Another Chance to Avoid Actually Working!
Sep 26 2010
Oh, boy, I’ve been dying to write this one for a LONG time but I really do like to get facts and eyewitnesses before I call a rescue out (or an arrest warrant will do, too). I’m in a hurry but I have to share this – I’ll approve comments late tonight so feel free to comment away!
I’ve known for a very long time what a sleazy individual Christy Shady Sheidy is, and what a joke of a faux rescue Another Chance 4 Horses is. It’s always been the East Coast CBER, but Chri$ty is far slipperier than $am and she has gotten away with her crap for a much longer time as a result. She even has a few tricks $am never thought of – while she is doing $am-like shit like putting horses back on the truck to slaughter, and having horses that are paid for mysteriously disappear thereafter, she also does not forget to tell these stories – but she attributes them to OTHER RESCUES! Yep, this grand prize winner of con artistry actually badmouths the good, reputable rescues and accuses them of the stuff SHE does. Now that is a special kind of evil.
But they all go down eventually, and Chri$ty decided to fuck with the wrong person this time – someone who (a) is clearly very intelligent; (b) has excellent internet research skills and (c) thought it was QUITE the crock of shit that Chri$ty threatened her with being bad mouthed on the Internet!
I think so too. Read the story, and tell me who YOU think deserves the badmouthing on the Internet!
The following story is a personal account of the rescue of a Thoroughbred racehorse through a well known equine rescue organization. My intent in writing this report is to increase awareness within the racing industry about the horse slaughter pipeline and to educate people who donate their time and money to horse rescue to be very selective in the organizations they support. The following account is factual, and any personal opinions of mine will be noted as such by me throughout this narrative.
On the evening of November 4, 2009, my daughter Billie Rae, was notified by an individual, via e-mail, that a thoroughbred who had been bred by Billie’s grandfather was on a brokers lot in Pennsylvania destined to be shipped to slaughter on November 9. The email advised my daughter to go to the Another Chance 4 Horses www.AC4H.com website and click on the broker owned horses link. My daughter did so, and found that there was a description of a gray thoroughbred gelding, named Luckyallmylife, 5years old, who had been last trained by Jeff Zook. Luckyallmylife had been bred by W. A. Croll, Jr, my daughter’s grandfather, in 2004. There were four pictures of Luckallmylife being held by a young girl, and a Youtube video that showed him being jogged on a lead line (lame in my opinion) with a voice in the background saying “nice mover”. Video
The email advised my daughter to contact Christy Sheidy, founder of Another Chance 4 Horses, if she wanted to rescue the horse. Since W.A. Croll, Jr. died in June of 2008, my daughter called me and I looked up Luckallmylife’s past performance charts .
The following information was not on the rescue website, and in no way reflects anything Another Chance 4Horses knew, or attempted to find out for that matter.
W.A. Croll, Jr.’s son, William Croll, trained Luckyallmylife up until October of 2007. Luckyallmylife’s last start for William Croll was at the Meadowlands racetrack in New Jersey. Luckyallmylife was not a very consistent racehorse, and not especially successful. William Croll races his stable at Gulfstream Park during the winter months, which is a very competitive circuit, and Luckyallmylife would not have suited that venue for the 2007-2008 racing meet. William Croll decided to give Luckallmylife to a very well known and well respected New Jersey based trainer, Ed Barney. Ed Barney has a beautiful farm just outside the Monmouth Park racetrack, where he breeds and races thoroughbreds, as well as maintaining a string of pony horses who, are considered by many within the industry, to be the best looking and best behaved pony horses anywhere in the country. When William gave Luckyallmylife to Ed, he also gave him the foal papers because William knew that it did not matter whether Ed decided to keep racing Luckyallmylife, or retrain him as a pony or show horse, Ed was a responsible horseman who had been a trusted friend of the Croll family for years, and would do the right thing by the horse.
Ed took Luckyallmylife to his farm and gave Luckyallmylife several months of turnout and down time. Ed was open to the idea of remarketing Luckyallmylife as a show horse, but there were no offers. In 2008, a trainer from Mounatineer Park, Jeff Zook, made a visit to Ed’s farm in New Jersey to pick up a client’s horse he had boarded there. At this time Jeff was interested in Luckyallmylife because of his breeding and that he was lightly raced. Ed felt that since Jeff trains off a farm instead of the racetrack, Luckyallmylife could return to racing. Jeff Zook purchased Luckyallmylife and took him back to West Virginia, at which time Luckyallmylife won his first start back off his layup in June of 2008.
On September 20, 2009 Luckyallmylife was last, beaten by 28 lengths at Presque Downs. On or about October 1,2009 Jeff Zook told me that he sold Luckyallmylife to Dave Schaffer of Fairmont, West Virginia. Jeff Zook maintained, at that time, he had no idea how Luckyallmylife ended up on a broker’s lot in Jonestown Pennsylvania, destined for slaughter.
After my daughter received the email concerning Luckyallmylife on the broker’s lot, she received a phone call (Thursday) from a woman named Lisa Amerino in New York. (We do not know if Lisa is affiliated with Another Chance 4 Horses or merely a friend of Christy Sheidy). Lisa told Billie that Luckyallmylife was earmarked for slaughter, and that unless Billie sent Christy $400.00 bail money before Monday, the horse would die. During this conversation, Billie asked many questions such as how did the horse get there, where was the broker’s lot, what was his condition, and most importantly, how soon could she come and retrieve him. Lisa was adamant that Billie could not pick Luckyallmylife up from the broker’s lot, and when Billie persisted in wanting to know why not, Lisa told Billie she was going to put Christy on the line and they would have a three way conversation. Billie put her phone on speaker so that I could hear the conversation, along with two other boarders who happened to be in Billie’s office while this phone call was taking place.
Christy and Lisa proceeded to tell Billie that Luckyallmylife was on the broker’s lot. Christy said that the horse was very thin and that he had several cuts on his hind legs that were probably due to “getting banged up on the broker’s trailer”. Luckyallmylife was with a horse trader who also sold directly to slaughter. Christy told my daughter that this broker sometimes had up to 150 horses on this lot and that it was a “bad place”. When Billie asked if she could bring our trailer to Pennsylvania with a check and pick the horse up, Christy told Billie “absolutley not”. Christy said that Billie needed to send $450.00 to the pay-pal account of Another Chance 4 Horses. $400.00 was for the broker, $25.00 was for a donation to Another Chance 4 Horses, and $25.00 was so that Christy could hire a private shipper to bring the horse to the New Holland Auction’s parking lot where he could be picked up on Monday morning.
Billie asked once again, where in Pennsylvania was Luckyallmylife? Christy angrily responded that she would not divulge that information. When Billie asked why not, Christy told her that the broker was a kill buyer who did not care if Luckyallmylife was rescued or not. Christy said he only works with Christy and that he does not want anyone to know what horses he has there, especially the thoroughbreds off the track. Christy said that if Billie did not do exactly as Christy dictated, Luckyallmylife would simply “disappear”. Christy stated that she had spent years building a relationship with this particular broker and only she was allowed on the property, only she was allowed to see the thoroughbreds, and she picked out which horses would be offered for rescue on the website. Billie mentioned to Christy that many of the racetracks now have “no slaughter” policies that are supposed to deter trainers and owners from sending their horses to people such as this broker. Billie asked Christy if she ever contacts the racetracks to tell them about brokers such as the one she deals with. Christy said she would never betray the “trust she has established with the kill buyers”.
Billie asked why would we need to have a coggins pulled since Luckyallmylife had been transported from West Virginia to Pennsylvania and according to Pennsylvania agriculture regulations he would have had to have a current negative coggins. Christy laughed and said that kill buyers don’t care about coggins. Christy also said that most of the time, as soon as the kill buyer crosses state lines, the first truck stop he comes to he usually throws any paperwork, including registration papers, straight into the nearest trash can. Christy told Billie that was one of the reasons that Luckyallmylife had to go to New Holland to be picked up and because she worked closely with the veterinarian at New Holland; Dr. Holt would pull the blood and run the test at his on site lab.
Billie agreed to send the money through pay-pal, but told Christy that she was not very comfortable sending money to people she did not know for a horse she could not pick up. Billie also told Christy that she still did not understand why the broker couldn’t just walk Luckyallmylife to the end of his driveway if he didn’t want anyone on his property, and we could load the horse on the street. Once again, Christy told my daughter that if she didn’t do as Christy said, she could not have the horse.
* According to the “terms of agreement” posted on the Another Chance 4 Horses website, the pay-pal confirmation would be the legally binding bill of sale and Billie should use that as her proof of purchase. The website also states that “WE DO RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EITHER MARKUP OR ASK FOR A DONATION TO COVER OUR COSTS”. * It was this particular clause that bothered Billie and I the most. Were the prices being asked for the horses being split between Another Chance 4 Horses and the kill buyer/broker?
After the phone conversation was over, I told Billie that I was going to call my own contacts within the racing community and find out where Luckyallmylife was located. I went back on the website and noticed that there was a picture of a man riding another one of the horses being offered for sale. This was the same man I had seen at the New Holland auction many times before. I sent his picture to several rescue organizations and received a reply that this man worked for Brian Moore of Jonestown Pennsylvania. He usually wore a jacket at the auction with Brian Moore’s name plastered on the back. I then Googled Brian Moore and found a link, Moore’s Menagerie, that gave an extensive description of Brian Moore, including the fact that he also owns the Lebanon Valley Livestock Auction which holds a horse auction the second Saturday of each month. The Lebanon Valley Horse Auction is conveniently located within ten miles of Brian Moore’s broker lot. According to the Moore’s Menagerie home page, Brian offers all types of horses and ponies, mules and donkeys. Brian also has trail rides, lessons, and even holds “fun shows” at his farm. Hardly a website that would make anyone think you should never go there unless you knew Christy Sheidy. Brian’s Farm
After reading all about Brian and his family, I told Billie that as soon as she received the confirmation that Christy had gotten the money, I was going to call Brian Moore and see if we could pick Luckallmylife up before Monday. On Saturday morning I contacted a friend in Pennsylvania and asked her if she could arrange for a shipper to go to Jonestown to pick up Luckyallmylife at Brian Moore’s farm. Not only did my friend say that she knew someone who could pick the horse up, she also arranged for Luckyallmylife to be boarded at a private farm in Pennsylvania until we could get a coggins. (This was very helpful to us since Billie was competing at a three day horse show at the Virginia Horse Center that weekend. This event had already been planned by Billie months before she received the email that Luckyallmylife was in danger.)
