Trainer Vick Russell Arrested for Shooting at His Son and Killing a Horse

[Cassi1125]

@MadTrotter

But if you made an enemy of him, he’d burn your barn down. With the stock inside. At least 3 barns burned in my childhood years.

Sounds kinda familiar… Back in the day, there were a couple of H/J barns in my area that burnt down due to some tit-for-tatting across the Illinois/Wisconsin border. And then we had the ‘whole kill a horse for the insurance’ thing that went down. (Personally knew one of the players in that, prior to him getting involved with that sordid crap. A very good horseman. Guess just not high on the moral/ethical scale.)

[skydy]

I think you took this first quote out of context. It had nothing to do with the award.
My second post here was a response to Mardi 1 from earlier in the thread.

@dags

@skydy

You surely can’t mean that you’re good with a man shooting a gun at his son and killing the horse the son was riding, on a farm where kids and clients and their horses were present.

Again, this all happened after he received the award. It has no bearing on whether he deserved the award or not. Nobody could have predicted it. We can argue that there were “red flags” but, in regards with what Mohan was attempting to say, a history of shooting horses was not one of them.

The man’s fairly ancient, has resided in the same town basically his whole life?, and has only just received this community honor in the year of our lord 2023. For all we know, they’ve declined him any number of times over the years. For all we know, the other options membership put forward were known horse abusers, or worse.

He’s an old man that can legitimately ride and probably has forgotten more about horses than I’ll ever know. And I don’t doubt he is from a bygone era of minimalist horse keeping where they somehow managed to keep these beasts alive without all the coddling and fancy footing and bemer blankets and smartpaks and so on. There’s been casual mention of some possible dementia/alzheimers setting in elsewhere, and this whole thing - including the entire family dynamic - is damn tragic if you have an ounce of empathy. So no, I’m not gonna bemoan or begrudge a random local horse organization bestowing a “Horseman of the Year” honor upon an aging old man that had been a part of their community for umpteen decades.

@skydy

It’s not easy to have such foresight as you seem to think it should be. He won recognition for his ability as a horseman. If professional awards were all about talent and a great family and human being award, jerks would never win the Nobel Prize, the Academy Award or Grammy Award, or any other professional awards. Unfortunately, jerks win all the time, their personal life is not part of the judging criteria.

It is unfortunate when a person who is not all that we would hope them to be wins an award, but don’t blame committees/people for not being able to see into the future or for not judging people on their social class or mannerisms.

Edited for clarity

[englishivy]

As an avid TikTok, user let me clarify the jargon:

Gossip is just rumors
Tea is the story with receipts to back it up! (ie proof such as screen shots).

So if someone has the tea, you can bet it’s got some truth to it!

[Rel6]

@TheJenners

Inaccurate. Victims of crimes stop cooperating with the prosecution regularly. Non-domestic violence cases are not bound by law for mandatory arrest (in most states) and a victim must chose to press charges to begin with, even then if they decide to “drop charges” all they need to do is recant, perjure themselves, or stop cooperating and the case goes away.

Refusing to cooperate is not the same as dropping the charges. The district attorney is the one who decides whether to proceed with filing charges, or subsequently dropping them - not the victim. The DA may drop charges because the victim’s refusal to cooperate leaves a lack of evidence to proceed, but if there is enough other evidence/witness it may not matter.

I person A is caught on security footage shooting person B, it really isn’t going to matter whether person B wants to cooperate or not…

[vxf111]

This is correct. A victim can request that the government dismiss charges but ultimately the victim cannot control what happens with a criminal case. Even if a victim refuses to cooperate, the government can go forward.

[Freebird]

Vick is Vic’s uncle.

[Mardi1]

@Prime_Time_Rider

The COTH article basically just references the information that was in the local news media. It obvious that there was no attempt made to dig deeper,…

Reading the comments on COTH Facebook under their article… a few posters are unhappy that COTH published the story.

[MHM]

@Mardi1

@Prime_Time_Rider

The COTH article basically just references the information that was in the local news media. It obvious that there was no attempt made to dig deeper,…

Reading the comments on COTH Facebook under their article… a few posters are unhappy that COTH published the story.

I don’t quite understand that reaction.

If you were looking for a place to board or train your horse in that vicinity in the future, wouldn’t you want to know that this happened there?

