Save the Flying ah Ranch

For More Information feel free to visit www.FlyingAh.comAn Overview of what has recently happened at the ranch: (abridged version coming soon) On Nov 6th Officer Matthew Sexton came to our ranch to follow up on a complaint about skinny horses. I showed him the herd and we discussed animals that we were concerned about. I informed him that we were going to be out of town for 1 week on business and that a volunteer would be taking care of the animals while we were gone. I sent Officer Sexton an email with information on the horses that he had expressed concern over.While we were gone I received a call from Officer Sexton asking when we would be back. I told him we planned to be back on Wednesday, Nov 14th.We arrived home at approx. 2am on Thursday Nov 15th and were awakened around 10 by a visit from Officer Sexton. He informed me at that time that there were serious concerns over some of the horses and that animal control had considered confiscating horses while we were gone.His major concern was for two elderly mares, Sasha and Dreamer. We know that Dreamer was 25 years old and suspect that Sasha was older. Both mares where very thin and were in a corral with another mare, Princess, that had been diagnosed with Lymphoma. These mares were being fed hay and one scoop of senior (approx. 3.5 lbs) twice-a-day each. We were monitoring their condition closely and had consulted with the vet about euthanasia when the time came. We had, in fact, dug a grave for them in case we had to put them down after the ground was frozen.There were 12 horses on the list that PCAC was concerned about but they insisted on immediate attention for Sasha and Dreamer. Our vet, Dr. Madole, was schedule to come out the following day but was unavailable that day. I called 6 vets before I was able to find one that could come. Dr. White of Lake George arrived shortly after dark and conducted exams on both mares in the light from the headlights of his truck. I do not have a copy of his report but he verbally informed me that both mares could benefit from having some dental work done. He said both mares had heart murmurs. He also said, “I bet if you asked either of these mares they would tell you they aren’t ready to die”.The next day Dr. Madole examined all of the horses on the PCAC list and evaluated feeding schedules for the herd. He agreed that the mares, while very thin, were not in pain and could be allowed to live longer. Officer Sexton said that while that was my call, if the mares died I could be charged with animal cruelty. Under threat of criminal charges my husband Keith, Dr. Madole and I agreed to put the horses down that day. Dr. Madole euthanized them and Keith, our son Asa and I buried them.Dr. Madole made recommendations on all of the other horses including a de-worming and feeding schedule. He recommended a physical exam for Apollo which was done the following Tuesday. Apollo had infection that we assume stemmed from his castration in August.I continued to feed hay and senior feed with oil to the horses on the special diet. We kept hay in front of all horses as much as we could. Often in high winds we fed several times per day. We spoke to our hay provider about bringing in large round bales.I received the following emails from Matt Sexton on Dec.19th.From: "Mathew Sexton" Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 9:02 AM To: [email protected] Subject: from Animal ControlHi Carol, Officer Sexton here:I am a little concerned about some reports I have had that the horses Dr. Madole selected for feeding program #1 are not being free-choice fed hay. I cannot stress the importance of following Dr. Madole's feeding program to the letter until other arrangements are met. I really want those horses to never be without feed available to them. That is free-choice, where they can eat when they want. I know that you keep your eye on it, but at night for instance you are not there to pitch in more hay when they run out. I know something that has worked for me in the past is buying big (800-1600) lb bales and allowing the horses to eat that. It is a lot less work, the horses get the feed Dr. Madole recommends, and it looks to passersby on the road as if all those thin horses are getting all the feed they can handle.I am also wondering how much longer the horses will be on the leased 40 acres, and what your plan is for feeding them if you have to move them back on your land.Thanks Carol, let me know what your plans and thoughts are.-------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------From: Carol Martin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 10:11 AM To: Mathew Sexton Subject: [MAYBE SPAM] re: from Animal ControlOfficer Sexton, I am sorry to hear that you have been getting negative reports. All of the horses have been getting the recomended feeding programs. We keep hay available for them around the clock. With the recent snow storms we have feed at intervals so the hay doesn't just get lost in the snow. The only horses without hay are the two older horses, Scout and Lo-Rider, that cannot chew it. They are being feed 15 to 18 lbs of senior feed per day (each)with oil added. We feed them morning and night so that they can get the most out of their food. All of the horses are gaining weight. Apollo had three weeks of antibiotics in addition to two dewormings and his feeding program. He is gaining weight rapidly and the wound in his neck is healed. He has a shiny, healthy coat and seems to be in good condition overall. We are bringing the field horses back on to our property on the 31st of this month. We have made arrangements with Flying Horse Ranch to bring in the large bales for free choice feeding. Please feel free to come out and visit. Carol------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------Ok, Thank you for the update. Sounds like you have everything in hand. I won't plan to come out until the day we arranged in January. Merry Christmas, Officer Sexton------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------On the morning of the 21st we found Ruger dead. He was not one of the horses on animal control’s watch list but he was one we were very concerned about because of his low body weight and we had him on the special diet and deworming schedule. It was very cold and he was frozen to the ground. We were unable to get a vehicle in at that time to dispose of the body.That same night we found Jasper, one of the horses that was on PCAC’s list, on the ground and unable to get up. We called Dr Madole for advice. He said to get him as warm as we could and to try to get some food in him. He was eating hay. We gave him some senior feed, made a bucket of warm equa-tea for him to drink and wrapped him in blankets that had been warmed in