I immediately called Brian Moore and left a message on his answering machine that Billie had purchased Luckyallmylife through the Another Chance 4 Horses pay pal, that we had the confirmation that the money had been received and that we had hired a private shipper to come to the farm on Saturday to pick up the horse. I left a contact phone number and said that we would be calling back. I waited over one hour, and I called Brain Moore’s farm a second time and left an identical message. The shipper in Pennsylvania called and said he could pick Luckyallmylife up between 12:30 pm and 1pm. Since it was Saturday, I decided to call the Lebanon Valley Livestock Auction, owned by Brian Moore, to see if he was there and tell him we wanted to pick Luckyallmylife up. I called the auction and a female receptionist answered the phone and said she would get Brian. After a long wait, the phone line disconnected. I called back to the auction and explained that we had been disconnected and I would like to speak with Brian Moore, but the receptionist answered that he was busy with the auction and could not come to the phone. I asked if I could leave a message and she said “sure”. I told her that my daughter had purchased a horse from him off of the internet and we would like to pick the horse up that afternoon but did not want to go his farm unless someone was there. She was very pleasant and said that Brian’s wife Jen was always home, and that if she wasn’t home, the farm manager would be. I thanked her very much and called the shipper back and told him to drive to the Moore’s farm. The shipper said that he could be there within the hour.
I then called Brian Moore’s home phone for the third time and was in the process of leaving a message that the shipper would be there within an hour when a woman picked up the phone and started screaming at me that under no circumstances would she let anyone take that horse off of her property. She continued to rant and rave for several minutes and when she finally stopped to take a breath of air, I quickly explained to her that we just wanted to get the horse off her hands and get him home. Brian’s wife then told me that she did not care that we had sent money to Christy via pay-pal. She said that Christy had not given her any money and that she would not let the horse go until she was paid. Brian’s wife also said that “for all she knew the horse was stolen, and that until Christy paid for the horse, they were not going to get involved”. She then told me that if a trailer showed up on her property, she was going to call the police. At that point I told Brian’s wife that I thought calling the police was probably a good idea. Brian’s wife then hung up on me.
I decided that the situation was becoming contentious and contacted the Jonestown highway patrol. An officer listened to my story and said that he would contact Mrs. Moore and see if he could arrange for the shipper to pick up Luckyallmylife. I also expressed to the officer my concern that by picking up the horse at New Holland I may be in violation of Pennsylvania state law that prohibits the sale or transfer of horses on the property of a public livestock auction. Ten minutes later the officer called back and said that Mrs. Moore would not relinquish the horse until Christy paid Brian his money. As far as Mrs. Moore was concerned, Luckyallmylife was still her horse in spite of any money that Christy may have received over the internet. I told the officer that I was quite sure if Luckyallmylife hurt anyone while he was at the Moore’s, they would just as quickly say he was Billie’s horse. The officer was very sympathetic and acknowledged that he was hesitant to pursue any legal action since he might be overstepping his jurisdiction. The officer suggested that we wait until Monday to pick up the horse, but assured me that if I had any trouble on Monday at New Holland I should call the Lancaster police and tell them a report was already on file. I thanked the officer for his intervention.
Within fifteen minutes of that call Christy called Billie and was borderline hysterical. Christy cursed at my daughter and said that Billie had no right to call the Moores and that she could not pick up Luckyallmylife because the horse now belonged to Christy. Christy told Billie that even though the money had been received through pay-pal, the horse was not legally Billie’s until Monday morning. Billie asked Christy why had Christy told Billie that Luckyallmylife was Billie’s when the pay pal confirmation had been sent. Christy said she never said that, and that if Billie did not stop causing trouble, she would never get the horse. Billie told Christy she did not understand how Christy could assume ownership of a horse that Billie had paid for. Once again, Christy insisted that Billie did not own the horse. Christy then went on to tell Billie that because of her actions, thousands of horses would now go to slaughter and their blood was on Billie’s hands. Christy told Billie that she would put that information all over the internet and that Billie could deal with the backlash from the internet community. Billie very calmly told Christy that she highly doubted people would see her, (Billie) as the guilty party. Christy told Billie that if she even tried to take Luckyallmylife off of the Moore’s property, she would call the state police and have Billie arrested for shipping a horse across state lines without a coggins. Once again, Billie calmly told Christy that it was very interesting that Christy would report Billie, but had never considered reporting the kill buyers who violate state law week in and week out. After a rambling rant from Christy describing her thankless job as a horse rescuer, Billie told Christy she would meet her at the New Holland Auction on Monday morning at 8:a.m. Christy told Billie she had children to get to school and that the soonest she could get there was 11:00a.m. Billie asked what time Luckyallmylife would get to the auction and Christy said between 8:a.m. and 9:a.m.. Billie said that she could get Luckyallmylife as soon as he got there if the shipper could call her to tell us where he was. Christy said the shipper would not call us. Billie asked why not? Christie said “they just won’t”. Then Christy told Billie that Luckyallmylife could stand on the trailer in the parking lot until she got there and so Billie could come early if she wanted to, but she could not get her horse until Christy said so.
At this point we were beginning to see some very obvious policies of hypocrisy within the Another Chance 4 Horses organization. We made our travel plans and arrived at the New Holland Auction at 8:00a.m. Monday morning, November 9. At 9:00a.m. I went to the New Holland unloading dock and asked if Brian Moore had shipped in yet. The Amish man at the table said no. At 10:00a.m. I asked again if Brian Moore had shipped in yet and the Amish man again said no, but another man standing near us said “Brian never gets here early, he hates to get out of bed”. Billie went into the New Holland veterinary office to make arrangements to have a coggins pulled on Luckyallmylife when he got to the auction. The vet tech told Billie that Dr. Holt had been to Brian Moore’s farm on Friday afternoon and Christy had told him to draw the coggins then. (This was a direct contradiction to Christy’s threat on Saturday that if we had moved Luckyallmylife on Saturday he did not have a coggins. Dr. Holt’s lab can complete the coggins test within two hours). Billie paid the $20.00 coggins fee and we continued to wait for Luckyallmylife to arrive at New Holland.
Billie had been texting Christy throughout the morning to find out where the horse was and when Christy was going to get to the auction. Christy finally text back just before 11:a.m. and said she would be there shortly. I noticed the man( ) who was on the Another Chance 4 Horses broker’s page walking toward the loading ramp wearing a red jacket with Brian Moore Stables on the back. I asked him if he worked for Brian Moore. He said “yes”. I told him we were there to pick up the horse we had bought off the website from Brian and Christy. Chuck said he had not brought any horses to the auction and he did not know what I was talking about. I followed him into the vets office where he dropped off some paperwork and as he left the office he turned to me and said, “I told you I don’t have no horse” and then he walked away from me to an entrance to the auction. I thought about following him to see if he would lead me to the horses I knew he had brought, but decided to go back to the loading ramp and ask the Amish man if Moore’s horses were here. The Amish man said that Moore’s horses were indeed at the auction, and that if I wanted to talk to Brian Moore, he was “standing directly across from the auctioneer “. I was about to go look for Brian when a young Amish girl wearing blue jeans underneath her dress came up to me and asked me, “Do you have a question for me?” I looked at her and asked her “who are you?” She replied that she worked for the New Holland auction and that I needed to stop yelling at people. I told her I had not yelled at anyone, I was merely trying to find out where a horse my daughter had already paid for was being held. The Amish girl told me I needed to wait for Christy, that only Christy could get me my horse, and that Christy would be here soon.
I turned away and walked right into Dr. Holt. He asked me what the problem was. I told him I was not sure why a simple horse sale had so much drama. Dr. Holt told me I had nothing to worry about, this was just the way these things are, and he was sure I would get my horse whenever Christy showed up. Twenty minutes later Christy walked up to me and Billie and said “are you ready to get your horse?” Billie answered yes and Christy said “give me your halter and I will go get him.” I told Billie to go with her at which point Christy said “no, you wait here. If you want to get your horse you do as I say, you wait here, or you’ll never see him again”. I reminded Christy that Billie had a bill of sale, and that the horse was already our property. Christy responded that Luckyallmylife was not our horse, that Anotherchance4Horses owned him because Christy said that pay-pal takes 72 hours and Billie did not own Luckyallmylife. I told Christy, “let me get this straight, you solicit money on the internet from people to rescue horses that are destined for slaughter, you tell them that as soon as they send the money through pay-pal they have a bill of sale, your website states that this bill of sale makes them immediately liable and responsible for the horse, and now you’re telling me the horse is yours?” Christy once again said the horse was the property of AnotherChance 4Horses and this was our last chance to get him. She told Billie and I to wait on the street.
Billie asked me to just let Christy go, so I reluctantly agreed. Unknown to Christy, our shipper had been watching the whole exchange from a distance. As soon as Christy and the Amish girl had the halter and lead rope and walked away, he followed them. Christy walked into the large parking lot, past the tables that were set up for people selling tack and stable supplies, and deeper and deeper into the lot past rows of trucks and trailers. Sure enough, Christy went into a stock trailer that was parked there and came out leading Luckyallmylife. * Our shipper did not notice if there was any lettering on the side of the truck, but my suspicion is that Brian Moore did transport the horse to New Holland which means that the $25.00 shipping fee Christy tells adopters will be used to pay a private shipper is paid to Brian Moore who comes to the auction every Monday anyway. *
Christy handed the horse to the Amish girl to lead up the road to where we were waiting. Luckyallmylife was a mess. He was extremely thin, he had a large front ankle and his hind legs were huge. His right hind leg had puss oozing out of two different punctures. His left hind leg was severely inflamed. Billie reached down and pressed lightly on the inside of Luckyallmylife’s cannon bone which caused a stream of puss to shoot out of both punctures. Several people who were standing nearby actually had to move out of the way of the stream of puss. The shipper and I went to get the trailer, and within five minutes Luckyallmylife was safely in a box stall with fresh hay which he immediately began eating.
Billie and I returned to the auction to check on another Thoroughbred we had seen tied up that was there to be sold. The horse was a plain bay filly and still had her racing plates on. Her hip number was 208 and her tattoo was J20714. I called a friend who looked her tattoo up on the Jockey Club registry site and we found out her name was Smack Attack and she had last raced at Charlestown on October 28, 2009. The filly was owned and trained by Cynthia Wever. I called a friend in Virginia, Diana, who knew Cynthia Wever’s boyfriend. Within twenty minutes Diana called back and asked if I could bid on the filly and get her back. Cynthia had given the horse to a man in Orange who had strict orders to return the filly if she was not what he was looking for as a riding horse. Instead, that man gave the filly to William Jenkins, a well known horse trader who drives around northern Virginia picking up horses and taking them to New Holland. Billie went to check on the status of the filly and saw a red mark through her hip number which meant she had already been sold through the auction. Billie went upstairs to the office and asked who had brought Hip#208 to the auction and who had bought her. William Jenkins had indeed brought her to the auction, and another kill buyer, Frank Carper of Camelot Auction in New Jersey, had purchased her.
Billie went downstairs into the auction area and found Frank Carper. She asked if he would sell her the filly and he said he would for $350.00. This was more than he had paid twenty minutes earlier, but not as high as some kill buyers would have demanded. We called Diana back, gave her Frank’s phone number and by the end of the sale Smack Attack had been bought back and arrangements were made for her to be picked up and sent home to Cynthia.
