To anyone who obtained a horse from Cindy or Rae (or indirectly, through Hampshire County Animal Control) in the last 4 months: please contact us so we know if you have one of our horses! We will work with you on getting papers - we want to know that they are in good hands!
There has been an abundance of false information surrounding our horses that were in the possession of Cindy Shrout and/or Rae Kearns in northeastern West Virginia. Last year, between January and April, we re-claimed 27 horses from previous sales, leases, and adoptions, all in very poor condition. We had already accepted 14 rescued horses in December of 2009, and that winter was the most severe we had ever personally experienced -- the worst in 80 years. The additional financial strain, combined with health issues, required numerous personal sacrifices, which we would have repeated without hesitation. To insure that we were able to provide adequate care for the recovering horses without jeopardizing our other horses' well-being, we gave away or leased a large number of our show prospects, proven show winners, breeding stock, and personal riding horses. As soon as the rescued and re-claimed horses were well into their recovery, other Rescues throughout the United States helped with their placement; in some cases they were able to take them in before they were ready for adoption. In August, Cindy Shrout contacted us about leasing several mares and a stallion. Though there are several people claiming now that Cindy has been "known for" neglect and abuse, we were unable to uncover ANY negative information about her. In early September, she leased 2 stallions and 5 mares - MI Queue, MI Illusionist, Bint Mameluck, Fulana, Khalida, Safiera, and Amira Majiida. MI Illusionist would not breed in hand for her, and on October 3, 2010, we brought Illusionist home when we delivered a second load - Asami Mujiir, Kolsuhm, Chantilly Princess, DesperadosDelight, and Mirror Magic. Photos taken during that visit are below - some of our horses as well as some of Cindy's. Two of the mares had foals at their sides (Bint Mameluck's filly and Kolsuhm's colt), which were to be halter-broken and cared for as part of the lease agreement.
Cindy sent photos intermittantly, which are posted on this page. Two of the mares she leased were among those we had re-claimed, and were still a little underweight, as you may note in the photos; Safiera, at 22 years old, had raised two foals that year and was also underweight - her own had just been weaned when her sister died, leaving an orphan filly which "Aunt Safi" immediately took as her own.
Asami Mujiir was only home for a few days from his refresher course under saddle at a trainer's farm; he came home thinner than when he left, but was not underweight (see the bottom photos on his webpage, which were taken after just a couple of weeks in training (May 2010) and the others on his page (taken in 2009) to see what he normally looks like).
Beginning in late September, we tried to get people out to check on the horses, but we could not get a response from Cindy about where they were located -- she had emailed that she had moved them to a friend's 176 acre farm with lots of grass. We could not reach her on the phone, and there were few responses to emails, making it impossible to find them. As we gathered from the few emails received, once she began working 80+ hours a week (early to mid-October), the horses were being cared for by "a friend" with money/feed Cindy was providing. It is sickening to read now that people knew weeks before they were surrendered/seized that some of these were our horses and NO ONE contacted us about their condition or location. We have also learned that Animal Control knew they were ours weeks before they were surrendered/seized, yet they NEVER contacted us.
To anyone who obtained a horse from Cindy or Rae (or indirectly, through Hampshire County Animal Control) in the last 4 months: please contact us so we know if you have one of our horses! We will work with you on getting papers - we want to know that they are in good hands!
Photos taken October 3, 2010, at Cindy's farm:
Photos received in the last year via email (place mouse over one to see date-stamp):
(Cindy said Mojo's legs were swollen from kicking the stall walls (he HATES being stuck in a stall!) and he was now staying out in the paddock. This photo (above, left) was taken upon her return from a 2 week trip to Egypt.)
Shiny coats, evidence of hay (and even some grass gowing, showing the hay has been available for a while, or it would have been grazed to the ground), and normal feces. Having rescued and rehabilitated hundreds of emaciated horses in the last 10 years, we are familiar with the "signs", and look at more than just the horses' weight when looking at photos. When a horse is not getting proper nutrition, he/she will not have a shiny coat; when starving, the feces will either be 'cow-patty' consistency, or tiny, dry balls (depending on the stage of starvation, etc.). Though not all horses were included in these photos, nursing mares and their young foals are the fastest to show signs of starvation if not getting proper nutrition. So, it appears that September 26, 2011, the majority of the horses were receiving proper care in Cindy's hands, indicating that their condition changed dramatically in October and November.