Lives in the balance. Indeed.

Below is an article published in the MQHJ this month.

Juanita Stubleski | Jul 25, 2008

In the January issue we printed Paul Jackson’s article appropriately named, “Lives in the Balance.” It recapped the real life drama of nationally known Turn 3 Ranch, owner Jim Henderson and manager Matt Mercier, and their barrel race herd of 69 head at the time of seizure by Animal Control, which after spring births rose to 80 head.

The article also made horse owners aware that an older horse or a natural passing of a horse in the winter must be handled with extreme caution and documentation to be able to pass the scrutiny of untrained and unknowing individuals regardless of their intentions.

As it turns out Jim & Matt’s lives have hung In the Balance and continue to do so, and so have the horses that the purported rescuers set out to save. Recent court decisions have dropped all felony abuse charges brought for injuries sustained by three of the horses. Of these three—one Life is no longer part of the Balance—the people who “rescued” the herd, tried to feed 69 horses with one round bale and this weakest individual (Elvis) sustained irreversible injury and had to be euthanized. Jim and Matt were not notified until after the horse was put down—even though Jim was still the owner of record at that point. The second of the trio, Ice—will never be 100% sound because the “rescue team” refused to allow medical treatment to take place as originally scheduled and I believe the third horse, Mouse has fully recovered from the bout of colic and separation anxiety that caused her initial loss of weight.

That leaves 77 horses' Lives in the Balance. As we all know, the horse market has been down the last several years and horse slaughter has been banned in the US—but not Mexico or Canada. The next step of the people on the rescue mission—as winter was coming was to dump all the remaining horses at auctions—promising registration papers they can’t deliver—with the horses in worse shape at the time of the auction then at the time they were seized, all the while knowing that Jim had a court ordered lien on all the horses.

Testimony during the first trial of three vets verified that the majority of the herd was in optimum condition. Rugged Red Bug was one of the broodmares in optimum condition. She had her foal—which was stripped from her side at a sale—no advanced weaning. At least the foal got to live. Not so for Rugged Red Bug—she was reportedly shipped to Canada to the slaughterhouse, and she was not the only one.

To make matters worse, buyers got young fillies and mares that they had purchased home, and found that unknown yearlings and/or 2 year old studs had impregnated them while the rescuers had allowed them in the herd. Several of those were aborted before birth.

As for Dee and Easy, the old mares who were underweight at the end of the winter in spring of 2007—the rescue agency that testified to the standard of care necessary for all horses, didn’t provide that care for them. They were left at another facility. The horse rescue also took 2 of the most valuable mares—a daughter of On the Money Red and a daughter of Packin Sixes and her baby—and sold them right after the rescue.

As for the human Lives in the Balance, Jim and Matt’s names have been dragged through the mud by the media—ready to pounce on ever shred of what could be bad news—reporting inaccurate information without retraction, using photos of horses not even owned by Turn 3. All of this while Jim and Matt’s horse friends (Matt is quoted as knowing each one’s whinney) demise was completely out of their control. They fought the battle for all of us, at great expense, and have finally won redemption having the seizure reversed as unlawful. The case is now back in the lower court to determine the actual value of the herd and equipment that was taken, and I hope that they indeed do receive just remuneration.

Who can put a price on some of the relationships we have with our four legged friends? Who can replace that springtime rush, seeing the new foals born, which Jim and Matt have missed for two seasons now? And how do you replace years of getting the right pedigrees, which have the right crosses to your stallions at just the right generations? And who can replace campaigning not one stallion but two of the top in the nation—Sky High Fame (APHA) and Buggy Full of Money (AQHA).

I urge each of you to contact the Michigan Horse Council to express your views on whether horses are livestock or companion animals, whether the slaughter facilities should be allowed in the US and most of all—how the Michigan Legislature is going to ensure that each county’s animal control follows the Michigan Right to Farm Act.

I hope if you see either of these two gentlemen out at a show, race or event—you will stop them to say thanks. Thanks for keeping our Lives out of the Balance.

Obviously written before the Michigan Court of Appeals decided to hear Jackson County's case, but still a good read and a reminder of what has occurred in this landmark case. Keep following the blog to learn how you can help with any future activism.