As we were preparing to leave the auction, I saw Christy Sheidy, the Amish girl, the vet tech and Dr. Holt standing together talking. I walked over to the group and waited until they were finished talking. I then asked Dr. Holt and Christy if I could ask them a few questions about LUckyallmylife. I told Dr. Holt that I had been told that he had gone to Brian Moore’s on Friday to draw blood on Luckyallmy life for a coggins. Dr. Holt said he had gone to Brian Moores to do other work , not just to get the blood for the coggins. I asked Christy if she was there on Friday and she said yes, she held Luckyallmylife for Dr. Holt. I asked Dr. Holt if he knew at that time that Luckyallmylife had been paid for. Dr. Holt said he did not know who had bought him but Christy only asks him to pull blood on those horses she had sold. I asked him whose name he put on the coggins for owner, and he said he put AnotherChance 4 Horses. I then asked Christy why she had not told him to put Billie’s name on the coggins and she said because it wasn’t Billie’s horse at that time. I thee asked Dr. Holt if he had noticed the condition of Luckyallmylifes legs and he said he had. Christy then jumped in and said she had told Billie he had cuts on his legs and that she was not responsible for his condition. I told Christy I was not accusing her of injuring Luckyallmylife, but I did question why a veterinarian and a self proclaimed horse expert would not have considered contacting Billie and asking us if we wanted to start the horse on an antibiotic program since they both knew the horse was not going to be delivered to us until Monday and his infection was getting worse. Dr. Holt quickly said “I’m finished with this” and walked away. Christy then said it was not her responsibility to provide medical treatment for a horse that was sold on the internet. I immediately pointed out to Christy that she had been insisting for days that Billie did not own the horse until Monday, which could only mean that Christy was indeed responsible for denying the horse antibiotics. I told Christy it appears that whatever situation is most convenient to her determines who owns the horse from the time money is transferred to the time the horse is delivered. At this point Christy was enraged. She, and the vet tech, told me that I had made a lot of people mad and that “thousands of thoroughbreds will now go to slaughter because of all the trouble I had caused and that the blood of those horses would be on my hands”. I told Christy that she was almost as bad as a kill buyer herself, because not only does she enable dealers like Brain Moore who knowingly help trainers pipeline their thoroughbreds to slaughter, she profits from them as well.
THE SECOND PART OF THIS REPORT DESCRIBES THE CONDITION OF LUCKYALLMYLIFE AND MY FOLLOW UP AS TO HOW HE WENT FROM JEFF ZOOK AT MOUNTAINEER TO BRIAN MOORE IN PENNSYLVANIA.
When we arrived home on Monday evening, we contacted our veterinarian and told her about Luckyallmylife and his infection. She said to start him on SMZ’s clean his legs and wrap him with furacin and gauze for the night, no sweat. She said she would come first thing in the morning. We attended to Luckyallmylife and he was wonderfully cooperative. We put a light sheet on him and put him in a quarantine area with fresh water and hay. The following day the veterinarian gave him a physical and x-rayed his front ankle. No chips, but he had obviously hyper-extended the ankle at some time and damaged the sheath. His back legs were the bigger issue. We started a new treatment of bandaging to encourage drainage and continued the antibiotics. We weighed and measured Luckyallmylife. He is 16 hands tall, and he weighs 950 pounds.
I contacted Jeff Zook and asked him how did he think Luckyallmylife had ended up at Brian Moore’s. Jeff told me that he had sold Luckyallmylife to Dave Schaffer of Fairmont, West Virginia for $500.00. Jeff said that Dave wanted Luckyallmylife to re-sell as a show horse. Jeff told me that Rosemary Williams of Mountaineer Park had already called him about the horse. I asked for Dave’s phone number but Jeff said he did not have it. Jeff told me that Dave Schaffer was a farrier, but not at the racetrack. I asked how did Jeff know him and he said he had known him for years, and that he often comes to the backstretch of Mountaineer Park. Jeff said he had called Dave when he heard about the kill buyer and Dave Schaffer said he had given Luckyallmylife away because his ankle was too big and everyone was afraid of it. * I wondered why Dave would give away a horse he had just paid $500.00 for especially since the horse had a big ankle when Dave bought it* Jeff mentioned that Mountaineer has a no slaughter policy but it only applies to Sugarcreek. I told Jeff that I would call him back when I found out more.
On Wednesday I found Dave Schaffer’s phone number on the internet. Before I called Dave Schaffer, I acted on a hunch and called a woman who had an equestrian page on the internet who lived near Fairmont. I asked her if she knew Dave Schaffer. She told me that everyone around here knows Dave. She told me he does not have a barn, he has a pasture with a small lean to. She told me he wheels and deals horses, he takes them to auctions and buys them from auctions. I thanked her for her time. I called Dave Schaffer and asked him about Luckyallmylife. Dave told me that he was a nice horse, but that he was too high spirited and that Dave could not get along with him. Dave told me he had given the horse away, but could not remember who he had given him to. Dave never mentioned buying Luckyallmylife for $500.00 nor did he mention anything about Luckyallmylife’s ankle. *I am not implying that Dave Schaffer did not buy Luckyallmylife, only that he did not mention it* I asked Dave Schaffer to please call me back when he could remember who he had given Luckyallmylife to. Dave said he would, but I am not holding my breath.
This report will hopefully increase awareness within the racing community that the racetrack to slaughter pipeline is alive and well. It is important that trainers and owners are aware of the many individuals who spend their time seeking out horses to send to slaughter. Sometimes these traders obtain the horses through lies and deceit. Sometimes they are sought out by trainers who think these traders can make a horse “disappear” My experience is that kill buyers think most trainers don’t know how to train a horse and although they may be happy to help these trainers ‘get rid” of their horses, they could also care less if the trainers get “busted’ for violating racetrack policy. The bottom line is that most kill buyers illegally transport horses from auction to auction without paperwork, fail to consider a horse might be stolen, could care less how injured or compromised a horse is, and have no motivation to feed or improve on a horses condition once they obtain it.
Kill buyers contract with the Canadian slaughterhouses. Pick up days vary, but Sundays and Mondays are big days. Many kill buyers in the Mid Atlantic region own their own auctions, Leroy Baker, Brian Moore, Mel Hoover, Neil Dillon, Peter Preston, and Frank Carper to name a few.
Thoroughbred owners and trainers would be well advised to only deal with rescue organizations that have an affiliation with the racing industry. There is nothing sadder than to see a thoroughbred suffer through the slaughter pipeline. These horses have been handled by people since the day they were born. They trust people. The treatment they endure by kill buyers who delight in their misery is indefensible.
Anne Russek
Anne, girlfriend, you f’ing rock. I would love to buy you and Billie a drink! GOOD WORK SHARING THE TRUTH and for rescuing your baby!
Now for your non-sleazy, emotional-blackmail-and-cursing-free rescue of the day, check out Shiloh Horse Rescue in Nevada. This cutie pie is Banjo, a little Arabian who is green but very willing to learn! Check him out if you’re in the area.
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This was just posted on COTH and I find it interesting:
‘Inuremenet. Inurement/Private Benefit – Charitable Organizations
A section 501(c)(3) organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, such as the creator or the creator’s family, shareholders of the organization, other designated individuals, or persons controlled directly or indirectly by such private interests. No part of the net earnings of a section 501(c)(3) organization may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. A private shareholder or individual is a person having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization.
The IRS told me it is illegal to have a private relationship with brokers where only one person from a rescue ” can purchase horses . If these brokers sold horses to anyone it would not be a private aggrement where the broker benefits directly from this 501 c3 rescue. Christy has stated over and over that she is the only one allowed to deal with these brokers. This is fraud according to the IRS as donated monies are being used in private transactions between a rescue and a broker which directly benefits the broker.’
Ok so yes, Christy has said she is the only person allowed on that lot, Brian does not welcome the public.
So she’s basically an exclusive buyer, right?
And he’s making a good chunk of change from that exclusive relationship, via the 501c3/AC4H paypal account, right?
It seems to me that people who go to her for a horse have a pleasant experience, and people who she contacts get treated to a power play roller coaster. I’ve had plenty of experience dealing with people who are EXACTLY that two faced, so that’s more than believable to me.
Not starting treatment for the horse’s infection is completely inexcusable. The longer treatment is delayed the greater the risk the poor horse would pick up some other illness! Demanding a paypal payment(3 days to clear) vs. asking for a money order to be overnighted (what, a day, day and a half max?) is idiotic. Threatening the life of the horse when the buyer didn’t want to play her games? That’s evil.
Also, I’m terribly amused that the woman’s most vocal supporters here are A. people that I have never seen comment before, B. can’t write for shit, and C. use the same hysterical “HORSES WILL DIE BECAUSE SOMEONE POSTED ON THE INTERNETZ!!!!” attitude.
“charming Acres stables” in Gap,PA Kelly is well known for taking in FREE horses and running them too New Holland Sale Barn, most of the time she was her little brother on the poor horses back through the ring. also found out through searching that this kelly girl also sold some horses through auction that she only leased and was charged. her father also is well known for neglect situations and had horses removed from his posession years ago. she does live with her parents and although she and her family are fed very well on the food stamps her horses will do nothing but starve. especially in the winter when she is too lazy to walk to the barn to feed in fears she will freeze….Kelly is nothing but a scum bag dealer and needs to be stopped!! bad thing is is that Christy from Another Chance 4 Horses knows all about Kelly’s bad dealings, she even seen Kelly bringing horses through the sale and STILL Christy backs Kelly up 100% so what does that tell ya? thats right neither one is better than the other…also, Charming Acres Stables is only ONE of the farm names she goes under. also found she runs under as Narvon,PA as well.
people,everything this person claims is so TRUE! been there, knew kelly. she did take horses to the sale. please do not fall for her BS! the girl has issues. LAPS has been there before!
Hello, Please contact me at stophorseslaughter2010@yahoo.com.
