STARVED & LEFT FOR DEAD
WHILE OWNER LIVES IN A RESORT
Approximately 4 weeks ago we were made aware of a dreadful case of neglect in Hervey Bay, Queensland, involving some Paint Horse mares, a couple of Quarter Horse mares and a former Multi National & State Champion Paint
Horse stallion, HillBilly Bonfire. We started posting about it on our facebook page.
The DEEDI got involved, the Hervey Bay police got involved, a group of caring horse people got involved, each
with the welfare of the horses as their number one priority. Waiting 2/3 weeks for the DEEDI to investigate did not
sit well with some people, so the decision 'not to wait', but instead, 'offer to buy' the extremely underweight and
nutritionally deprived horses and take responsibility for their re homing and recovery, was made.
Has this decision damaged the DEEDI case against the owner ?... The short answer to this question .. NO.
Constrained by a plethora of archaic laws and legislation's, the DEEDI officers are reduced to 'guy's with clipboards'.
They have to first call the 'owner in question' and ask to make an appointment to see the 'animals in question'. Essentially warning the offender they are coming.
Then they have to listen to the owners lame excuses for why their animals resemble skeletal remains, knowing
full well in their
heart that the owner is lying. Legally if the owner says the horse has been sick for 8 week AND
that the horse is getting vet care.. the DEEDI officer has to believe him.
Even though we have statements from people who have known of this particular persons ongoing malnourishment of horses in his care, in some cases, as far back as 2002, we can not use their statements without their permission
and in some cases people are worried about the backlash to their families. People who have spoken out about the cruelty case and those who the owner 'thinks' have spoke out, have been persecuted with threatening phone and
text messages and even verbal threats of harm to their family, should they say anything else. The 'owner' has a track record of violence and this makes the threats all too real for those involved.
The rescue of any horse is an almost thankless task, that is a lot harder to navigate
than most would think. There has to be equal consideration for the horses mental and emotional state, as is given to his nutritional recovery. While those who stepped up and took on these rescue horses, our hats go off to you all, the person who caused the carnage was
sitting back reaping the benefits of peoples generosity.
The worst part of this whole ordeal, the things that really make my blood boil..
While he was splashing money for sponsorship at the PHAA and donated a foal for a raffle - back at home his horses starved. He paid to have horses in training, while back at home the rest of his horses starved. He bought his daughter a trip to the USA with the PHAA youth team - while back at home his horses starved.
The fact that the perpetrator, or the 'pond scum' as we prefer to refer to him as.. is living in a resort and taking a two week holiday in New Zealand with his wife, who we prefer to refer to as 'the enabler', whilst
his horses are being rescued by some wonderful and thoughtful people, bugs me.. it bugs the hell out of me.
Had to laugh at the final comment he made to me in the final conversation I had to have with him.. He said he wanted to pay the feed shop for the hay that was bought with the donated funds.. DID NOT HAPPEN!! He also said he want to send us one thousand dollars and we could donate it to the charity of our choice, as a sign of good faith and to say thank you for the help re homing his horses. We actually declined this offer as we suspected he would tell everyone he had sent it and he would not actually send it... we told him to pass the cheque for $1,000 to Reece and we would get Reece to donate it to a charity to be named.. needless to say this DID NOT HAPPEN!!
I suppose the silver lining is that most of the horses are safe, thanks to a small number of wonderful people..
Sadly not all the horses are safe, there are still some being hidden by coconspirators, in Hervey Bay, these horses we will try to keep an eye on through a network of concerned horse lovers in the Hervey Bay area.
Before and after
(just 18 days recovery)
Throughout this whole ordeal we have to send out a few big Thank you's:
To Wendy and Ross Mammino from the Hervey Bay Rural Supplies store who went out of their way to accommodate us, with feed assistance and invaluable advice with regard to the area. Lets no forget their extremely kind donation of a rug for Tango (Hillbilly Bonfire), they gave on the very first day, even though at that stage we were unaware that the horse had been privately purchased. They organised and delivered feed for us and managed the donations.
To Amy, Sheila, Kristen, Samantha, JG, Bridget & Graeme for their kind donations for feed and supplies and Thank you to Gordon, Lynda & annon., for their donations for veterinary supplies. The generosity of these folks is truly appreciated, especially when things a tough for everyone. What is to be done with the left over donations should be decided on next week with the invaluable input of those who made the donations.
To Reece, the official 'man on the ground', so to speak, as he now lives in Hervey Bay and who's help was invaluable.
To Nicole for taking such good care of Tango for the almost three weeks recovery, prior to traveling South to his new home.
To The individual new owners of these wonderful horses - THANK YOU for your generosity, your caring, your empathy, your strength and your commitment. We wish you all the best for what ever the future holds.
