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My horse was abused: Will I ever get justice?

2134 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  waresbear, 
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My mom and I own a purebred Arabian mare. We don't own land so we have to find pastures that will allow us to keep our horse on them.
The place we keep her at now is very nice and well kept, but the owner, for lack of a better term is completely PSYCHOTIC. He doesn't let us use the water to give our mare fresh clean water, then accuses my mom of stealing his water when she brings her own.
There are two other horses on the land. Another Arab gelding and a beautiful appaloosa. The appy is owned by a lady who is also renting space and the arab is owned by the owners wife.
Our mare and the other arab do not get along, and has kicked, bitten and chased off our mare several times prior.
The appy on the other hand gets along with our mare just fine and will graze next to her and have never had any confrontations.
Just yesterday at roughly 8 oclock, my mom got a call from the owners wife, stating an accident happened.
Upon arrival, our mare had 20 scratches and a gash on her right eye, two open gashes on both her front knees, five bite marks on her rump and back and slashes on her chest, forelegs, armpit and flank and skinned marks on her back. In a dirt lot? Hardly believeable.
The owner admitted to letting all three horses out of their paddocks to let them gallop around WITHOUT our permission. She said she went inside to get her camera to take pictures and came back out to find our mare with scratches all over her. She said that "it all happened too fast" and didnt know what happened, yet also claimed that the appy was chasing our mare around and that she ran into her paddock, slipped and fell hitting her knees on a cinderblock and cut herself on a barbwire fence. Her story already doesnt add up. She saw what happened, but also didnt? She also claims there were witnesses to back up her story, but their property is surrounded by a wooden fence, where were these people to have seen what happened?
To make matters worse, my mom brought her two gallons of water and the owner accused her of stealing. Then when she asked for clean water, he tried to make her use the dirty drinking water that HE is in charge of cleaning to put on her wounds!
A vet came by and said that she may need stitches. Our horse did not deserve this and I believe the owner is lying about what all happened so she doesnt get in trouble.
Is this something I cant take to court or am I really forced to have our horse suffer and the people held reliable not punished??
I have pictures of the wounds if I need to post them.
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SilverMaple

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#2 ·
Your only recourse is to get your mare off this property and somewhere safe. Do you have a contract with this property owner stating who is responsible for what, and who is liable in case of accident or injury? If not, there's nothing you can do.


The issue with providing your mare water is unfathomable. Horses drink far more than 2 gallons a day. All horses need unlimited fresh water. I would move my horse immediately if that wasn't being provided. You'll need to find a new place for this horse. Don't tell the property owner you're moving until you actually do it. If there's a 30-day clause, then you'll pay for a month at two separate facilities, but the mare needs to be moved for her own safety.


I wouldn't call this abuse; it's negligence. You don't need justice for your mare, you need a new place to keep her. I wish you and your mom all the best and hope the mare recovers well from her injuries.
 
A

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
****, I thought it would come to this. I'll see if there was any contract or not. 30 plus people have come and left for the same reasons and bs we are putting up with from this guy. Thank you for your response, we are looking for a new place asap
 
waresbear

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#4 ·
I am sorry this happened to your horse. Do not put your horse in jeopardy by keeping her with people that are psychotic. Justice for your horse is for you to provide for her properly, it would be like leaving my kid with a meth addict to babysit. Any harm comes to the kid it's not the meth addicts fault, it's mine for leaving the child with them because I knew they had a problem. You know there's a problem. Also I would get a different vet. Any vet that sees a wound and says it may need stitches, then leaves, knows nothing. Sutures need to be done as soon as possible, not saying "might need" and leave. Now you know the jeopardy your horse is in, you will have to do something about it or you risk more injuries to your horse.
 
H

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#5 ·
Just move and now...
You want restitution, take the owner to small claims court...
Your word versus his...
The well-being of the horse is far more important to me than a few hundred dollar vet bill at this point.
Find a place, now and get out.
The warning has been given in injuries sustained...what is the outcome going to be next time and there is a next time...soon coming.
Reputation speaks volumes...

Regardless of how it happened, advocate for the horse and leave!
Period...
:runninghorse2:...
 
RidingWithRuby

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#6 ·
I have to agree with the above statements.

Justice for you is getting reimbursed for your horse's pain and suffering and seeing those people get fined.

Justice for your mare is getting her out, and ASAP. She doesn't care about the money involved, or anything else. She cares about safety and clean water.

So sorry for your poor mare. I hope you find a place, and soon.
 
Aconite

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#7 ·
I agree with all the others about moving your horse ASAP. If you are wanting to go after the barn owner I would make sure you have a lot of pictures of the injuries, dirty water/unsafe conditions, and written documentation from the vet about the horses injuries/likely causes could be useful.
 
loosie

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#8 ·
It does sound an unreasonable &... apparently bit strange property owner. And yes, I've had first hand experience with those, and other agistees who were... slightly psycho & idiotic! I've even had a similar situation with water, that the property owner(old lady) wouldn't let us just fill the trough & accused us of stealing water! She knew she wasn't using much but bills were high, so she jumped to the most likely(in her eyes) conclusion. Fortunately my husband's a plumber & we talked her into allowing us to install a meter, so we could PROVE how much water we used. Turned out she had rusted pipes that were the cause of her astronomical bills & my husband fixed those for her & she was lovely after that!

Agree with others. That it's not 'abuse' in the least. Sounds like you're looking for retribution rather than justice for your horse. I can't see what you would have to even consider it a 'case', unless you specifically instructed that they never let your horse out to 'gallop around'(assuming in a large, fenced paddock too), in which case, if you could prove that - you had it in writing for eg, there may be grounds to hold them somewhat accountable for the vet call & treatment of scratches.

But get this straight, you are in no way being forced to have your horse suffer(assuming here that the property owner hasn't locked your horse up & you can't take it away). You need to take responsibility for your decisions to keep your horse wherever. If you are continuing to knowingly keep your horse at a place that is causing it to suffer, then, within reason, it is your fault when it happens. YOU are the liable & negligent party that allowed it to happen. Forget about retribution & just focus on your horse's welfare, is my honest opinion. Doesn't sound like the place is that great anyway, if the horses live in a dirt paddock(who feeds them hay? How/how much?) & there's barbed wire around.

Horses do tend to bite, chase & kick each other at times, to establish relations & if there are 'dominance issues'. It's normal & not a real problem for them to have the odd bite marks & such. They rarely seriously hurt one another. I am imagining though, that if there's a lot of it ongoing, it's either that your mare & the gelding are both 'dominant personalities' & don't want to give in to each other - they both want to be 'top dog' - &/or they have too little room &/or hay in their dirt paddock, for gelding to remain civil & mare to stay away enough.
 
waresbear

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#9 ·
Wouldn't it be nice if the OP came back and told us what she did? I am such a dreamer....
 
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A

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Discussion Starter · #11 ·
Sorry, I got all my answers so I didnt think anyone would keep posting.
As for an update, yes we moved her. She is in a very temporary paddock with a friend and still needs an actual pasture.
As a response to the last post, the place where she stayed was very well maintained, and the owner was insistent on watering but we fed her.
She also is not aggressive or dominant by any means. I know horses have picking orders but this was not one such one event. Another person let them all out, and then she was attacked. She was chased into her paddock to try and get away and was continually attacked. The wounds she had her horrific, her knee is STILL healing, and the vet even found a laceration in her eye.
I dont feel its our fault for being lured in by this guy like 30+ other people were. Its too late to try and take it to court but I'll be sure to spread his name all over fb so people dont go to him.
 
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