Christy of AC4H has been putting down GOOD RESCUES for soo many years and trying to ruin repuatations of the good rescues it is just amazing, how the heck are these “Good Rescues” suppose to get there names to be good again after someone bashed them so terrible? i know of a few good rescues that AC4H have reuined..she needs to be STOPPED! it would be nice if Christy
Exactly.
it is ashame that Christy needs to scam so many unknowing people…sob story here, picks up some really nice horses in the mean time to pick up some cash….another sob story to keep the public donations still coming in….typical horse dealer of the worst kind that is for sure. ok everyone for those of you that actually goes to New Holland Sale, how many times did u see those underweight “in need of a good home” horse go through the ring and getting a high bid of $10 – $20 that Christy would not even bid on ? doesn’t that tell you something. for the lady google search stuff of christy….why not try searching this way: AC4H Scam or Fraud…there are things gathering up through the years why not try searching the right way..you will find something. but i think this soo called “fastarrow” posting “good things” on christy is just another “christy hide behind a name” just to get at least something good out there. i am not saying there are not some good stories out there but they are the Lucky ones, why do you think that there are so few of her “success stories” after the how many horses she SOLD..did u ever really check out her AC4H Available horses? some are for adoption and most are just for sale. i have seen horses she had for “adoption” being sent through other sales that Brian Moore would actually run for her just so they would leave her farm and so she would get some kind of profit.
people from auctions i speak too call AC4H “brian moore’s website” why is this? because if it was not for Brian moore christy would be nothing. and if it were not for Christy, Brian moore would be nothing. Brian only buys these horses because Christy sells them for him although she is getting a HUGE payoff on the backside. if you really think about it Christy is the REAL kill buyer/Horse dealer. she is the one putting these horses to there death. NOT BRIAN! Christy gave Brian the opurtunity for both of them to make a load of cash
Christy also lied about the paperwork needed to get a horse into the slaughter plant. deal is Brian won’t touch the horses without “the note” unless he can sell it on AC4H because if the horse does not have a note that means the horse has some kind of drugs ingested and if he would take the horse to the slaughter plant they will charge him $1,500 PER HORSE he would not take a chance to take a horse too the plant that is drugged and get a $1,500 fine for a $600 payoff for meat but too many people are blind and does not see this! also, why are there soo many mini horses on the broker lot in danger of going for meat? or those skinny horses? also the drafts? first off they won’t even bother taking a mini for meat because there is no meat, the skinny horses they will not run for meat because there is no meat and are not allowed in, mustangs are also no allowed as well because that is an even larger fine, Draft horses are NOT ALLOWED anymore either because when they are younger the amish inject the horse with a certain kind of drug that lives with the horse its whole life and there you go…another fine. open your eyes people!
I have read all of what has been said here and contemplated if I should respond or not. Ultimately, I decided I should.
Cathy – I respect much of what you have done, but you’ve, if I may borrow a term from my husband’s military days, screwed the pooch on this one.
I know you’ve had a dislike for AC4H for a while. We’ve discussed it privately. Honestly, it looks like you were just waiting for something to come along to prove you were right on them – yet you did not dig further – not even deep enough to know this Luckyallmylife issue had played out almost a year ago.
I am on the board of a small, breed specific rescue that has dealt with AC4H for many years. Before anyone shouts, “shill”, let me urge you to listen, as what I am going to tell you is the absolute truth. You may choose to believe it or not – that’s your perogative.
Now, two of the members of our board, as well as several of our approved fosters and transporters have worked with AC4H on the broker rescues on a one to one, face to face basis. Can many of those casting stones here say the same? A few can certainly – and I respect that your dealings were not so good. I take such stories seriously. Infact two years ago, several concerns about AC4H were brought to our attention, and we investigated their veracity – quietly and without raising a cloud of manure dust. For those who have been around awhile, this includes the “brand new Cadillac” claims. We had people visit. We looked very carefully into these claims because we – the board – and me, personally, take our duty to the members of our rescue very personally and very seriously.
We found these claims unfounded, started because of personal animosities unrelated to the horse world, and passed along from some who have no personal knowlege of the matter. You know – people who like to tell nasty stories without knowing the truth behind them because it makes them feel superior.
A good number of the horses our rescue has placed were former Amish road horses. Others arrived at the broker due to their breeders’ dumping them. We would not have known about them if it had not been for the broker program, and so we are grateful it exists.
How does it work? The broker has horses. He owns them. He sells them. He can sell them for more money if he can market them to groups like us. He knows this and he knows AC4H is one group that opens this market to him. Do I know they are marked up over auction price? Yup. Is it logistically possible for us to buy them at auction? Not really. We’ve tried – there is one breeder who routinely dumps her horses and if she sees one of us or someone she thinks is working for us, she no sales them and sells them behind the barn to DTS. For a number of reasons, we’ve found the broker program works for us – even with its flaws (and none of us are getting a kickback, lest anyone think we are on the payolla).
The broker (more than one, actually – we’ve gotten horses from several), identifies which horses he thinks are marketable for more money than he’ll get from the killer. He selects them. AC4H volunteers go out every week and photo and video them, then post the pix/vids on the website. They try to get as much info as possible – training level, age, and registration status. The price set is from the broker.
There are two ways to get these horses.
1. An individual purchases the horse from the broker. Some brokers market to the publoc – it just depends on the place.
2. An individual purchases a horse from the broker but goes through AC4H so the horse will carry with it an AC4H adoption form which gives the horse some protection down the line. Some brokers will not allow the public on their site because of the hassles. It takes time and they have a market waiting (the KB). There are also other auctions they take some of the nicer horses to.
We have had some people purchase the horse through AC4H this way – particularly some breeders whom we contacted and who took their horses home – and who were grateful to be able to do so.
3. A rescue such as the one I am involved in raises the funds for the horse after an approved foster or adoptive home is found. We do not fundraise unless we have a place for the animal to go and the place has been approved, inc. background references. We have our own adoption form. We track all the animlas we have been involved with.
If the funds are raised, we let AC4H know, and the horse is marked for pick up on each Monday.
Does AC4H make any money off this? I hope they make a little, because this is hard work, and if they stop doing it, it removes from our reach a good number of horses that deserve rescue. The title – “Another Chance to Avoid Actually Working” is very misleading. The AC4H people work very hard just on the broker owned end of things – they have their own rescue inc. training to run.
Does AC4H act as an agent? Yes, I suppose that’s accurate – but, speaking from someone who has dealt with them (and I am no pushover pansy new to the rodeo sort of woman), they are more the buyer’s agent than the sellers’. They are pretty good about telling us what a horse is like – if it is injured of ill (and almost all of them come down with the crud – strangles, etc. from the broker pens), and have tried to gt the broker to come down on price or give us extra time for a particular horse.
I read someone make comments about “Christy’s husband riding the broker horses on videos” and mocking his disability because of this. That’s not Christy’s husband, guys – the fellow shown in the broker videos works for the broker.
I have read today that a number of AC4H volunteers were getting harrassing phone calls at their places of employment. That’s really bad form if anyone here is doing it. Explain to me how this helps the horses?
I read the comments – you know, the comments from people who have actually dealt with AC4H are running 2 to 1 in support of them. That’s pretty good for any organization.
AC4H has to have the money for the horse to give to the broker. AC4H isn’t buying the horse – the person or group that sent the money in is the buyer. The broker is not going to release the horse with out the payment in his hand. He’s not going to tolerate some boat-rocker – no matter how honest and noble her cause is. The last thing he wants is a bunch of hysterical female PETA people at his place and many of the brokers see anyone involved in rescue as just that.
So there it is – an insider’s view of dealing with the broker owned program that is sponsored by AC4H. Take it for what it is
I know dealing with brokers – with the same people who weekly load nice, sound, registered horses, inc. pregnant mares and foals, onto the slaughter bound truck is disgusting to some. I see it as a way to save good horses that have a home waiting for them. If it makes my hands a little dirty, then I will live (proudly) with that dirt. I would not send back a single one of the horses we’ve gotten from the broker owned program in order to have the “moral superiority” of saying that I do not give money to the brokers.
AC4H has done good by us and by the horses they’ve identified for us through the broker program. That’s the bottom line for me. Not ever entity we’ve dealt with has been so above board.
Respectfully submitted.
I also have an insider’s view and it’s as shady and underhanded as it gets. Then, when I questioned a few sketchy issues I was attacked beyond belief.
If you deal with them for any length of time, you too will become on of their victims the second you don’t keep your mouth shut and follow AC4H rules.
Ask no questions lest you become an “evil trouble maker” and the wolves start circling for the attack. I was also a huge AC4H supporter at one time. I’ve met with AC4H at NH and worked with them on a number of saves. I’ve donated and helped at their farms. Many of us have and many of us got burned badly. Enough to make me never go near “rescue” again.
I’ve also watched AC4H and their rabid supporters take down or attempt to take down numerous good rescues. Again if you question, they send the dogs out and go for the throat. It’s a shame that honest, hard-working rescues that do things the correct way have been run out by this gang of rescue mobsters. I have ZERO respect for them and only feel bad for people like you. Your loyalty will get you nowhere. You’ll be thrown aside and stomped on eventually. Guarantee that.
Please contact me at stophorseslaughter2010@yahoo.com.
I respect this account of the way things operate, but how can people recognize or endorse your perspective if it is anonymous? Who are you and which rescue do you work with?
We use to have a auction house here in the town I live in. The horses sold on Friday night. The broker was there every Friday night to pick up horses that didn’t sell. He paid a set fee of $200 per head (ponies were $50). He would not deal with the public at all. He figured if you didn’t bid on the horse during the auction, then to bad for you. He just didn’t have time to reshow horses and resell them after the auction was over. Plus he had gotten jeered at more than once for what he did, people cussing and swearing at him for shipping horses to the kill yards.
I was lucky. My cousin owned the auction house and introduced me to the broker. I made a deal with him that I would look the horses over Saturday morning before he shipped out and if I wanted any of them, I paid him what he paid plus an extra $50 for his trouble. But we were not allowed to take anyone back into the barns with us. He had just gotten sick and tired of hearing people put him down for job.
Both my husband and I were working at the time and we would pick out horses that we thought we could rehab and place in good homes. Just a couple, but at least we were able to save a couple. We are both retired now and can’t afford to do it any longer.
So I can understand the broker or auction house not letting the general public back behind the scenes. Some of the horses we saw never went through the auction as they were in to bad of shape. My husband and I would have happily shot the people that trailered these poor animals in. They were starved and/or severly lame or hurt in some way. They went directly into the kill pens. But the broker was always blamed for the condition of these horses.
This particular broker was a decent person. His horses were always given water and hay before they were loaded up. He took them to a feed lot and off loaded them there to be picked up by someone else for their final destination.
I wish we could have saved them all, but we couldn’t. I felt good that we were able to save the ones we did over the years we were able to do it.
Melina
The only thing I can say is that this entire situation wouldn’t have happened if people were civil and honest.
I’ve used quotes and commentary to illustrate my point.
“Billie asked once again, where in Pennsylvania was Luckyallmylife? Christy angrily responded that she would not divulge that information. When Billie asked why not, Christy told her that the broker was a kill buyer who did not care if Luckyallmylife was rescued or not.” Is it too much effort to say “If you show up I would lose the opportunity to rescue other horses that he has? “Christy said she would never betray the “trust she has established with the kill buyersâ€.” Betraying the brokers trust should be secondary to saving the horses. Bad choice of words? May be, but totally the wrong sentiment.
“I immediately called Brian Moore and left a message on his answering machine that Billie had purchased Luckyallmylife through the Another Chance 4 Horses pay pal, that we had the confirmation that the money had been received and that we had hired a private shipper to come to the farm on Saturday to pick up the horse. I left a contact phone number and said that we would be calling back.” Holy crap. I’ve never heard of someone that doesn’t want to get rid of a sold horse as fast as possible. Really, if there is an agreement between AC4H and the Moores than why can’t the rescuer spend 5 min and arrange a transfer especially given this fact: “by picking up the horse at New Holland I may be in violation of Pennsylvania state law that prohibits the sale or transfer of horses on the property of a public livestock auction.”