Furneys Town And Country
123 Erskine Street, Dubbo, ns NSW
Furneys Town And Country is holding an information / discussion night in store on worming your horse. Kim Collits (Bayer Rep) along with Don Crosby Vet Surgeons and Pet Medical Centre will be joining us too. Refreshments and nibbles will be provided so why not come along and join in, ask a few questions or just keep up to date with the latest worming products.
Doors will be open from 6pm.
Lucky door prizes.
What happens when a cow simply does not want to play..
Thanks so much Robert Eash for sharing this video he shot at the Augusta Cutting Horse Futurity this week.
Augusta Cutting Horse Futurity Results
The $50,000 Amateur Any-Age Horse division was won by 16-year-old Chisholm Clark of Fountain Inn, South Carolina, riding his 12-year-old gelding, Swinging Til Five (Just A Swinging Peppy x Fives N Cash x Preferred Monkey) The pair marked a 225 to win the class.
The $100K Amateur 4-Year-Old was won by Kenneth Love, Harvest, Alabama, riding Low Down Cat(WR This Cats Smart x Sanjos Gay Lady x San Jo Lena) with a score of 211.
16 year old Nicole Sutton of Cleveland, Georgia, won the Area 18 Scholarship Cutting on Saturday night to earn $3,000 with a career-best 225 score aboard Teninos Little Rebel.
RIDE FOR CANCER RESEARCH
Ever known someone who suffered through Cancer?
Chances are you have.
One in two Australians will be diagnosed with Cancer by the age of 85.
It is the leading cause of death in Australia.
Cancer doesn't discriminate.
How many times have we heard those words and how many times have we been able to relate.
There is an equine event being held that all horse folk can get involved in, regardless of their riding ability.
Please find attached the Information Pack for the 'Horse Ride For Cancer'.. A fundraising event
Event begins in Mildura, Vic on the 12th August, 2012 and concludes at Redland Bay, QLD on October 20th.
2545 kilometers on horse back across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in a bid to
raise
$1 Million for the Cancer Council, specifically for cancer treatment and care.
Currently we have over 2500 members following our plight.
This all began two months ago and has received an enormous amount of interest so far,
from both the horse community and the general public.
We are in need of offers of support relating to donations - both financial and service,
as well as horse riders and drivers for our support convoy.
The Australian Western Horse Showcase would like you to join us in bidding a fond farwell to Tuthaside Horses & Ponys. The proud proprietors of Tuthaside, Ken and Lyn Price, have been forced to retire the stud opperations due to a few devastating health problems experienced by Ken.
These two wonderfull ambassadors are the first original
members of the Showcase when we started opperations back in 2005 and proudly hold the #1 Silver Life Time Membership.
Ken will be undergoing surgery this month and will need a 12 month recovery period.
We sincerely wish Ken & Lyn well with all future endevours and Ken a speedy recovery.
Ken wrote a beautiful farwell message to the industry as a whole .. PLEASE READ
If you would like to send Ken and Lyn well wishes you can send them here... CONTACT
CONGRATULATIONS TO JESS & JOSH SOMMER
on the arrival of
Master
Vincent Hugo Sommer
born Wednesday 18/01/2012
New Online Auctions / Sales and Web cast Events listed HERE
IT's ALL ABOUT TRUST!!
TWO DAY SPECTACULAR
AT AELEC, TAMWORTH
SATURDAY, 18TH FEBRUARY 2012
& SUNDAY, 19TH FEBRUARY 2012
TEN Q-29221 At 19 years old he is a picture of health.
After losing her lovely young stallion last breeding season, Julie from Jawil Park agreed to give Ten a home.
This beautiful aged stallion was feeling his years of performance, with arthritic joints and weary bones..
Julie had test done see what he was lacking and set about plotting his road to pain mangement and recovery.
Look at him now.. he is a picture of health and is rearing to go.
Well done Julie, amazing what can be achieved!!
EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHERS NETWORK
Photoshop Fundamentals and Design Begins January 16, 2012
Join Sherron Sheppard for her popular Photoshop course. The five week course is geared to the beginner and intermediate Photoshop users who want to learn basic Photoshop fundamental techniques for creating higher end, fine art images.
NOTE: If you are going to rate the photos please rate them all to keep the
ratings fair, and if you participated in this shoot please leave at least a
few comments on the photos.
You'd be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere in the USA..
But alas these pictures were taken in Dungowan just outside Tamworth in NSW
Ken Anderson took these snaps with his phone on his way to catch some fish on 27th.
TRAGIC & WEIRD STORY OUT OF NORTHERN NSW
A MAN who stuffed 35 ponies into a poorly ventilated truck, leading to the deaths of 25 of them, will face court next year.
A man will face court after the bodies of 25 ponies were found dumped near a cliff in northern NSW.