I certainly would.

[Limerick]

It is mostly that one poster. One person who worked for the family is describing a very horrible pattern of behavior spanning years. I truly hope any kids who witnessed Grandpa that day get support and help and the families get counseling so that the next generation does not seek out chaos because it “feels like home.”

[TXnGA]

@OutsidersOpinion

I personally know the Russells. A few comments to add:
I was not shocked to hear this whatsoever

Big Vick would give you the shirt off his back, but he is also not the kind of guy (or father figure in this case) that you would want to piss off

The Russells are commonly referred to as “the circus people”, an exact family tree would be hard to pin down. Big Vick has 6 children; with Little Vick, Bill, Lincoln, Clayton, and Tommy-John all being part of the family business at some point, and some run their own businesses now or show series.

Drunken debauchery is more the norm than not with all of them, along with a lot of unexpected small children as a result.

Riding wise, they all have natural feel and are talented, but care wise it is not of a high end AA barn.

There are Russell relatives in CA.

As for what happened that day, apparently Big Vick was arguing with Lincoln and another son, along with one of Lincoln’s sons when this happened. As for their intentions against their dad/granddad legally at this point, I would bet they drop the charges just given the nature of their family, honestly I’m surprised the law got involved at all. They would typically have handled these matters themselves even with the involvement of a gun.

Once again, not shocked. Extremely nice, generous family to most people, but as said above “rough and ready”

This is a very good synopsis of the family.

[2bayboys]

Is it any surprise that some horse people defend trainers who sleep with their juvenile clients? A guy who happens to ride well and has a long history in the horse show community SHOOTS AN ACTUAL GUN AT HIS SON AND KILLS A HORSE and there are people complaining that COTH publishes a very brief article about it.

[Prime_Time_Rider]

Given the number of witnesses and the evidence (a dead horse that was shot) I seriously doubt that the DA is going to drop the charges. Polk County NC has a large population of horse owners and I can’t imagine that there wouldn’t be public outrage if the charges were dropped. I think Vick’s best course of action would be a plea bargain.

[Prime_Time_Rider]

I honestly don’t understand why some people object to the COTH publishing a brief factual article about this incident. I think hunter/jumper amateur riders should be informed if a trainer is arrested for crimes involving the alleged shooting death of a horse and the attempted murder of his son.

[erinmeri]

I think it is horrifying that anyone is suggesting that COTH or any other media outlet should not cover an incident like this. What goes through someone’s head when they suggest this should be a private matter? The man allegedly brandished a firearm during a dispute, attempted to shoot another person, and mortally wounded a horse. Multiple people, including children, were allegedly present. Why shouldn’t the general public be aware of this incident???

[IPEsq]

Based on how lightly animal cruelty issues seem to be taken, I would think the stronger criminal charge would be related to shooting in the direction of the person, even if there was some negligence or recklessness involved (based on a couple of comments I read to the COTH article). If the horse was insured, the insurance company would have an interest in a civil case for the horse death (most criminal acts are covered by mortality insurance) even if the family decides to drop everything / not cooperate. Assuming at least the co-owner wanted to claim insurance benefits, if the horse’s identify is as posted above.

[Prime_Time_Rider]

According to the witness quoted in the local newspaper, there were multiple witnesses to the incident. Word on the street is that there were clients present. Vick was arrested and charged with two felonies the day of the incident based on statements given by witnesses. Even if Vick’s son refuses to cooperate in the trial, there were other witnesses to the crime who would most likely be subpoenaed.

[Angela_Freda]

@erinmeri

And for the love of all things holy, can he get off that horse’s back over the fence?

Agree, yikes!

[Prime_Time_Rider]

And why wouldn’t the equestrian community specifically want to be informed of this incident? Would you feel comfortable boarding your horse and/or training with someone who fires a gun at a horse while being ridden? The target was his son, but the horse was killed. A bullet could have injured or killed a client or child who happened to be present. I’m surprised he isn’t charged with reckless endangerment as well.

[Angela_Freda]

@skydy

I don’t find this sort of dysfunction entertaining at all.

One word, Yellowstone

[skydy]

I’ve never seen it. It’s a TV show, right? I’ve never watched the “hoarders” or the 800lb people shows either. I don’t find people’s mental health struggles entertaining.