“I then called Brian Moore’s home phone for the third time and was in the process of leaving a message that the shipper would be there within an hour when a woman picked up the phone and started screaming at me that under no circumstances would she let anyone take that horse off of her property. She continued to rant and rave for several minutes” Lady, if you ignore 2 messages you don’t answer the phone that way. CIVILITY: It’s a lost art. You might want to try: ‘We have an agreement with AC4H, and will not transfer the horse outside of the prearranged time and place. To ensure that there are witnesses and we all protected against any false accusations.’ Is that so hard? It is a logical, reasoned and civil response. On a side note: don’t send a shipper out to a place until you have arranged the transfer. It puts the shipper at risk.
““are you ready to get your horse?†Billie answered yes and Christy said “give me your halter and I will go get him.†I told Billie to go with her at which point Christy said “no, you wait here. If you want to get your horse you do as I say, you wait here, or you’ll never see him againâ€.” Congratulations Christy, if this is a factual account my head would have exploded. In reality, it is very upsetting to hear you threaten a horse- “you’ll never see him again.” That is threatening the destruction of personal property and horrible to hear from a professed rescuer.
“Christy responded that Luckyallmylife was not our horse, that Anotherchance4Horses owned him because Christy said that pay-pal takes 72 hours and Billie did not own Luckyallmylife.” Its called a hold, Christy, it is to make sure that if there is a problem on either end of the purchase Paypal is not liable for the money. If Paypal doesn’t hand over the money that’s between you and them. You could have just as easily requested cash or cashier’s check. PS Paypal payment was sent on a Thursday, the auction exchange was on a Monday. 72 hours have passed. I can do math.
“His right hind leg had puss oozing out of two different punctures. His left hind leg was severely inflamed. Billie reached down and pressed lightly on the inside of Luckyallmylife’s cannon bone which caused a stream of puss to shoot out of both punctures…Dr. Holt said he had gone to Brian Moores to do other work , not just to get the blood for the coggins. I asked Christy if she was there on Friday and she said yes, she held Luckyallmylife for Dr. Holt. I asked Dr. Holt if he knew at that time that Luckyallmylife had been paid for. Dr. Holt said he did not know who had bought him but Christy only asks him to pull blood on those horses she had sold. I asked him whose name he put on the coggins for owner, and he said he put AnotherChance 4 Horses. I then asked Christy why she had not told him to put Billie’s name on the coggins and she said because it wasn’t Billie’s horse at that time. I thee asked Dr. Holt if he had noticed the condition of Luckyallmylifes legs and he said he had. Christy then jumped in and said she had told Billie he had cuts on his legs and that she was not responsible for his condition.”
Yes, both of you are responsible, or at least would be in California. Christy, if your name was down as the owner you took responsibility for his care. FULL STOP. You treat him to the best of your ability. Doctor (and I use this title loosely) Holt: If the owner does not want you to treat the animal than you advise treatment and set the standards of care. That way if the humane society investigates you are not liable for neglect. Bandage and wrap 10 min. and maybe 20 dollars. Shame on both of you for leaving a horse in this condition.
And by the way, all that stuff on coggins: It is a violation of federal laws. There should be a USDA inspector or a brand inspector at New Holland that checks coggins. Tell them. And, If It were me getting this crap while trying to rescue a horse the police would have been called as soon as I identified the people involved at the auction. Just in case.
I checked out GFAS, but they have very few US accredited entities, and tend toward larger facilities that include exotic animals. I am interested in joining with others of like mind to see if a US equine rescue set of standards could be established, with regular site visits, including unannounced visits, as part of the program. Basic standards of care, as well as requirements for policy statements on euthanasia, adoption, etc. would be published, and rescues could request a visit when they believed they complied with the standards. Over time, the accreditation would help assure donors that their dollars were being spent as they intended. Equine rescues might have differing policies, on euthanasia or limits for veterinary expenses, for example, but donors could know before they gave. Even establishing basic standards for an adequate equine rescue might be of some help. The current “system” is chaotic, at best.
Actually they just started the equine program a year or so ago and are going through the painstaking process of accrediting rescues. They ARE doing it right. It will not happen overnight. Angel Acres and Habitat for Horses are already accredited, to just name some of the first that got approved.
Anne is one of the best horse defenders around. I agree with her for writing this, and if there is more rescues like this one, we all should know about them.
Shady told Billie the horse had cuts, why didn’t she go to her buddy and take the horse to the rescue, why was he with the KB longer than he had to be with puss coming out of his wounds. I’m sure she knows that the horse wouldn’t be cared for over there, if they are hurt so what ? I am sure lot’s of people had good experinces with this rescue, but there are people out there that have enough common sense to know, that horses getting pulled weekly, how many 30 40 are not all being homed. Where did they go ? Fugley mentioned that before and she’s right, how many a year ?
We have to get the horse slaughter bills passed and put the breeders, KB”s and the in betweens out of business.
ANKY VAN GRUNSVEN AND REINING???? This is a little off this subject, but I wanted to share this article. I always thought you did reining on a “loose” rein. I cannot even imagine this woman doing reining.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100927/WEG/309270115/-1/WEG0107/World+Equestrian+Games++Dressage+legend+van+Grunsven+gives+reining+a+shot
paste this link in your web browser.
Yeah, I saw that earlier and shuddered to imagine what damage she could be doing to that horse’s mouth.
By going Western, I hope she is able to reprogram her noggin and learn all the joys of a loose rein or better yet, none!
Well, no, I don’t understand. Whether the horse was boarded at the Kill Buyer’s or not, the agreement per AC4H’s website was that legal ownership of the horse started when the PayPal confirmation was received. At that point, the new owner could have saved both the KB and Christy some hassle and picked up the horse themselves three days early. And gotten the horse proper veterinary care. Instead CHRISTY is the one apparently screaming that she still owns the horse– and therefore CHRISTY is the one denying the horse appropriate care. Whether or not the KB gives a flying fuck doesn’t come into it– it is the OWNERS responsibility and the OWNER was either Anne/Billie (per the PayPal confirmation) or Christy (per her insistence.) Anne/Billie were denied the ability to remove the horse and/or have it treated at the KB’s premises, and Christy apparently didn’t give a shit.
I can’t understand people sometimes, not looking in the mirror. Who was the breeder of this horse? Why did they get rid of it in the first place? I just don’t understand all this going back and forth over who is to blame, when in all actuality it’s the breeder. Please correct me if I am wrong.
The breeder is Billie’s grandfather/Anne’s ex-father-in-law (who is apparently deceased), which is why she was contacted – I guess she was the closest relative Christy could find. We cannot know if the grandfather would have taken the horse back, but you can’t blame the dead man.
I have called people on this sort of thing time and again. Every now and again we get people putting up feed lot horses for “rescue” at ridiculous prices. Yes, OK someone has given a basic assessment of them, so at least you know they can be ridden, but the price is straight off the lot and you are asked to pay what I would consider is market price. When I was doing this it was only a “rescue” in as much as I would take skinny horses with potential at rock bottom prices and bring them on then sell them, hopefully to good homes. I had some really nice horses over the years, all from a knacker, all brought to me unsolicited, by him, as he thought they should have a chance. Quite a few he kept himself, ran through his (very well run) riding school and then sold. He was a weird guy, no heart, cold as a fish, but he did like horses. I never saw him ill treat anything, not even when they were being hard to load. In fact I got a pony that way, it would not go on so he swore at it and gave me the rope! It escaped death that day. Not all kill buyers are evil, not all kill buyers are even greedy, but over on the continent we do have quite a few who are equal in every way to the American ones.
Don’t give into your heart, if you are going to buy from a kill buyer do it there at the auction or privately afterwards, not on a blackmailing website.
This person, in this story, well, it is too black and white for me. They were at fault in the first place (well her grandfather was) letting the horse slip through the net, and the Christy woman is running a scam with the killbuyer and has just become greedy.
When that happens there is no road back, she needs shutting down before she starts hoarding.
OT, but the scum that was taped beating the dairy cows was sentenced:
http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=13211663
Well he got off light. That peice of dog crap deserves a hell of a lot more than what he got.
OT here, but a glimpse of how the Northern Irish SPCA are dealing with a hoarding (i think that’s what it is) situation:
link: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/302316.html
USPCA spokesman David Wilson, who took part in the rescue, told H&H there were no plans for a prosecution.
Mr Wilson said: “I don’t want to pillory the owner in this case. I’ve seen this many times before when a person has been involved with horses all their life then, as they get older, they can’t really cope but don’t want to relinquish their responsibilities.
If he’s seen it many times before, why is it still happening? 60 horses is a lot for no one to notice. I don’t care if they don’t want to relinquish their responsibilities, these animals should have been helped earlier. as usual.
everyone who thought that miss Kelly in Gap/Narvon, PA of Charming Acres Stables is a sweet girl…you have another thing coming. the bad posts of this girl is all over the internet. Don’t Donate anything to her and DO NOT give this girl a horse – gaurenteed this horse would be run through New Holland the monday after with Kelly’s little brother on its back. this girl is well known for scamming people and taking free horses…even knowing she lives with her parents and she eats very well not considering in the winter months her ass don’t wanna go to the barn thinking she may freeze. u think i am lieing, watch at the sales, i have seen this girl plenty of times running a horse through the sale barn but the one i liked is when the actual horse owner confronted her at the sale barn after having to buy there own horse back after giving the horse to Kelly just a few short days before the auction. it is all about the money and we are tired of it! at least the rescue can tell you that they buy and sell horses as well and don’t lie about it but they try to hide it!! only a few horse rescues i know don’t actually LIE. no one wants a LIER! and kelly and kristy are all about the lies! they hide behind the media and put on such a great story. kristy knew to start off that kelly was no good because it was reported before about her taking free horses and running them to sale and kristy was at the sale the day it happened but still kristy is right behind her….i wouldn’t be suprised if kristy had her run some through for her as well. ok maybe i should stop now while i am ahead seems like it just keeps coming out..there is a lot more that can come out but i am just stopping now. Kelly if i were you i would take down you website because i am turning you in! really the only rescues you can trust is the “backyards” rescues but still be sure to ask questions and everything. most people with “backyards” rescue actually care even though they don’t have the means of keeping or helping all of the horses most is done right out of there pocket and they take very good care of the horses, don’t be suprised with some of the rescues that they actually do sell as well to keep things afloat because without donations they need to do something. but sending people’s horses that you get for free to sales IS NOT one of them! -Kelly it is theft by deception and that is what you do.