The ponies were found dumped at the bottom of a cliff last Saturday after a tip-off led police to a truck parking bay near Glen Innes, NSW.
Officers followed tracks to the cliff where they discovered the bodies of 25 dead ponies "in the early stages of decomposition".
At the time police said there were no obvious wounds, tags, brands, or other identifying marks on the animals to help police find their owner or indicate the cause of their death.
"It's a very strange case," Inspector Rod Shoesmith said. "They appeared fit, not starving, and it doesn't look like they have been shot."
An investigation has since concluded that 35 ponies were loaded into a removalist truck to head to the state's north coast.
It is believed that the ponies asphyxiated due to inadequate ventilation inside the truck.
Police interviewed a 39-year-old Pottsville man at his home yesterday and issued him with a Future Court Attendance Notice for 25 counts of committing an act of aggravated cruelty upon an animal.
He will appear in Glen Innes Local Court on Tuesday 14 February 2012.
Two ponies survived the journey and have since been inspected by police in the northern part of the state.
Inquiries are continuing about the other eight outstanding ponies.
VALE SUNNA CASSIUS
Our thoughts are with Gaye Cassar after the passing of her wonderful old friend.
Sunna Cassius was 23 yo and by Cassius
Deck (imp) out of Seven Gins (imp).
A MOTHERS LOVE !!!!
STOP PRESS!
The wait is finally over!
WE ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THAT HORSE TALK TV HAS CRACKED THE BIG TIME AND CAN NOW BE SEEN ON TV4me - CH7'S NEWEST DIGITAL STATION!
Don't miss the premiere at 7.30pm on 24th December Christmas Eve!
Join us for the season premier of 'The Best of Horse Talk TV Series 1 and 2' on Christmas Eve 24th of December at 7.30pm.
Can't watch us on Christmas Eve? Then catch the repeats on Sundays at 10.30am and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3.30pm.
After three years of producing the best equestrian TV available in Australia and working hard to make watching it easier for our loyal and valued audience, we have finally made it! Horse Talk TV is now available on national, free-to-air TV.
4meTV is free-to-air and is part of Ch 7's stations and can be found on your digital tuner after '7Mate' . Being broadcast on 4meTV will take Horse Talk TV to
22 million Australian viewers!
4meTV is available on CH74 in metropolitan areas and all capital cities plus all of QLD and CH64 in regional NSW, VIC on your digital tuner (unfortunately not in Tassie - we are truly sorry and will keep working on getting the show to you).
We have selected the very best stories of Series 1 and 2 to bring you in this new season on free-to-air TV.
Some of the series highlights include:
Rachael Sanna on Jaybee Alabaster
Meet Olympic dressage stars Rachel Sanna & Heath Ryan at the CDI, Autralia's Premier dressage event and a key selection event for the Olympic Games
Join us for an exclusive behind the scenes look at Pat and Linda Parellis' sold out Australian clinics
OOPS HE DID IT AGAIN.. !!!
Congratulations to CD PAINTS & their SUPER SIRE OF CONSISTANCY
LOOTS IMAGE (IMP)
& all who own his progeny.
PAINT HORSE LEADING SIRES 2010/2011
Halter Horse Winner Loots Image (Imp USA) 72.5
Halter Horse Runner-Up Best Western (Imp USA) 63.5
Performance Horse Winner Loots Image (Imp USA) 365
Performance Horse Runner-Up Best Western (Imp USA) 290
Overall Leading Sire Winner Loots Image (Imp USA) 443.5
Overall Leading Sire Runner-UP Best Western (Imp USA) 353.5
WHAT A RECORD
Sine the commencement of the PHAA Leading Sire list in 2004, Loots Image (imp) has amassed an incredible record of achievement, thanks in the most part to his progeny and their dedicated owners.
2004
#1 Overall Leading Sire
#1 Leading Performance Sire
#2 Leading Halter Sire
2005
#1 Leading Performance Sire
#2 Leading Halter Sire
#2 Overall Leading Sire
2006
#1 Overall Leading Sire
# 1 Leading Performance Sire
#2 Leading Halter Sire
2007
#1 Overall Leading Sire
#1 Leading Halter Sire
#1 Leading Performance Sire!
2008 -Equine Influenza - no PHAA High Point Awards allocated.
2009
#1 Overall Leading Sire
#1 Leading Halter Sire
#1 Leading Performance Sire
Hi Everyone, If you have anything of interest, a story, event dates or results / pictures. A photo of you and your horse, an announcement, etc, I receive emails daily from folk right across Australia & New Zealand who say this information is what makes them feel connected. Anything urgent -WESTERN HORSE SHOWCASE
Australian Stock Horse - Horses for Sale, Quarter Horse, Paint Horse, Appaloosa and Australian Stock Horse - Horses for Sale