the dryer. We turned him from side to side several times and tried to help him up. We stayed with him as long as we could and checked on him throughout the night.We were continuing to work with him the next morning when Matt Sexton arrived. We got Matt to assist us in rolling him onto a piece of carpet. We tried to revive him but he was too far gone. Dr. Madole arrived and assisted in euthanizing him. We were able to get the truck in by removing a fence and move both of the horses a bit further away. During the time officer Sexton was there he noticed another horse down in the field. He walked out to check her and found her dead. It was Princess, the mare that had cancer. We had been so involved with Jasper that we failed to notice her. The last time I saw her was about 8pm the night before when we did a head count.Officer Sexton told me he had a home for as many horses as I wanted to surrender. He said the home for them was near Pueblo where it is considerably warmer. I sent him an email list of horses that I thought needed to go to a warmer place. I also emailed that list to a rescue e-group in hopes that someone could take a few. Matthew said he would contact me after Christmas to arrange for moving the horses.On Christmas day, Daisy Mae, one of the older mares, got down and couldn’t get up. I realized that she was too far gone. I knew that there was no vet available, and we do not own a large enough caliber weapon to put a horse down humanely. I sedated Daisy Mae to keep here as comfortable as she could be until she passed.On the 26th, Officer Sexton arrived with a warrant to take legs from three deceased horses. Later he arrived with another warrant to take a leg from Daisy Mae and for a warrant to take 11 horses. When I questioned him about why he wanted to take these horses instead of the ones I had emailed to him, he said that it was because these horses were in the front pasture with no hay. I showed him that the gates were open and he agreed to let me keep some of the horses that were on the list. I worked with animal control and the brand inspector to select horses to load. 10 were loaded that day and two more were selected but could not be caught. (NOTE: animal control thought they had loaded 11. One horse, Rueben, wandered in two days later from the field across the road and I realized that he had escaped and that the officers had not reported it to me.)On the 27th animal control officers came back to get the two mares that were still in the pasture. After failing to bring them in they went after a snow mobile. They ran the horses, along with 2 others, in using the snow mobile and 7 people on foot. The horses were driven rather hard and fell in the snow drifts.One of the young men assisting in the roundup suggested that I not release the two horses back to the field because the ice was too dangerous. I was very concerned at the method used to bring these horses in.On the 29th, Officer Sexton came back to retrieve more body parts from the deceased horses. January 3, 2008- PCAC Officers Bobbie Preistly, Matthew Sexton and Cindy Lou (?) arrived at around 4pm and said they just wanted to body score the horses again. I assisted with identifying each horse. I allowed the officers to come into my house to see a four month old pony foal. The foal had been bitten by my rottwieler on 12/17/07 and as a result, lost an ear. We agreed with the advice of our vet to keep him inside the house to keep him warm and to wean him from his dam for her health.January 4, 2007- We took Sirius (the foal) to Dr Madole for a check-up. Matthew Sexton was at Dr Madole’s office and asked if we could get hay receipts to him. I agreed to get them together. For the rest of the day I looked up receipts for hay, feed and vet services from Sept 1, 2007 to the present date. I had to take another horse to Dr Madole’s on Saturday so I dropped the receipts there and called Officer Sexton to let him know they could be picked up.On Saturday the 5th we took Lo-Rider and Flagg to see Dr. Madole. Lo-Rider was the approx. 30 yr old gelding that PCAC was concerned about because of a swollen sheath. I had cleaned his sheath in November and again on Jan 3rd and he was still “swollen”. Dr Madole cleaned his sheath again and said he was not swollen or infected, merely “fat”.Flagg was an 18 month old filly that had dropped weight. Dr Madole had done blood tests in November and diagnosed Flagg with acute parasitism. We put her on the feeding schedule including senior feed and oil and started her on a three week de-worming schedule. She had not responded to this treatment and we were very concerned. He took more blood and did tests and kept Flagg at his clinic over night so that we could go home and prepare a stall for her in the house. We brought her home on Sunday with instructions to feed her a high protein diet, keep her indoors unless the temp was over 55 outside. On Tuesday she began passing blood in her urine. I took a sample to Dr Madole and we both started researching her symptoms to try to find a diagnosis.Wednesday, Jan 9th I spoke with our hay provider at 8:30 am about getting another 800 lb round bale of hay. We had tried to get one the day before but the tractor was not available to load the hay. The horses had adequate hay to get through the night and we had 4 small square bales to feed them until we picked up the large bale.Moments after I made arrangements for hay PCAC accompanied by a Deputy Sheriff and Kate Anderson, DVM from the Colorado State Bureau of Animal Protection. They served us with a warrant to seize horses. One horse on the list was not clearly identified. Sam, my percheron/morgan cross was on the list but Officer Priestly said that there wasn’t room on the trailer for him so they would let me keep him. I looked at the warrant later and realized that it was dated Jan 4th, the day before I had given receipts to PCAC. They informed me that the horses were being seized because I could not prove that I was feeding them.Jan10, 2008- I had a phone conversation with Bobbie Priestly and asked her the status of the foal and sick filly that were removed. She said the filly was in grave condition. I asked her for permission to find homes for the remaining horses with rescues on the Front Range. She said she would have to confer with the DA and state vet and get back to me. At this time, Friday Jan 11th at 4:30pm I have not heard from her.Jan13, 2008- Rescue groups and private individuals across the Front Range have agreed to house the remaining horses. I have not received permission from PCAC.Jan 15th- The remaining horses are gathered by PCAC with the exception of "Igawes" a mustang mare that they couldn't catch. We later caught Igawes and kept her confined until animal control could come get her.