Rescued Horse Fighting for Life

by Amy Hudock

David MacDougall of The Post and Courier reports that Angel, one of two horses rescued this week from a home in Mt. Pleasant, is struggling for her life.  She is being treated at the Shambley Equine Clinic, and it is estimated that her treatment will cost around $2000.  An unidentified woman has offered to give the horse a home, but she can't also afford to pay the full vet bill, and is looking for help.  You can send donations to LEARN Horse Rescue.

As I mentioned in my last blog post on this rescue, the mare was found down and unresponsive while tied to a cinderblock in a field.  She and her stallion companion had no food or water, and the heat index was high.  I provided a link to a video interview with a volunteer from LEARN Horse Rescue, who was clearly moved. The owner of the land, Rufus Manigault Jr, was charged with animal abuse, and the horse owner was not found yet.

Since my last post, Manigault was found not guilty.  The owner of the horses, Benjamin Elbert of Hook Lane, Mt. Pleasant, was charged $500 each horse for animal abuse.  However, I think they both got off far too easy.  At least, the owner should be made to pay the vet bill and permanently surrender the animals to new homes.  And the owner of the land should also pay a fine for allowing a crime to be committed on his property.  They should get more than a slap on the wrist.  

The stallion has been placed in a foster home, and the mare's future is uncertain. If you can, send a donation to to LEARN Horse Rescue to help her out.

Horses Taken into Custody

Imagine being tied up in a field. With no food. No water. In this heat.  This how the Livestock & Equine Awareness and Rescue Network found two horses in Mt. Pleasant on Friday.  Both were underweight and in heat distress.  One was down and took 30 minutes to revive enough to take to the trailer.

I’m not a person to get angry easily. But I can tell you, I became mad when I read the Post and Courier report about horses having to be taken into custody because of this abuse.  

The owner of the property, Rufus Manigault Jr., claims that the horses aren’t his, and he just let the owner put the horses in the field.  At the time of the article, the owner could not be contacted.  Manigault seems to think this absolves him of responsibility, while I think it puts guilt firmly on his shoulders.  If he knew of it, he should have stopped it.  Period.  And that holds true for all of us.

Tying up horses and just leaving them in a field is not acceptable in itself, much less leaving them without food and water.  Nor is simply turning them free when the owner feels he cannot pay for them anymore,  as did the previous owner of a rescue horse brought to Graymour Stables this past week.   Whiskey, a small Arab-mix bay, was found running along side a road in Georgia with a too small halter imbedded into his skin. Who are these people?  And why do they think this is ok? 

Thank goodness there are people like Liz Leonvacallo, a volunteer who helped rescue the two horses tied up in a field, and the family of Brianna, a teenage girl who adopted Whiskey and gave him a good home.  And thank goodness for the neighbors who Channel 2 News reports as having contacted the sheriff's department.  We need more people like them.  

If you  suspect any abuse, please contact the Livestock & Equine Awareness and Rescue Network at www.learnhorserescue.com