I know what I saw and where I saw it. The when and who (although it was fore sure a woman) may be incorrect. It was a loooooong time ago
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The book is great. I recommend it to horsey and non horsey people interested in true crime stories. You don’t have to be a horse person to understand or be enthralled by the story.
I just finished watching it. I know the stories and I’ve read Hot Blood (but I was in high school so it’s been a while) but hearing the Sandman himself was something. I didn’t realize he was actually interviewed in this so when it clicked I was like “holy shit! that’s him!” I too had no idea that Barney was trying to have him killed, and that’s what made Burns turn all the way. Damn. Burns may have done evil shit but Barney was a real monster (which shouldn’t have come as a surprise given stories one hears).
Also Rielle Hunter’s face when talking about Henry the Hawk…I cannot imagine being a teenage girl, when your horse is your solace from your trainwreck family, knowing that your dad had your horse killed. That’s not something one gets over easily.
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Barney had a history of dating young women but I think most were of legal age. There was one who was around 17 though.
He did dote on his son; it was very clear he loved him. McLain was a pretty cool kid actually.
MAD, do you know the person you filled in for? Was her name Fran?
I know! The heartbreak in that scene was palpable.
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Animal cruelty considerations aside, What i really don’t understand is why someone like Druck who was paying Burns 100k per year (Burns said in the documentary that he was making about 100k / year when he worked for them ) would feel the need to get 150k from insurance claim obtained illegally vs $125k which was the offer he was given to buy the horse. Why is $25k suddenly breaking the bank?
this is a pattern for most of the featured “clients” of Burns. I guess depravity is the answer
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Greed.
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If they couldn’t win on the horse nobody else should get a chance to.
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That’s what was said about Charisma. Lindeman spent a boatload on the horse and it underperformed with him which was embarrassing. He’d rather have it killed and get the insurance money than sell it to someone else. Especially if that someone else could have been more successful than he was with the horse. Just gross levels of greed.
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The people who sold it to him offered to buy it back, full price.
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How awful!
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Those poor people must have been sick over this. I never understood why that or any of them had to be killed. It goes to show that those people really are not in it for the love of the horse. Charisma has always bothered me since GL could have bought him 10xs over. It makes me sick he seems to have overcome this and is still living the highlife.
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Regarding the money, I’m sure a character like Druck was busy hiding assets offshore in the run up to his divorce, so using insurance proceeds worked to his advantage.
As for the show it just clarified that Barney Ward and Tommy Burns were damaged goods long before they made their incredibly bad choices, but like most people, they were a mix of good and bad, just more bad than good. As for McLain, I don’t begrudge a kid standing by their parent, that’s between them. Dragging the son into the fray just further exemplifies how we all manage to not be our best selves at various points in our life.
But Druck, Lindemann and Donna Brown really tipped the good/bad scales and yet their penalty, both in the public eye and criminal court, was pretty lightweight when you consider the absolute amorality of their behavior and choices.
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I always wondered what happened to Slone L. Does she still ride?
So everyone turned a blind eye and never thought of reporting them?
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If you wanted your horses to live you kept your mouth shut. This was not a particularly friendly group of people and pissing them off would have meant your own horse would pay the price.
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I saw her show at Devon and Indoors a couple of years ago in the amateur owner hunters. She also has a daughter who shows quite a bit. The daughter is probably college age by this time.
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That’s absolutely shocking. I have to say that I removed one of my mares from a dangerous situation very quickly (by getting law enforcement involved. The officers were great!!). I like to think that my first reaction would have been to load up my horses and leave immediately, whatever it took.
I’ve never been in a “training program” where all decisions are made by a trainer. I met my trainers at clinics and worked on my own between clinics. I made all decisions about my horses. I honestly don’t understand anyone staying in that situation.
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My reaction to the show which surprised me the most was the sympathy I ended up feeling for the guy wielding the crowbar. Before watching him talk, I would have absolutely assumed that he was the least “forgivable” for actually doing the dirtiest of the work. But I thought he seemed the most contrite and haunted by what he had done, not to mention that at the time in question he was in the grips of drug addiction that clouded his judgment and made him desperate.
The fact that his sentence was comparable to those of the people running the whole scheme, and ordering these killings many times over, and actually defrauding the insurance companies, just floored me.
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