Posted by Despina Pakidas on the Aiken Area Equstrian Page. She said folks could share via screen shots so I feel okay copying and pasting here.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18eWNMEr7Z/?mibextid=wwXIfr
“With the recent settlement of the Cobain vs Shannon Eckel case and the new light being shown through various social media platforms such as tik tok and Facebook, I thought it was time to share my side of the story. While being a minor I wasn’t able to share what could’ve been crucial evidence but I want to put the truth out there now. From the ages of 14-15 I worked for Shannon Eckel of Hat Trick Sporthorses as a working student in exchange for the occasional lesson and what was supposed to be a good learning experience. I endured verbal abuse and In my time there I saw more than one case of un kind behavior pointed towards the horse, clients and her personal. Cobain, was left in his stall almost 24/7 because Shannon felt he didn’t deserve time out when he started walking the fence line. The stall he lived in for the majority of his time spent with her was bedded with un cleanly straw. Shannon often tied him as a punishment for circling his stall causing it to be more messy. Shannon decided to switch Cobains main discipline from the jumper to barrel racing without notifying his owners. On the morning of the despicable incident Shannon was attempting to load Cobain to go to a barrel race, not a show where he would be asked to do the .90s like she had stated in a comment. When Cobain refused to load she tied his head to the highest bar as punishment like she did often. No employees were notified to keep an eye on Cobain, Shannon Eckel left that poor soul there and went on with her day. There is no excuse for the kind of human she is and her actions. On another occasion with a clients horse named Sherlock, she chased him with a four wheeler as an attempt to run him when he wouldn’t let her catch him. After Sherlock attempted to get away by jumping a fence he had impaled the side of his stomach where the girth would go with part of the wood fence. Shannon refused to call a vet. Sherlock was terrified of Shannon, whimpering to the back of his stall every time she walked in. Another punishment method of Shannon’s was to tie horses to her aluminum trailer for hours on end in the blazing SC sun. Shannon often overworked the horses as an attempt to end the ride on a “perfect note” - an example of this is when she was taking a sale video of a horse named “Mile High Club” where she jumped him for an hour straight, cold hosing in between sessions so he wouldn’t heat stroke but never did she decide she was satisfied with the ride. She instead replaced her jump poles with 4x4 boards so the horse would lift up his feet more for a more exaggerated jump look. Shannon is a despicable human who should never be aloud horses again. If me speaking out gets any sort of justice for Cobain, Sherlock, Mile high or any other horse that has been or may be in Shannon’s care then I want everyone to hear my voice. RIP Cobain, gone but not forgotten”
