Letter To The Editor: From Starvation To The RPP Makeover

On an impossibly sunny day in October 2022, I found myself at L&D Stables in Nicholasville, Kentucky, looking at a very handsome chestnut gelding for my first OTTB restart project.

Despite his flashy presence, my eye kept drifting to a small herd of mares in a nearby paddock. I made my way to the fence line and was met immediately by a pair of kind eyes and an inquisitive pink nose, searching for my face and neck. Sixty seconds later that nose was gently resting on my shoulder. I was won over. Three days later, Hoosier Artist came home as 'Frida'.

This chance meeting was not the beginning of Frida's story of course. Not even close! By the time we were serendipitously united, this little five-year-old mare had already endured and overcome so much.

Hoosier Artist was rescued from an extreme neglect situation in April 2021 by Lonnie and Diana Winkelspecht, the owners of L&D Stables. Literal skin-and-bones and struggling to stand, she was fighting for her life. After weeks and weeks without food, water and care, other horses on the same property had already perished and for some the only option was euthanasia. The scene was a nightmare. Despite her condition and against the recommendations of veterinarians, Lonnie and Diana knew they had to give this little filly a chance. They began nursing her back to health, sparing no resources. She was small, weak and unable to eat anything, but water-soaked hay and she was scared of everyone. Over the next few months they not only nourished and strengthened her body, but earned her trust.

Frida with Taylor | Taylor Tricarico

Hoosier Artist exceeded everyone's expectations and by mid-summer she was thriving! She began race training in earnest and showed grit and grace. Her first race left everyone who knew her in awe, and in some cases tears of joy. How was this the same horse that had to be supported to stand? How was this the same filly that had a body score of one, not six month earlier? And now she was doing what she was bred to do.

Despite a promising first time out, her racing career was short-lived, lasting only a half dozen times. Following a mismatch of training styles, the difficult decision was made not to push her, but to bring her back to L&D. This is where she stayed as the farm favorite, for several months before our accidental meeting.

I had no specific plans for Frida when she stepped off the trailer at my little farm in Versailles, Kentucky. All I knew is that this was a special soul and I was lucky to now call her mine. During our first off-track ride she couldn't turn right to save her life, as her gates were erratic and she held her head so high I wondered how she could see where she was going. But she was reasonable, responsive and had the best stop I'd ever sat. Two weeks later, we were riding bareback in a halter. Two months after that, she'd mastered all the groundwork I could throw at her. Before I knew it, my seven-year-old son was piloting her. This was a good horse. But what to do with her?

I'd missed the application window for the 2023 Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover (RRPTM), when a ISO Facebook post caught my eye. A young trainer was looking to buy an RRPTM horse that matched Frida's description exactly: kind, quiet, slow, small. I messaged her asking, “I know this is a long shot, but would you be willing to partner and take my mare to the RRPTM? She's not for sale, but she is just what you are looking for.” The next day Blakely Releford was in my round pen working with Frida, swooning over her quick brain and sweet demeanor. I could tell immediately that this was a perfect match. A partnership was born and Hoosier Artist, the little-mare-that-could, was RRP bound!

–Taylor Tricarico, Versailles, KY

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Trial Date Set In Animal Cruelty Case Related To Kentucky Boarding Operation

A trial date has been set in the case of Xavier McGrapth, 24, of Versailles, Ky., in an animal cruelty case stemming from a boarding operation he ran. McGrapth faces second degree animal cruelty charges after he was arrested on April 13 of this year. Bourbon District Court Judge Mary Jane Phelps set a pre-trial hearing date for Jan. 26, 2022 with a jury trial scheduled to follow Feb. 24, 2022.

Earlier this year, about two dozen horses were found at a property McGrapth was leasing off Brentsville Road in various states of neglect. Those horses were largely owned by people who lived out of state and had sent horses to McGrapth for breaking and training or foaling/breeding back. Most owners discovered McGrapth's operation through his Facebook posts as McGrapth Breaking and Training and/or Whispering Creek Thoroughbreds.

A criminal complaint was filed earlier this year alleging 13 counts of second-degree animal cruelty, which is a Class A misdemeanor in Kentucky.

