Stewards in Kentucky suspended the license of exercise rider/stable employee Brandie Hart, also known as Brandie Wood in a ruling April 1, pending a criminal case in Kenton County.
Hart was charged with nine counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals in the second degree on Jan. 5, 2023.
According to the criminal citation filed by the Florence Police Department, the charges were the result of a months-long investigation by law enforcement into complaints that horses belonging to Hart wren't being properly cared for. On Dec. 22, 2022, police brought a search warrant to a property in Kenton County where Hart was keeping her horses. Officers observed no food in stalls or pasture for the horses, though two bales of hay were outside the barn, out of reach of the animals.
Some of the horses were in deep mud, and none of the pastures had any windbreak, according to the citation. Temperatures were expected to sink to -30 around the time of the officers' visit, and they reported the stalls had no bedding.
Veterinarian Dr. Tony Wolfe was brought to the scene to help evaluate the horses. He scored horses between 1 and 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 for health. All of them were removed from the property as a result. FOX56 reported that six went to Kenton County Animal Services and three were kept in protective custody for the remainder of the case.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.“The horses were experiencing varying degrees of malnourishment, skin disease, lack of dental care, and lack of regular upkeep,” the citation read. “Dr. Wolfe noted in his evaluation that 'it seems especially cruel to allow [the horses] to suffer hunger pains with food just out of reach as their body conditions worsen, slowly, due to inadequate caloric intake.'”
The citation indicated that law enforcement had monitored the situation for some time but “nothing seemed to improve.”
The stewards' ruling indicated that Hart was arrested on site at Turfway Park in January and subsequently barred from the property.
One of the conditions of Hart's bail was that she was not permitted to possess or purchase horses while the case was pending.
A change of plea hearing is scheduled for May 8 in Kenton District Court.
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