Why would someone retaliate against the Stephens?
An act of terrorism clear and simple. Sick, cruel and evil.
Gods help us all.
An act of terrorism clear and simple. Sick, cruel and evil.
Gods help us all.
[QUOTE=APirateLooksAtForty;8373794]
Not a hate/jealousy crime. Rumor is its related to the horse meat industry and possibly the slaughterhouse raids[/QUOTE]
Wow. Whoever did this plays hardball.
Terribly upsetting. Hope they catch them fast. Am a little sorry it hasn’t been ramped up to include possible charges of criminal threat. One article says they just closed down Palm Beach County slaughter houses - although they are a distance - agree this seems more than coincidence. So sorry. The Stephens must be terrified, happening right against their house.
My heart goes out to those who sent the horse over and to the Stephens. Very disturbing for a number of reasons. I hope they are investigating those who worked at the quarantine facility and anyone who was involved w/ shipping or had knowledge about where the horse was being shipped to. Seems a little too odd that the horse gets out of quarantine on Thursday and ends up like that on Sunday. Wretched just wretched.
Sick and disturbing on so many levels. Right in their back yard…
I as well feel terrible for the owners in France, can’t imagine hearing what happened to your horse after you sold it to the US.
ummm, in France it could have just as likely ended up on a table, y’all realize that right?? And yes, as a successful show jumper unlikely at the current moment, but not impossible.
Not excusing the theft and killing of an animal the perpetrators did not own…it is just heinous. But they do eat horsemeat in France.
Debbie’s farm is on the Gulf Coast, over 3 hrs west of Wellington. Doubtful that it is related to the Loxahatchee incident.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;8373854]
It seems to have little to do with slaughter as if it was slaughter for profit, they would have put the horse on a truck and shipped it to a sluaghter plant. This sounds personal and who knows why it happened, the thieves in Miami stick close to home why would they travel to Manatee county and target a show horse makes zero sense.[/QUOTE]
Horse meat goes for like $40/lb on the black market. You can even sell a horse to someone at a reasonable price and they could make a tidy profit on it. This absolutely sounds like slaughter for profit, but I agree that they all sound connected.
Or possibly someone is trying to make it look like it was for meat in order to throw off investigators.
Hopefully the investigators have some good leads so the awful people that did this are found and prosecuted no matter what their intent.
I’d link it to the transporters, a groom that kept a key perhaps, or no offense meant to the owners but there have been insurance scams perpetrated before.
Or totally random. It’s a large animal with valuable product, lord knows why that particular one was selected unless perhaps for ritual purposes the athletic ability was targeted.
Words can’t express it for the owners I am sure, my deepest condolences.
Oh my god. Just read the story. They butchered it on the property. What an insanely brazen act. I would think if it were just someone wanting money they could have picked a horse out of a field somewhere. This seems very much to be making a point about something. This is horrific.
There’s a crimestoppers go fund me set up in the Noelle Floyd article. That poor horse.
[QUOTE=chunky munky;8374083]
Debbie’s farm is on the Gulf Coast, over 3 hrs west of Wellington. Doubtful that it is related to the Loxahatchee incident.[/QUOTE]
The horse was quarantined in Miami, then shipped north. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of coincidence. Miami is closer to the epicenter of the illegal horse slaughter business. You mean to say SOMEONE didn’t set something up?
[QUOTE=ReSomething;8374124]
I’d link it to the transporters, a groom that kept a key perhaps, or no offense meant to the owners but there have been insurance scams perpetrated before.
Or totally random. It’s a large animal with valuable product, lord knows why that particular one was selected unless perhaps for ritual purposes the athletic ability was targeted.
Words can’t express it for the owners I am sure, my deepest condolences.[/QUOTE]
I read that often show horses are targeted as they are used to being handled. This one, at 12 years old, was probably easier to deal with than a hot racehorse or something else down in Miami quarantine… Not that it makes any more sense that this one was targeted.
So, so, so sad, and heartbreaking, and scary. I used to feel like my horse was safe, but this brazen act of brutality makes me realize no one is truly safe.
With the shutdown of the illegal slaughterhouses there is a demand still to be met and unfortunatly horses will be stolen to met it. But this sounds like a direct threat to the Stephens. Like someone is saying “We can get you at any time.” It was made to look like it’s related to the shutdowns but only the Stephens know if it meant anything else. Or an insurance scam. I’m NOT trying to imply or besmirch their reputation so don’t take it that way. Just saying is all. I do feel for the Stephens in their loss and to the French owners who were hoping to see the horse have a great career.
Florida is already seen as the redheaded stepchild (no offense to anyone) and between the illegal slaughter houses and this it doesn’t help!
[QUOTE=Berry0317;8373833]
Yes, Centennial is based out of Imperial Farms, so story di not get the farm name wrong.
There is not a bone in my body that does not believe that this crime is NOT connected to the crimes/raids of the slaughterhouses so close to WEF. This is a high profile rider and a high profile course designer with close ties to WEF. Someone was “sending a message.” They chose a very expensive horse that was in the barn ATTACHED TO THE HOUSE!!! That says “we can get in the house anytime we want and do the same to you!!!” There is more to this story, and we will either learn more about it or NEVER hear another word about it!!![/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Pancakes;8374161]
I read that often show horses are targeted as they are used to being handled. This one, at 12 years old, was probably easier to deal with than a hot racehorse or something else down in Miami quarantine… Not that it makes any more sense that this one was targeted.
So, so, so sad, and heartbreaking, and scary. I used to feel like my horse was safe, but this brazen act of brutality makes me realize no one is truly safe.[/QUOTE] I hate to say this, but in another thread I noted that the H/J horses I saw were very fat through the loin and croup. DH hunts for venison and we have raised our own animals for meat, that area, the backstrap or loin is a prized part, and the show horse is not racing fit, skinny, going to a busy track barn.
I WISH there was some fairly short half life substance, say a year, we could feed our horses that would kill someone that ate them quite, painfully, dead.
This was a horrible thing. The backyard slaughterhouses which were horror houses were just awful. But ReSomething, I hope you are just speaking out of frustration. After all, you don’t know where that meat will end up and what innocent people might consume it – people who don’t even know they are eating horsemeat. You could be eating it.
I think to imply that Steve and Debbie were involved in an insurance scam is extremely below even the manners of this board.