The horses were discovered after one locally-based owner dropped by the property McGrapth leased to check on her pregnant mare and discovered two dead horses in a field near the barn. Additional investigation revealed several other horses in poor body condition. In the days and weeks that followed that discovery, owners and local and state investigators struggled to identify and relocate all the horses entrusted to McGrapth's care. Several told the Paulick Report their horses' racing prospects were seriously damaged as a result of neglect suffered in his care.

McGrapth has entered a plea of not guilty in the case.

Read our previous reporting on this case here.

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Mcgrapth Arrested On Charges Of Animal Cruelty In Kentucky Boarding Operation Case

Xavier Mcgrapth, the subject of a criminal complaint of 13 counts of animal cruelty in the second degree, was arrested on April 13, according to an update from the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office in Central Kentucky. Mcgrapth, 24, of Versailles, Ky., came in for an interview regarding the case and was arrested at the conclusion of the interview.

“The Bourbon County Sheriff's Office and the Bourbon County Attorney's Office are working closely together to bring this case to a close,” read a statement from the sheriff's office. “At this time, all horses involved have been removed from the farm and relocated to facilities to best suit the care they need.”

Mcgrapth has yet to be arraigned and is out on a $2,000 bond, according to court and county detention center records.

About two dozen horses were discovered at a property Mcgrapth was leasing off Brentsville Road in various states of neglect in late March. Owners, many of whom were located out of state, told media at the time they had engaged Mcgrapth to board broodmares or young training horses for them after seeing his services advertised through Facebook as McGrapth Breaking and Training and/or Whispering Creek Thoroughbreds.

Read more about the case from our previous reporting here.

The investigation remains active, according to the sheriff's office.

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Arrest Made in Bourbon County Animal Cruelty Case

Xavier McGrapth, who is the operator of McGrapth Breaking and Training and Whispering Creek Thoroughbreds, was arrested Tuesday by the Bourbon County Sheriff's office, it was announced Wednesday.

The sheriff's office released a brief statement Wednesday, which read “On the afternoon of April 13, 2021, Xavier McGrapth who is a suspect in an active investigation involving Equine in Bourbon County came into the Bourbon Sheriff's Office for an interview. Upon conclusion of the interview McGrapth was arrested on an active warrant that was tied to the same case. The Bourbon County Sheriff's Office and the Bourbon County Attorney's Office are working closely together to bring this case to a close. At this time, all horses involved have been removed from the Farm and have been relocated to facilities to best suit the care they need.”

Earlier, McGrapth was charged with 13 counts of animal cruelty in the second degree. It appeared that he had been starving some of the horses under his care, and that at least two of them died.

“I'm relieved in that we've made some progress with Xavier turning himself in,” said Amanda Scarsella, who had sent six horses to McGrapth. “With the news that he has formally been charged and taken into custody, I'm hopeful we can move forward and see some justice served. This is only the beginning. What needs to happen is we all need to use this as a teaching point and as a learning point to change laws. We don't want to see this happen again.”

Five of the horses she had with McGrapth have returned to Scarsella's upstate New York farm. She fears that a sixth horse, a broodmare named Fresh Face (Uncle Mo), may be one of the two dead horses, neither of which have been identified.

“This has been bittersweet,” she said. “We are so glad that they are alive and are home, but it's been pretty gutting to see them this way. My colts are sleeping a monstrous amount of time because they are just so wreak and so tired.”

McGrapth had been advertising his services on Facebook under the names of McGrapth Breaking and Training and Whisper Creek Thoroughbreds. He posted that he was available to break and train young horses and board broodmares. McGrapth had the horses on a section of a farm he leased from longtime Central Kentucky horsemen Steve Johnson. Johnson has said that he did not know that McGrapth was mistreating any of his horses.

The case came to the attention of the Bourbon County Sheriff's office when Alyssa Evans, a client of McGrapth's, came to the farm to check on one of her horses. While there, she saw two dead horses laying in a paddock and alerted the sheriff's office. The sheriff's office began its investigation shortly after receiving Evans' call and first inspected the farm on March 19. The sheriff's office then called on a local veterinarian, Dr. Zach Logan, who inspected 23 horses and reported that 11 were malnourished or severely malnourished and that two others were dead.

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