The venerable circuit court of Goochland County was
filled with horse lovers on April 3,4, and 5 for the bench trial of Byrd
Rareshide of Columbia on 13 separate Class 1 misdemeanor counts of animal
cruelty. The Hon. Timothy K. Sanner, Chief Judge of the 16th Circuit, found Rareshide,
who pleaded not guilty on all counts, guilty on charges for horses Patrick,
Ruby, Opal, Loki, and Terra. Sentencing will be on May 24.
Goochland is horse country. By some accounts, there
are more horses than children here. Equine facilities are central to our rural
character.
Rareshide was represented by prominent Richmond
defense attorney Craig Cooley.
In early 2023, the horse community was stunned by seemingly
skeletal images posted on social media of well-loved animals past their prime
entrusted to Rareshide’s retirement facility. Within a few days, many, if not
all, of those horses were removed from Rareshide’s 100-acre farm in Columbia
and transported to equine rehab facilities to begin “refeeding” regimens to reverse
the effects of alleged starvation.
These refeeding protocols introduce nutrition slowly
to avoid causing colic, which can be deadly.
Goochland Commonwealth’s Attorney John Lumpkins guided
eleven witnesses through almost two days of testimony. These included horse
owners and veterinarians who had treated horses at Rareshide’s farm.
Owners testified that the horses entrusted to
Rareshide’s care were like family members who had given them years of joy. In
their prime they were all equine athletes, show horses, hunter jumpers and a
polo pony. Like their human counterparts, horses reach a point where age and injuries
take their toll and they can no longer compete, but, with proper care, can
enjoy a quiet retirement. Owners sent their horses—several live out of state, traveling
from places like Massachusetts and Kansas to testify—to Rareshide whose website
promised “. three large pastures to accommodate the dynamics of the individual
horses. Byrd puts hands on each horse three (or more) times each day.”
The testimony explained that horses put out to pasture
need a period of adjustment, typically a year, to thrive while living outdoors,
deriving nourishment from grazing on grass, with shelter provided by three
sided “run in” barns. During their working life, horses tend to be kept in
barns when not working and provided with adequate food.
The defense argued that when horses kept outside lose
weight in winter and regain it in spring when grass begins to grow it is
“mother nature’s way”. The Goochland
Animal Protection officer that visited Rareshide’s farm in response to a call
concerned about the condition of horses there said they look like “horses
coming out of winter” in early February 2023, a least a month before grass
typically breaks dormancy.
Concern about the condition of the animals led GAP to
contact the state veterinarian, which must be consulted to seize animals. This
happened over a weekend. However, by Monday, owners began to remove their
horses, so the matter was not pursued by animal protection.
Cooley contended that the horses in Rareshide’s care
were never without food or water.
The testimony included an explanation of horse
metabolism. Eating hay plays a vital role in keeping a horse warm as well as
providing nutrition, sort of stoking its internal furnace. Lack of hay impeded
this process so horses cannot keep themselves warm.
Veterinarian Dr. Katherine Burke Johnson, owner of Veterinary
Rehabilitation Services of Virginia in Gordonsville, a “step down unit” for
animal care, took in seven horses from Rareshide’s farm in early February 2023.
She said that all horses were extremely thin, and testified that when horses are
hungry, they eat things like wood and sand.
Johnson explained that body condition scoring (BCS) is
a method of estimating the amount of fat on a horse’s body on a scale of 1 to
9. It is used to estimate a horse’s
nutritional status.
Johnson testified that of the horses that came to her
clinic, Opal, with a BCS of 1 was the weakest. She was depressed, not reactive
to her surroundings, stood with her head down, had no normal gut motility, was
dehydrated, had no appetite, had nothing in her system to move through. She responded
well to the refeeding protocols and was a BCS 3 on the day she left. She had
grown a heavy coat, but when it was shed Opal had no hair underneath.
Another horse, Patrick, arrived with a BCS of 2, and
was also dull, depressed, not interested in eating. He gained 80 pounds in 14 days
but had developed a permanent heart murmur.
Cooley contended that the horses were old with bad
teeth and unable to eat properly. Johnson said that if detention was the problem,
the horses would not have been able to respond to the refeeding as well and
fast as they did.
Veterinarian Blythe Jones of the Keswick Equine Clinic
testified that she visited Rareshide’s farm to check on Loki, whose face was
reported swollen by Rareshide. Loki, said Jones, was so thin that his face
looked swollen by comparison. She categorized the horse as emaciated, that he
was weak and his vital signs “quite concerning”. Loki’s BCS was 1.5. His skin
was “draped over his bones” with no muscle. Jones said it seemed like Loki was
using all of his energy to stay alive and was not sure he would have survived
much longer if he remained at Rareshide’s farm.
Jones said she told Rareshide she was concerned that
Loki’s internal organs were in too poor a condition for him to live. Rareshide
told Jones that she could handle Loki if it was just a feeding problem.
Jones testified that she took blood and fecal samples
to check for parasites. Loki was so weak that he did not need to be sedated when
she examined his teeth, which had no sharp points to prevent eating. She found dirt
packed in his mouth, which she said was evidence of lack of food but no
evidence of hay whatsoever.
The pastures at Rareshide’s farm were in poor condition,
Jones testified, contending that Rareshide did not “throw hay” to the horses
unless there was snow on the ground.
Cooley contended that Loki had not spent a full year
outside and was still in the transition process.
Annie Spencer, owner of Ruby, who had been at areshide’s
farm since 2019, traveled to Goochland from Massachusetts to testify.