I’ve read all the comments and just wanted to say …
1. It doesn’t matter if this is old news; it merits posting on a blog that started with outting faux rescues.
2. If you look up the proper legal wording to file a 501(c)3, have the application fee (ranges 150 to 300 USD) and a lot of time to wait for it to circulate through the IRS bowels, anyone can get approved. If you look at the Board of Directors filed for most rescues, you’ll find family members on there somewhere related to the President. Is that a bad thing? Not if you can justify the financial end of things. Just because someone has an approved 501(c)3 certificate, does not make them legitimate. If they are a legitimate non profit, regardless of their IRS status, they will be able to answer questions and inquiries and should be happy to do it. Every question posed to them comes from a potential donor. If they don’t have time to answer questions, then they need someone on their Board of Directors designated for that job.
3. Not one word on this blog from this entry or any other entry will keep a horse from being rescued regardless of that horses’ physical location. Again, NOT A SINGLE WORD ON THIS BLOG IS RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING A HORSE FROM BEING RESCUED OR PROMOTING IT INTO THE SLAUGHTER PIPELINE.
4. Whether someone has a good or bad experience with AC4H, you can’t deny that it is wrong for a horse dealer to profit from the ‘work’ of a non profit rescue. That is not only ethically wrong, it is illegal. If Christy were brokering the brokers horses separate from actual rescue horses, not under the guise of non profit fundraising and/or under the name of AC4H including a separate account for those “brokered broker owned” horses, it would be legal. But that would make her a horse dealer who runs a rescue selling another horse dealers horses. Brian Moore is a horse dealer. I don’t care if you want to call him a kill buyer but that also falls under the title of horse dealer. He sells horses for many reasons (i.e. slaughter, backyard ponies,etc) but he always sells for the money. If you buy a horse from a horse dealer are you rescuing that horse? No. You are buying a horse from a horse dealer same as you buy groceries from a grocer. If you buy a horse from a horse auction are you rescuing that horse? No. You are buying that horse at an auction.
5. If you look around at ads, local area auctions, racetracks, local properties, etc, you will find more horses that look much worse than auction horses at NH, Camelot and Enumclaw combined. I’ve seen several large (50 plus horses) seizure warrants carried out in the past 8 months. Of those horses, I have seen very few that are in as good condition body weight and injury-wise, as I’ve seen passing through any auction. I’ve seen horses that would be happy to go to slaughter just to end their suffering. I am not pro slaughter but I am trying to say that those that are across the country in states away from AC4H, could save many more horses by looking locally. If you look at your local rescues, you’ll not only help more animals but you’ll probably find a much more ‘open bookkeeping’ way of doing things. And you’ll be able to help those horses from ending up at the border also. You can visit them, help them clean, groom or even help them train those that can be physically and mentally rehabbed. Most will say ” I can’t do that because I would want to take them all home”. Well, knowing them in person, actually helps you help find adopters. You can even help by doing follow up checks and screening new homes from applications. Isn’t that a bit better than giving all that money over to someone for that one $800 horse? I know a local rescue that could feed their 28 horses for a week for that amount of money. You can keep forking money over to AC4H but it would help many more horses if you actually left your computer and all those ” the truck is on it’s way” and ”he’ll die if you don’t give” guilt trip pleas that they make every day of the week!
5. Anne Russek had as much right to write her letter as any one of us have the right to comment on it and as much right as Fugly has to post it on her blog.
Knowmorethanyouthunk, you are not by any chance the poster formerly known as whiskeygirl10 on the ABR board, are you? You say many of the same things as that former poster said but unfortunately their care was even worse. One horse guaranteed safe for life is now for sale, lying about emaciated horses, etc. I found the phrase interesting when whiskeygirl stormed off saying, “I w
Here’s another huge problem with AC4H fundraising. Home offers are “approved,” so people throw money at them, thinking that the horse is safe for life. However, in actuality, the horse has been sold to the flippers like Foxridge Farms, Charming Acres, and others, who turn right around and attempt to sell the horse immediately. So in other words, these people receive the horses off of the backs of the people on ABR who send them their hard earned money, and in return these people see a cash cow.
http://www.foxridgefarm.net/Fox_Ridge_Farm_Sales.html
As recounted earlier, Charming Acres was due to receive two drafts until a sharp eyed person ABR had the two drafts listed for sale before they ever even arrived at her house. Now, Charming Acres Stables go exclusively through AC4H. Now she is proud to announce on one of her horses that the horse “was promptly given away to a good friend of mine!”
http://charmingacresstables.weebly.com/permanent-residents.html
Or of course that she will trade a horse for a trailer, you know, so that she can haul more horses home!
http://www.equinehits.com/rescue.looking.4.horse.trailer~19121
Besides the income, that is a huge problem that I have with these brokers and their “home offers, just need bail.” The horses end up with people like these, as well as HMER of the recent seizure fame, with no guarantee of safety. The names of home offers are not released, for all a person knows the money they send is going to send the horse to one of these horse flippers, and then the process starts all over again.
The problem noted with LuckyAllMyLife not being treated does not end there. Take a look at horses like Classic Zeal, who was shipped to a place in Ohio, and whose bad cut was simply noted to be an unfortunate accident. The pictures that the rescue posted looked a lot more nasty than the ones that AC4H posted, as well. And of course the horse was shipped from New Holland to Ohio after the cut on the leg, which is where the real problem lies. If the horse had been taken off of the lot and into AC4H possession, why couldn’t they give him a layup time at their rescue?
http://forums.delphiforums.com/alexbrown/messages?msg=42790.318
I am sure there are more out there as well. If a horse’s well being cannot be trusted on the part of the rescue, on whom can they depend? Is it worth it just to have the numbers up of numbers of horses saved, when in actuality more than a few end up back at auction?
Knowing how hard we work for our money, is a horse truly safe merely because they have a home offer, and as a donor, are you comfortable knowing that the horse may simply be going to one of these horse flippers, who receive free horses from donations and then turn around and sell them for a 1000 dollars and more, as listed on Fox Ridge Farms website?
Oh, thank you for posting this!! I live in the area of AC4H. I always knew they were a crock and tried to steer people away from dealing with them. Thank you for getting the truth out there! Even the reputible resuces around here have been snowed by Christy. The organization is a total scam. They’ll sell any horse, in any condition, to anyone with cash. Then they have the gall to solicit donations and appeal for money through charity contests! They do absolutely NOTHING to improve the lives of horses though saving, rehabing, or rehoming horses. All they want is a chunk of the cash from the industry.
for those of you thinking i am someone else that posted prior on site. sorry to inform you but i have never commented on Fugly even with another name, i actually only check out Fugly about 1 time a month until i was informed about this of course i had to check it out. i live not too far from AC4H and i know Brian moore and i know what the truth is and Christy gets soo much out of this it is crazy! yeah sure she could make a little BUT she makes a lot and this is not something she should be making money on. she does not really care about the horses as she has so many people thinking. she gets more in donations a year from horse lovers probably more than you and i make from actually working hard and all she has to do is sit back and make up an image for herself and make it look like she cares. Brian for your information does care and will sell anything if he can make a profit off of it even if it is a $50 bill BELIEVE me i know, and why would he care of someone would come to his farm when infact he does fun shows ect at his farm? just because his bitch wife doesn’t want someone to be there that is because she does not want to deal with people… i remember Brians wife telling me before ” we are the real rescue NOT AC4H ” the reason being is because AC4H is just a scam! even horses i have seen that
“appearently got good homes” from AC4H i already seen at another sale already. -so whats the deal there?
there is too much information you do not know but i do! and don’t even back up “Charming Acres Stables” there have been posts about her all over the internet for years about what she has been doing and like i said prior christy knows about Kelly’s bad dealings. i am not dislosing who i am because i do not need the drama. but i am getting tired of hear how good AC4H is when they are NOT .there are plently of people out there in which she SCREWED and how many horses she could’ve helped but didn’t UNLESS it was publically known.
I am usually a Fugly lurker..but this post has urged me to join up proper and reply! I admit that I have no dealings with any of these folks, but this entire transaction is unsettling on numerous accounts- most of which have been already pointed out so I won’t go there.
” Brian for your information does care and will sell anything if he can make a profit off of it even if it is a $50 bill BELIEVE me i know, and why would he care of someone would come to his farm when infact he does fun shows ect at his farm? just because his bitch wife doesn’t want someone to be there that is because she does not want to deal with people… i remember Brians wife telling me before †we are the real rescue NOT AC4H †the reason being is because AC4H is just a scam! even horses i have seen that”
@knowmorethanuthink- If any of this statement is even partly true.. it doesn’t make sense.
#1 Anyone that is ruled by money (ie will sell ANYTHING for a quick profit) does NOT care about said object- be it a horse or a $50 bill. They care only for the profit. If he gets your money in hand for a horse, it’s yours..no matter if you have a suitable farm or not. Did he even check to see if you had a farm? Does he care if this horse is going to a forever home, or gonna be flopped again to another kill buyer? He’s made his profit, so what’s he care? Get what I’m sayin’?
#2 It’s a bit strange to me that a gent of his nature holds “fun shows”. I admit that I don’t know him personally, so perhaps I am completely offbase in determining his nature… but given all that I’ve read thusfar, well again- there’s definitely a few red flags IMO.
#3 “i remember Brians wife telling me before †we are the real rescue NOT AC4H †the reason being is because AC4H is just a scam! ” If Brian’s wife told you this, why is her husband still working so closely with this “rescue” group??? Why not work with an honorable, true rescue? Perhaps see #1 and even #2 above. I’m smellin’ greed.
I’ve checked out Christy’s website…specifically the “Available” horses. I was shocked to see the first pic I clicked on, have a now familiar name jump out at me: (FHOTD in: the pics don’t link, you have to click) http://www.ac4h.com/DSC04001.JPG I don’t know if this is him (again, never dealt with these folks)..but as I browsed further, this gent seems to be in quite a few of her pictures. http://www.ac4h.com/DSC04206.JPG If it is in fact the same Brian Moore- they DO work closely together (again strange, if his wife deems AC4H as a “scam”).
On that point I think everyone agrees. They pick out the horses that can make them a buck, or several bucks, such as the case may be, and then shuffle them off to their “pre approved home offers,” who can then make their own money off of it.
And on another level of crazy, a new rescue has shown up on the ABR moneytrain with whom Fugly is familiar. Cajun Country Ranch?
This is quite ironic, but I hope someone can put my mind at ease. Someone I work with is selling a nice-looking Appaloosa gelding. I looked up the horse’s sire (mostly to see what I had learned from this blog) and up popped a story about this very same “rescue” and person. (I hope this link works)
http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/bronze-medallion-appaloosa-mare-and-foal-saved-from-slaughter-pipeline
Is there any way to find out what happened to this one?
Hmm makes you wonder where Flying Fortess is now, huh?
Well Hello Lisa Amarino. I had wondered where you had disappeared to. Imagine my surprise when I found out the real story today. LMAO By the way, Flying Fortress… aka.. Daisy is alive and well and living on my farm. I have allowed her to be a horse for a change, instead of a machine to make money for others. Is that so wrong? Just because I don’t have pictures of her posted on my Facebook account does NOT mean that I don’t have her. Instead of snooping, you could have emailed me directly and asked. I have nothing to hide.
