, fatten it up, and take it back to NH. I have seen her sell horses to good homes too, but those are the ones that are easier to sell to a private buyer.
I knew her probably before you did, I think she cleaned up her act a lot since then to try to make herself more legit. Like I said in my other post, I even thought maybe she was trying to change her ways. I think she knew she was getting a bad rep and tried to fix it by doing more ‘good’ so that people would continue to give horses to her.
I do agree with keeping her daughter out of things. It’s not fair to the kid to have her picture plastered everywhere. This whole thing is going to be tough enough on her as it is.
I used an alt because I don’t want to get wrapped up in this whole thing. But I find the story completely plausible. I have plenty of stories that demonstrate Kelsey’s true nature and the fact that the main driving force in her life is the power of the almighty dollar.
AlexS - I wanted to add that in no way do I think you are a troll or related to that guy. You are not playing devils advocate just for the heck of it or really playing devil’s advocate at all.
If she was tight on money, why didn’t she ship the horses on her property to slaughter instead? She has a ton of drafts there which would have brought more money.
Killer buyers don’t like draft types to much bone for the meat ratio…they do sell well as Foxhunters and pleasure rides though and can be bought cheap @ NH…
[QUOTE=judybigredpony;6090840]
Killer buyers don’t like draft types to much bone for the meat ratio…they do sell well as Foxhunters and pleasure rides though and can be bought cheap @ NH…[/QUOTE]
Didn’t know that, I just assumed the bigger the horse the more meat and value. But what you said makes sense.
Thanks AltHappens, I was expecting a COTH pile on and to return to lurker status.
I wasn’t aware of any of the experiences that you are aware of. In fact, if I were to sell Lucas I would have contacted her first - I have recommended her to others looking to buy horses and in turn I would have gone back to her for other horses.
When I had my PPE done for Lucas the vet asked where I was getting him from, he then stated to make sure that you get all the paperwork you need before paying in full. As he not being sold with JC papers anyway, this didn’t concern me. This truly was the only slightly negative thing I have ever heard about her before all of this.
AlexS, i did not have an unpleasant first experience with kelsey, so i do understand where you’re coming from.
the first horse i bought from her was in acceptable condition, sound, and a pretty good egg. i had just moved to a farm, and needed an inexpensive companion for my lonely horse. he fit the bill, and i had no complaints. i did notice that some of her horses looked underweight, and that there were A LOT of them, but i ride hunters…and we like our horses FAT. and who am i to tell someone how many horses they can own?
it was the purchase of my second horse from her and assisting in the purchase of another that changed my opinion. she called telling me that she didn’t have enough money to feed them, and if she didn’t find homes for a couple they were going to new holland. i saw some pretty disturbing things during that transaction, and the condition of the horse i took home was beyond pathetic. the first picture in my earlier post was after 2 months of food and care…and he was still a bonerack. after that, i stopped taking her calls or answering emails.
i have had a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that i did business with her twice. but given some of the things i saw, and that she said to me, i don’t find the accusations too farfetched.
I have read the officer’s affidavit, and the Pattersons’ testimony plus Groningen’s and the text messages sound pretty bad and compelling. But I can’t help commenting on the irony that the infamous Mark Bliss is listed as one of the victims. Fishy, or just ironic? I see that this has been discussed on other threads, but not yet on this one.
Amazing that Bliss can still get an owners’ license to race horses in PA! And yes, he still has several listed on Handride.
Well, one can only hope that this tragic incident, and the resulting prosecution, will result in both Lefever and Bliss finally being banned forever from ever setting foot on a racetrack or owning a TB ever again.
Now I have to go brave a snowstorm to check on my three OTTBs (oh, and of course, my 20K+ dear old warmblood mare who will never know another home but mine-- yes, there are people who do both!) to make sure they are safe and sound, and to send thankful thoughts to the caring trainers at FL who trusted me with these horses who gave so much to them.
[QUOTE=veezee;6090767]
This is incredibly sad. The horse owners/trainers were tricked by this young woman that convinced them that their horses would find good homes. Obviously she is quite the con artist but hopefully will be doing time for her horrible crimes and will never get her dirty hands on another animal. There are still so many good kind people out there that are willing to bring home a racehorse from the track, give it the let down time, retrain, and find loving homes for these racehorses. Don’t let one rotten person ruin your faith in good people that truly care for these horses and do their best to find good homes for these beautiful racehorses whether they do it on their own or with a rescue organization. The good people that truly have their hearts in the right place for these horses still do exist.[/QUOTE]
This. It is not that the horses went to kill. It is that the owners were tricked. Fraud. That is what is wrong here. It is not unlawful to sell to kill buyers. It is unlawful to lie to people for $ gain. It just hurts sooo much more when a living animal involved in the fraud looses it’s life…
Kelsey was not only getting horses from the track - she was soliciting people who had free (lame) companion horses advertised and told them she would find them good homes.
I am very interested in the people who she was working with. There’s a name mentioned as her ‘partner’ on the affadavit and I’m certain I know who it is. People’s heads are going to spin when this person gets outed if she is also involved, which everybody involved seems to think she is. Time will tell.
[QUOTE=Harold;6091088]
People’s heads are going to spin when this person gets outed if she is also involved, which everybody involved seems to think she is. Time will tell.[/QUOTE]
It’s pretty clear who it is. I wonder what type of partner she is, I know Kelsey used her indoor all the time and she certainly sells a lot of horses. I’d think if she were a true partner that there would be charges against her too.
I’d say they clearly don’t have any concrete proof about the other person otherwise she would have been arrested as well. Considering that the charges stem from the very few cases for which Kelsey got caught, (a tiny fraction of the horses she sold to slaughter), it must be very difficult to obtain the proof. Thank goodness for the state trooper who took this one to the bank.
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