“Ruby was my baby for her entire life. I wanted to
make sure she had a comfortable retirement. She gave me so much I wanted to
give her everything.” Rareshide’s Virginia farm, where winters were milder than
those in New England, seemed like a good retirement option, said Spencer. She
said, in response to a question from Cooley, that Ruby’s weight had waxed and
waned with the seasons. Spencer visited Ruby in 2019 and was satisfied with
conditions at that time.
Spencer and other horse owners testified that they had
regular communications about their animals with Rareshide, including photos
usually via text.
Over the years, Spencer received periodic updates
about Ruby mostly via text. When Rareshide recommended medical or other care,
Spencer agreed and paid the invoices at once with no question. On February 8,
2023, Spencer received a call “out of the blue” from the Keswick Equine Clinic
about concerns for horses at Rareshide’s farm.
About this time Spencer was notified that Rareshide
changed veterinary practices to Woodside Equine. While she thought the switch
was odd, it raised no alarm bells. Then Spencer was told that Ruby might have
colic, which can be fatal for horses. Spencer, pregnant at the time, was unable
to travel, but worked with another horse owner to have Ruby transported to Johnson’s
rehab facility, where she recovered.
Debbie Calvin, who traveled to court from Overland
Park, Kansas said she had no reason not to trust the judgement of Rareshide,
who had an excellent and long-standing reputation among the horse community. Then
Calvin saw social media posts about horses at Rareshide’s farm. When she zoomed
in on a cell phone photo of her horse sent by Rareshide, the horse seemed to be
skin and bones. “What the hell have you done to my horse?” Calvin asked Rareshide,
who replied that the horse was fine but had just lost some weight.
When vet Dr. McDaniel saw the horse, she was
pronounced “in rough shape” Calvin told the vet to get her horse off of
Rareshide’s farm as soon as possible, that cost was not an object, “if she
lives through the night.” Calvin immediately flew to Virginia and said that the
horse looked worse in person. “She was skin and bones, could not eat or
swallow.” Following appropriate treatment, the horse has recovered, is doing
well and is lucky to be alive, Calvin said.
Grace Maxwell of Henrico became involved after seeing
the photos of the horses on social media and offered her horse trailer to help
move the horses. On February 9, she picked up Ruby and Finch from Rareshide’s
farm. “Ruby was very underweight and in worse condition.” Maxwell was concerned
that Ruby would not be able to remain upright for the trip from Columbia to
Johnson’s facility in Gordonsville. “I wanted to make sure that Ruby didn’t die
there.”
Reams of texts between owners and Rareshide about the
condition of the horses and photos were entered into evidence. Both the Commonwealth
and Cooley questioned whether some of the photos had been manipulated. A photo
of Ruby, for instance, wearing a blanket to allegedly disguise her thinness was
explained as needed for cold weather by Cooley.
The prosecution rested on Thursday afternoon.
Defense witnesses said that Rareshide was an experienced
horse person dedicated to helping horses however she could. Her hay and feed
suppliers testified that she bought a lot of feed and hay. In fact, the hay
supplier said he thought Rareshide bought more hay than she needed for 10
horses. He was unaware that she was caring for 25 horses. He said there was
plenty of hay and feed in the barn where Rareshide’s horses were kept. Other
horses in the barn were also well cared for.
Evidence as presented that Rareshide drill seeded her
pastures in September 2022.
One witness testified that the winer cycle of thinness
is beneficial to pasture horses because when the grass comes in they “blow up” and
gain weight, which can result in dangerous strain on their feet. The witness contended
that healthy horses should show some ribs and that lower BCS are better than
higher. When older horses are overweight, she said, it puts more strain on arthritic
joints and could lead to excessive sugar in a horse’s diet causing other problems.
Rareshide took the stand on Friday afternoon. Her demeanor
was confident, relaxed, and gossipy as she talked about each of the horses in
question, their personality quirks, and herd dynamics, and specific needs. She
also explained, in great detail, how she deployed hay in the pastures by dispersing
“flakes” around the field to keep the horses moving. She contended that each
horse got 4 to 5 flakes of hay up to four times per day.
Rareshide said that if pasture boarded horses do not
hold weight in winter, she supplemented their diet with grain. When horses come
from the barn, she said, their first winter in pasture is the hardest because they
are not used to the elements and lose muscle mass because they are no longer
working. She said that it is hard to keep weight on older horses.
Cooley said these horses are “an ornament not to be
ridden.”
Nine-quart grain buckets and a muzzle used to restrict
the amount of grass a fat horse can eat were presented to the court. Rareshide said
she used the buckets for feeding alfalfa pellets, grain and other nutritional
supplements to the horses, following daily individual schedules.
Rareshide said that Christmas 2022 was “really cold,
the temperature was five degrees.” She made sure “everyone” had hay and observed
that once you start (feeding hay) the horses won’t let you stop. She testified that
she fed 55–60-pound bales of alfalfa hay daily.
Lumpkins’ cross examination focused on the non-profit foundation
Rareshide established in 2022. She said it was to offer a way to fund veterinary
and other care for which owners were unable to budget. The foundation was
deemed inactive for failure to pay fees. Lumpkins pointed out that several of
the owners testified that they considered “money no object” for their retired
horses.
Cooley contended that Rareshide’s “natural” approach
to pasture horses was sound and attributed weight loss to natural decline even
though expert testimony by veterinarians said the horses were emaciated and
skin and bones. He contended that the horses, many in dire condition, removed from
Rareshide’s farm in early February of 2023, would have gained weight “on the
cusp of spring,” which was still a month in the future.
