Wow.
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I don’t think this part is true for a few different reasons.
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I did hear that too. I also heard someone named Heather owned it. Regardless, how awful; I don’t know how I would be able to get past something like that.
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Must say it’s pretty danged impressive that he’s not only riding but jumping at his age.
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Did he shoot the horse out from under his son during an argument like at their facility - were there witnesses?
Absolutely stunning to point a gun anywhere near your child and pull the trigger. I don’t care how good of a shot you are - that is literally an attempted murder charge which I think is almost the same as “assault on a person with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill”.
Seems so … not worth it when you’re a super old man who needs to wear a brace to keep one’s shoulder in place.
Wonder if he will spend time in prison - I don’t think they’d let him continue to wear his lil badass shoulder harness there…
I also think shooting a horse isn’t that big of an offense to warrant long term prison stays, unless the son reallllly wants to up the ante and stick it to his Dad and go for “attempted murder” & take over any joint business completely while Daddio rots in jail!
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I get the impression from the articles that he was trying to shoot the son and unintentionally shot the horse.
But either way - awful. And it’s such a shame about the horse. I hope it didn’t suffer.
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OMG that’s like even worse than I thought 
what a psychopath - if I were the son I’d make sure dear old Dad never saw the light of day again
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This is the story I heard as well. There were witnesses. At least one other BNT who’s close with Vick bailed him out and is getting involved.
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Both charges are felonies, cruelty to animals resulting in death and assault with intent to kill, so jail time seems certain but how long will depend on whether the sentences run concurrently and other factors. Looks like the assault charge may carry a maximum of around 5 years. Given the number of witnesses and death of the horse, I’m guessing they’ll aim for a plea bargain of some sort.
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Oh yeah, but the legal process and possible sentencing difference between shooting a horse and attempted murder of a human is dramatically different.
A neighbor of mine growing up in the early 90s shot & killed a few of his wife’s show dogs (maybe 4 or 5) to “prove a point” during a drunken domestic dispute and saw maybe 1 year of jail time.
Another neighbor (in LA) shot at his GF (missed) and served 11 years.
Vick Russell is on the USEF Ineligible list as of yesterday for a “General Rule Violation”.
Edited to correct misspelled name.
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A bit of a tangent but, given the circumstances, will insurance pay out for that kind of fatal injury to a horse?
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Huh, good question. If I were the horse’s owner, I would certainly hope so?
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Yes, two totally different classes of felonies under the law - in NC it looks like the assault charge would be max 63 months (unless they have aggravating factor or other provisions that would alter it) and the animal cruelty resulting in death charge would be 4-25 months. So even if the sentences maxed out and were consecutive, it would only total up to a little over 7 years, without any adjustments. Animal crimes tend to be treated as property crimes.
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He has been suspended by USEF.
If he does end up on the S.S. list, the adjudicating body will be listed as USEF not S.S. unless they want to use their discretionary jurisdiction to investigate.
He’s not on the S.S list as of today.
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I’d be so pissed if my stupid a** trainers pulled something like this and killed my animal / property.
Insurance would be hearing from me and I’d be suing whomever!
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There were multiple witnesses to the assault and the shooting of the horse according to the local newspaper (The Tryon Daily Bulletin). So, it’s highly unlikely that the sheriff’s department is going to drop the assault with a deadly weapon charge with intent to kill even if his son doesn’t want to press charges. He might be able to plea bargain it down to a lesser charge. Polk County is a very small community (population of ~ 20,000) and the Russells are a well known family in the area.
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I would imagine Safe Sport charges will take a while if they happen since it is separate from USEF. Ima off to find the USEF ruling.
If the horse was insured, then insurance should pay but they would most likely sue Vick Russell for their losses. If the horse was owned by a client then the client could file a civil suit for damages.
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