Hello AWetPaperBag, We need to talk ASAP. Please email me at stophorseslaughter2010@yahoo.com. Thanks!
Carig,
I am the owner of Revalette and her colt, who I named Rebel. He was weaned on August 8th. They are alive and well on my farm, as is Flying Fortress (who I call Daisy). I have pictures of them posted on my Facebook. Why are you questioning that I still have them?
Sheesh! I happened to come across the news story in an search unrelated to this post. I don’t know how to search a horse’s owner and there was no searching for them on facebook (aka “snooping”). I just saw the name I recognized from this blog and wondered. I don’t know who “Lisa Amarino” is, but I can assure you, I am not she. Take a chill pill, for gawd’s sake.
Dear Carig,
I never said that you were Lisa Amarino. I only addressed your post once, and I even put your name on it. The other post was for the very real Lisa Amarino..aka AWetPaperBag. The ‘snooping’ was directed at her, and not you. Sorry you thought that post was for you, as it was not.
You wanted to know what happened ‘to this one’, meaning the mare and colt in the link that you provided and I answered you in the post directed to you. I own them. If the sire is the same one as my colt, I can answer or try to answer questions about him as I have talked to both his original breeder and his current owners, who both are extremely nice people.
Sorry you were confused about the posts!
I got a horse from AC4H in April. The horse was sick, Should not have shipped to me (I’m glad she did cause she would have died) I mean 106 temp, didnt think she would make it thru the night sick. No one from AC4H even called to make sure she made it alright. I deleted them from my FB and havent heard from them since, no one has contacted me since the minute she left New Holland. Charming Acres was bad mouthing me because I got upset with them when they took 2 mini mares and insisted one was pregnant and said “there are no vets around here so we are going to wait and see what happens” So I said, “HEY! I am a vet tech, I will find you a vet.” She started telling people to be “weary” of me I guess its because I actually have a vet? I guess they dont need vets to help their mares foal (6 since april I believe 3 have died durring foaling or soon after)
My name is Tammy, I live in NJ. I once bought a lame TB named Dah Waterboy from one of my boarders (yes, I owned a small boarding farm) to save him from the auction (he lives on a nice farm with The Excellor Fund now) I really haven’t read the comments for this blog past about the first 100 or so, so I don’t know what has been said since then. I can’t believe I am being attacked on this blog for stating my opinion. I love the fugly blog and I think Kathy does a lot of good. All I really wanted was some facts, not just hearsay, and that makes me a fraud? What’s up with that? So sorry, I had a good experience with AC4H. Oh the horror of it all!
I hear that AC4H doesn’t check up on their horses. They did with me and with 2 of my friends. I hear that they are dishonest with their money. Fine, can you show me how? Sorry if I can’t just dump everything I have invested in this rescue because some people I don’t even know say so. Give me some facts! If I knew nothing about a rescue and started to support it because commenters on a blog said it was reputable, then I’d be an idiot, dontcha think? But if I don’t drop all association with an organization that I HAVE checked out because some commenters on a blog say I should, then I’m a fraud.
By the way, I originally only googled “Christy Sheidy”, “AC4H” and “Another Chance 4 Horses”. I took your advice and I googled AC4H scam and I got quite a few hits. But what I found were blogs and forums talking about this blog & about the letter. There were 3 that told their stories and when they mentioned sending money via paypal in advance, they wondered if it was a scam, but things turned out ok. Still nothing concrete. So help me out here.
When I first wrote this comment, I put my full name and town, but then I got worried that some of the haters on here might find my e-mail or worse, my phone number, and I have 3 kids to worry about. So sad.
Anyone harassing anyone over an internet discussion needs to grow the fuck up – that said, I don’t recommend anyone put their personal information out there for the Internet to see.
Different opinions are welcomed here as long as they don’t cross the line to flat out “you’re an idiot” pointless drivel.
I’m sure they do check on some of their horses. They have to at least check on a few just incase someone questions. There is a woman who lives the next town over from me that adopted an AC4H horse. Not a broker horse, an adoption of a paint gelding. She sold the horse, he came back to her in awful condition, she fixed him up, sold him again and the man she sold him to just sold him again to a supposed “good home”. Considering this woman has had to remove numerous horses from the “good homes” she’s sold them to, I’d have to say I feel horrible for horses going out under their “contracts” or “first right of refusals”. With the sheer volume of horses they sell…err, I mean “adopt” out, please pray tell, explain to me HOW they’re checking on all of them. THEY’RE NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also know a girl in Long Island that got a horse through AC4H. The horse was very dangerous and AC4H would have nothing to do with taking him back. Quite a few others that have had issues with returning horses to AC4H…oh, they’ll list them for you on their site, but rarely will they take one back. They care about the horses, sure they do. And I’ll sell you a bridge.
Has anyone read the news story now circulating about them and Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue in Florida fighting and blaming each other for the man that didn’t get paid for all of the PMU babies that they purchased to sell? What a fiasco. Great rescues, haha. There is also a new post on ABR from Penell Hopkins (I think that is her name) who was the previous AC officer for NH. Seems AC4H brought some horses into New Holland that were in pretty bad shape, but AC4H wouldn’t give up the info of where the horses came from so something could be done. Yet, she’ll “educate” everyone on how to contact AC and what to do. BAHAHA!
And isn’t this Kelly from Charming Acres the same Kelly that was videotaped helping load horses for one of the kill buyers? Birds of a feather and all.
Scam, plain and simple. All of these people aren’t saying all of this just because we have nothing better to do.
Hi Tammy, Lulu, and associates…If you need PROOF PROOF PROOF that Christy SHADY is evil horse killer scam n’ swindler liar scum…please feel free to contact me at stophorseslaughter2010@yahoo.com. Endless oceans of thievery!!! Check her record!!
All those that know ANYTHING about MUNITION…please contact me. Thanks!
Anne-you did not rescue “your baby”. AC4H did because if they had not contacted you he would be hanging from a hook right now or bashing his head on the low roof of a double decker. I have purchased five animals with the assistance of AC4H. Three off the broker page and one from AC4H. You will find them on the “placed” pages of both AC4H and the broker page. “Fawkes” TB gelding from AC4H-now foxhunting. “William” 21 year old TB gelding off the broker page-now foxhunting as the Field Masters horse with me. “Templeton” aged pony gelding. Doing nothing but fat and sassy-arthritic from a life time of hauling the Amish around. Off the broker page. “Tater” two year old intact donkey (now gelded) and ground driving ready to be started with a cart-owned by me. “Angus” aka Trace-from AC4H-aged 14.3 draft cross. Foxhunted today with me and perfect-will probably be used as a juniors guest horse. Will never leave me. None of them will.
I have been to both AC4H office and their farm (leased) in case people are picturing a palatial spread bought with blood money stolen from TB owners who are trying to rescue their babies. The farm is very nice. Their home is a very modest split level with their dining room/living room devoted to AC4H. In other words showing the wear and tear of running a rescue 24/7. Their trailers are wearing out. Actually Christie and Rick are wearing out. I have picked up horses at New Holland from them. Since I picked them up on auction day I assumed that is easiest for them since they are their to buy horses and bring horses to new owners on their way there. Rick looks exhausted.
No one would do what they do for the money. I have met their two daughters also both at the house and farm. On a Saturday all four of them were present showing horses. I am from New York-I am an excellent judge of character-and these peope are genuine.
Do I suspect that some of the horses are purchased by the brokers with the thought that someone seeing them on the AC4H Broker page will purchase them-no doubt. The aged pony I purchased off the brtoker page could not have ended up there for any other reason. He was pathetic. Who cares? I paid $50 for him. He now lives with me forever. He was not “shot and disposed of” at New Holland and the broker made $50. Everybody is happy. Did I ever worry about who my paypal payment went to or I made my check out to? Never entered my mind-I have the animal. Do my coggins list the owner as AC4H-yes. Who the F cares. Would I have liked to have gone to the Broker’s lot and had the opportunity to ride some of the animals listed there? Sure. Do I understand why I could not. Yes. Please go to the Canter site I bleieve it is about dealing with the New Holland brokers, employees, etc. It relates the difficulty negotiating that network when several specific TBs were being run thru the auction and their purchase from kill buyers was being attempted. I believe it was Canter. It is not that hard to find if it isn’t Canter. The New Holland auction is not receptive to outsiders.
Anne YOU did not rescue your “baby”. You were notified that he was at risk through the TB ID network of AC4H and told how to get him back. All the horrible things that happened to him did not happen at AC4H-they also did not happen at the Broker. They happened as he spiraled down the familiar drain which sucks down way too many TBs who are simply too slow to be profitable-they happened with the person who thought they could make a buck off him by selling him as a show horse, they happened as he failed to thrive in his new role of $500 trash from cared for even low level race horse. It happened each time he changed hands and was tossed in a trailer. It for sure happened when he was driven down the aisles by the auction employees and crammed into a pen with a bunch of other stressed horses.
But AC4H and the Broker for that matter, were not responsible for any of that. Everyone involved with your “baby”
since he was a baby until he hit New Holland is responsible for that. No one else.
So shut the F up. I have met them. I have seen their facilities. They have those so touted on this site “before and after” photos. They work like dogs. Do they check references-absolutely-mine were all called. Do they ask for “success storeis” to post-yes-Fawke’s is up there. Do they deal constantly with the sleazy closed underbelly of New Holland? Yes. Do they know more about it than the rest of us and how best to negotiate it-yes. Do I respect that-yes.
Anne though protest too much. Accept the responsibilty that everyone of you that has had any dealing with this horse up to his ending uup in New Holland has. And realize that without the intervention of AC4H and yes the Broker who thought he could make a buck off this horse through the audience he has through AC4H-your horse would have b een lost. And you and all the people that put him there would be blissfullly ignorant of where this animal actually ended up. Accept your responsibilty in the situation this horse ended up in. And accept the fact that where you failed, AC4H stepped into what is so obviously a thankless job.
At this time I will stop visiting the fugly site which I must admit I have followed, and recomended for quite some time. Now no tears-I won’t see your scathing remarks. But I won’t cease my recomending AC4H as a hardworking private rescue that I have seen and met personally as a very worthy very necessary cause. I have had such success with the animals I have received from them that I will never get a horse from anyone else.
Like someone said over on COTH, it seems to me CS is working for the KB and receiving a commission to pump out these horses to a sympathetic public. Too many horses have left her care without being treated for various issues like the woman who posted above me will confirm. A true and honest rescue organization that puts the horses first would never let that happen.
It seems more and more “rescues” are the horse’s worst enemies so many times
Helping a killbuyer make a profit through emotional blackmail . Yeah her horse ended up safe because of this deal but when is going to sink in that the end justify the means .
He made some money off of her went out and bought twice as many horses to send to slaughter.
