BRATTLEBORO — A Windham County Superior Court judge has ordered the forfeiture of 13 “severely underweight” horses seized by authorities this summer from Townshend’s Friesians of Majesty farm.
“This court concludes that the evidence clearly and convincingly establishes that each horse was subjected to neglect because the horse was deprived of necessary medical attention or adequate food or shelter,” Judge John Treadwell wrote this week in a 39-page ruling.
On July 19, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department executed a search warrant at the property — which bills itself as “the largest full-service Friesian breeding and training facility in the United States” — after receiving a complaint of mistreated animals.
Once there, authorities took 13 of the farm’s 100 horses, “as they were the ones in the poorest physical condition and whose long-term welfare was in jeopardy,” Windham County State’s Attorney Tracy Kelly Shriver wrote in a court petition for forfeiture.
At a court hearing last month, state game warden David Taddei repeated what he had said in an affidavit, recounting “many horses living in very poor conditions, such as paddocks with deep mud, dirty drinking water, and some with no shelter.”
“Many of the horses were very thin,” Taddei continued. “Several of the horses had a condition called ‘rain rot.’ Several of the horses had hooves that had clearly not been trimmed in a long time.”
Shriver submitted photos of the horses taken just after seizure and then two months later, each having gained what she said was between 80 and 110 pounds.
Shriver asked the court to order the farm to relinquish the horses now under the care of foster families and the nonprofit Dorset Equine Rescue and to reimburse the groups for their costs.
Friesians of Majesty owner Robert Labrie, taking the stand in his own defense, countered that the horses were underweight not because of neglect but instead a combination of tooth abscesses, a Lawsonia bacterial infection and nearly a month of wet weather.
Labrie had filed a motion to suppress the state’s warrant and return his horses. But Treadwell decided otherwise in this week’s ruling.
“Given the observations of the horses, the record, thus, establishes that the horses — with one exception — were severely underweight and had been exposed to the elements,” the judge wrote. “Some — but not all — were suffering from emergent medical conditions. Some — but not all — had severe skin conditions.”
Treadwell concluded by calling for the forfeiture “to the humane society or to other appropriate individuals to be identified by further order.”
Labrie didn’t reply Wednesday to a request for comment.