The rescue is adding to his bottom line and buying power instead of trying to beat him to the horses.
dang I meant when is it going to sink in that the end DOES NOT justify the means
Anne DOES rock – she helped me get my TB back from a bad lease situation.
Bwahhh hahahahahahahahahahaahahaha!!!!!!!!!!! Hell, I’ve been calling these people “Another Chance To Make A Buck” for years! They don’t call them Rick and Christy SHADY for nothing you know! I’ve got some choice stories about them.
Bwahahahaha! I like your name for them even better!
http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20040503/024553.html
Now there’s a story. This wasn’t just happening in Ga though. They were shipping sick foals all over the country. Rick and Christy came to Ga to do “damage control”. When they went back to Pa, they took the medications the vet had left to treat the foals with!
I don’t understand the pedestal they have this woman on over at ABR. I got banned just for asking questions over there. I was even accused of being Anne Russek in alias, of having an agenda, asked how many horses I had rescued, etc., etc. What really gets me is that it appears from conversations I have had with others who have had dealings with Christy, is that she apparently loves to threaten people who question her “protocal”. She will drag your name through the dirt if you question any aspect of the way she does business. You will be responsible for the deaths of thousands of horses if you wonder just where all the money goes.
Not quite the picture painted by lulu and her other supporters.
I was watching that exchange and wondering when they would pull the plug on you. I left there some time ago. In fact, it was after the Morgan broker horse issue where I specifically donated for day care and they applied it to broker fee. Christy was fully aware where that donation was to go, as they were fundraising for day care, and that I do NOT support her broker partnership, but posted my donation on her site as bail. She never responded when I pointed all this out to her.
She is nasty, rude and unprofessional. I have all the emails and have screen printed her conversations with me. Of all the times I’ve been at New Holland, NObody was able to verify that she was there and point her out to me. Yet, she tells the people she’s begging money from that she attends ALL these auctions. BS. If so, why is she not saving the horses that are suffering there instead of working to sell horses with the Moore’s? Seen too many horses at NH that DID needs rescuing, but nobody were there to help. Sad, because that’s what a rescue should be rescuing.
Christy is protected over there. She moves a large number of horses thru ABR which makes the forum look highly successful. People have been banned for less then she has posted there.
Believe me, you don’t need that board. There are other places that are more responsible with what they are doing with horses. Plus, leaving the drama on that board reduces stress!
I’m glad this came out about AC4H. We have more info on her, but not time to share.
I guess there are some very dishonest people posting over there and some others that prefer to keep their heads in the sand. Funny how they will go after others, like the Facebook people, but not Christy. They were going on and on about FB people donating to “individuals” and not 501c3s or “real” rescues and then we had the whole HMER thing and now this about AC4H, so who is real?
I’ll check in on ABR every now and then just to see what they are talking about, but I’m not going to post on there any more. Lost all respect for them over this. I’m visiting a local rescue here in VA tomorrow that seems to be doing some good work and I’ll stick with helping people I can visit in person.
That’s the advice I give everybody…donate LOCAL. My exception is that I’m all for donating to the GFAS accredited rescues because I’m familiar with the process and trust me, you can adopt a CHILD easier than you can get GFAS accredited. If a rescue gets the GFAS nod, they’re definitely OK!
So is there anyway to actually save/adopt a horse you see on their site? AT this point I pretty much realize it’s a scam and that Christy Sheidy is NOT a good person. The real shame here is that there are living breathing animals involved in this spider web of greed. And of course, I fell in love with a picture and video of mare through ( I guess one of her friends) a picture on face book. It was posted on Thursday and basically said her “bail was 375 or she goes to slaughter on Monday. I filled out the adoption form and wiaver liability form and Christie seems to just keep asking me to send her money. I’ve told her over and over again that I will bring cash or a certified check on Monday when I pick her up but that under no circumstances will I pay for an animal I don’t even know exists! This is 2010 and I am not an idiot. I am not sending money to ANYONE over the internet unless they are a secure retailer. Why would they keep asking for the money up front if I am willing to drive ALL THE WAY there to hand deliver it to them? And of course they can not even answer any questions about he horse. I understand with “rescues” that sometimes the answer is I don’t know but Fishy details emerged right away when her friend on face book put “free or discounted shipping” under the horse, but then when I asked about the free shipping a BS reply was posted “Shannon Lack-to fundraise they have to be approved with rescue”…ok so there’s not free or discounted shipping. I thought “no big deal” I have a trailer I will just drive the 4 hours and go pick her up. So I sent another email saying “I sent in the required forms with my references, vet phone and farrier contact information and I would like to pick her up on Monday.” I was sent back the same forms with instructions on how to pay her. Basically I’m just trying to get a yes you can come get her or not so I know what I’m doing on Monday and all I get is ” This is how you send us money.”…..
I got a horse from the broker lot. Communication was sporadic at times but everything got done. I am not commenting one way or the other on things I know nothing about, nor have had personal experiences with. I can only tell you that everything happened as promised, but I did not question the system they have established. When you buy a horse in this manner, you are going to take a giant leap in the dark with no promises on what you are getting. This is not a situation where you can handle things as you wish. I am guessing that the reason you were asked for more and more funds might be the extra fees that they disclose on the website under what to do like the hauling fee and health cert. If you are uncomfortable with that (I was petrified) you can choose as one person said, local rescues who have evaluated the horse etc. The AC4H website does state this. I felt that what I paid was fair (for transport etc.) and I would not have wanted to visit the lot myself and see sights I may not soon forget. I also appreciated help there to load if needed, etc. I will say that if Christy took the time to go into great detail and accomodate all different situations then she would not be able to do this I am sure. I can also say that she lives unbelievably modestly as I have been not only to her house to pick up the horse but inside to use the restroom (very long drive). I also had the horse quarentined with her rescue and she took pics and gave me updates for the 3 weeks he was there. Could she be getting too close to the broker? I don’t know. It’s a hard line to walk to befriend someone to get the program continued and yet know that they are who they are. I look at it this way. Regardless of the situation, somehow these horses do need better homes. Rescues are overflowing. It’s all heartbreaking, especially the fate the horses face if they get on that kill truck. I am a coward who cannot bear to go to the auctions because I would cry the whole time. I am FOR anyone who helps get them out, and that’s the bottom line. It’s about the horses, period, for me.
P.S. The horse I got is a total sweetheart, sound (knock on wood), and I love him dearly. He was somewhat thin and had worms and long (but great) feet. He had APHA papers (found later and sent to me as promised) and I tracked down his breeder in Wisconsin who was heartbroken that she sold him and he ended up there, and elated that he now has a great, forever home. We are keeping in touch and I have a new long distance friend. Believe me, I understand this could have gone VERY BADLY. I knew I was taking a big chance. I may get one more in the future and I am not sure how I will do that. There is also the Camelot site that just takes pics and gives observation comments, and gives you the number of the feedlot person and you buy directly from him. You can check out their website at http://www.nj-feedlot-horse-rescue.com/. Everything is explained there. They list quarentine sites and haulers. That is a more direct buy so to speak but you don’t get a video of how they move, etc. You are buying from the kill buyer who will sell any of the horses for $50 profit over what they paid. Then as always there is quarentine, health cert. and transporatation costs etc. etc., all explained on that website. It is also farther up north than New Holland, but the same bad situation.
I dont know if anyone will read this. I am the newbie here. I am the new victim of her slander, extortion, emotional blackmail and lies. I received a phone call from a woman last week startling and shocking me into tears about a horse that was twice sold and the orginal owner is a family member is mine. I asked her were the horse is and Rosell said that I will have to call her boss Christy and ask her because she is not allowed to give out this information. She also informed me to look at her website and I will see pictures of him. As I was on the phone with her I saw the pictures. Then my bullshit meter went off. I have an excellent bullshit meter that is never ever wrong. I asked her if her company had the horse. She said no, it is not owned by AC4H and they do not have him at there farm. So I said, your telling me that you want me to send you money to save this horse but you cant tell me were he is? She said yes that is correct. I said you have all these pictures up and you somehow found our home phone number but you cant tell me were he is. She said that is correct. I said I cannot give money to you hoping that it goes to the horse. I have to know it does. I also said, if you tell me were he is I am sure something can be worked out. She said, its your choice what you want to do about this but i will tell you it is our choice to call up the racing officals and let them know you send your horses to slaughter and have your racing lisensed pulled. I told her he was sold in a private direct sale 2 years ago. She said, im sorry i am busy and i have to get back to work now, you need to call my boss. I called Christy a number of times during that day. Of course she didnt return my call. She has some lady Lisa call me back. She was very rude and said she cant tell me were the horse is. I asked her if he was at Brian Moores, the name i got after some research, never met the man and she said no. Then later on she said he was there. I did some digging and i found his number. i spoke to his wife and i told her what happened. she said it wasnt right for anyone to speak to us that way and she will talk to christy about it. hmm, they must be friendly. anyway she said she didnt have him. so, back to square one. she also had given out my phone number and had all these crazy people calling me. Not all crazy but a few. She also posted my first and last names on an open forum putting our lives in danger. we dont need peta type people coming here and bothering us. this whole thing turned into one scary mess. i receive two blocked threatening calls saying we are going to slaughter, not the horse. when my family member was at his place of business saturday many people aproached him to let him know what is being said about him, the lies. pretty scary that people out here knew about it. anyone thats anyone knows this is all lies. we are not pro-slaughter, the man we sold him to must have sold him out like this and we sold him 2 years ago. we have checked up on him and we were told everything was fine. as a matter of fact he was called a month ago by my family member and he said everything was fine. I took it upon myself to call and inquir about her charity status to make sure everything was on the up and up. this is public knowlage by the way. well the man from the burea of charitys said she was registarted legally anymore. not since may 15th 2011 and it is illegal for her to solict her business, ask for donations in anyway, except money under ac4h or for anyother reason if it is sold to people as a donation. wow. holy shit shes a fraud. my family member is a well respected kind, good horsman and anyone that matters to us know this so she cant bash his name, she cannot have is lisensed pulled but it is scary knowing there are people running loose like this out there. on that open forum thing she asked were one of our other horses are. she is scary. its none of her business. whos to say or not to say were he is. im not telling because im afraid she will steal him, not kidding. she took this so far, so deep and she was so evil about this it is really unbelievable. she really tried to mess with my family members lively hood. she really did. all because we didnt send money. i feel like i was in that movie phone booth. well i did call my local PD and i hope it stopped her from haressing us. we are doing our own looking for this horse. i hope we find him. i hope so. she said on her he is going to srf and i hope its true. but how can she sell a horse for 600 and she doesnt even own him? how can she have her workers call us at home like this? how can she slander and threaten us? how does she have the balls to do all this and not be a legal company? crazy shit people.
I’m more than happy to look into this person for you, email me at jhuntington@cowhorseart.com
just curious if any updates on these scumbag so called rescues and is this the same kelly that was in the news because someone cut off one of her horses tails if so maybe it was a pissed off person warning her to stop her antics.