Attack on Two Yearling Appaloosas

I thought I would send you the article below, it is an account of what has just happened to me and my babies.  Have you heard anything like this before?  Apparently as Ii have dug deeper, it is a cult.  They had a festival on Monday the 13th May, they had to get fresh blood from a pure bred line from north America, my filly had a thumb print on her neck, there has been another horse in the area that has had the same but not dead just blood drained, she also had a thumb print. Please can you let me know if you have heard of anything like this before. Debbie Bell - (distraught and in tatters)

I am writing to you to inform you of a horrific ordeal that I hope does not happen to anyone else:

For the past 2 weeks my two Appaloosa yearlings have been grazing on land 3 miles from my house in a quiet little village in Derbyshire, I check on them twice a day 9am and 3.30pm, yesterday afternoon when I went one of the yearlings was dead.

She had a tear above her left stifle and her guts were hanging out, imagine my horror.  My colt was stood by her looking very lethargic and not himself (how could he be, with his best friend dead beside him).  I rang my sister, and was slightly hysterical and then the police.  I drove home and collected the horse trailer my sister had arranged for friends to come and help me and so I wasn't alone as she was busy with work and as much as she wanted to she couldn't get away.

We went back to the field where the colt (Brodie) was still looking very droopy/sleepy.    My friends could not believe their eyes when they saw the mess.  As we looked around the field there was blood, trodden down grass in certain areas, she had obviously suffered.  Her body was still warm.  A lady who has her horses opposite came to see what had happened and she said they had both been seen at 9.30am and 11.30am that morning and were okay.

The police arrived and again could not believe the state of Image (yearling filly).  After the usual names questioning etc from the police, who was a very understanding man, Tony (a friend) noticed that as I had Brodie was still droopy and his penis was not going back into the sheath, his ears were back and he was not his usual nosey self.  Tony suggested that just looking at him and his symptoms he looked as though he had been drugged.  His rear fetlock was very swollen and he could not put his dock down, below his back passage was swollen and wider than usual.  With this the police asked me to get a vet out and have him looked at for drugging and sexual abuse.

Obviously I was horrified.  Who could do such a thing to Image and who or what could do things like that to a horse.  Apparently there has been a few reportings in the area of horses being slashed and sexually abused.  I felt like I had let my babies down, I brought them there for spring grass and they had trusted me, this was too much to take in. 

So the vet came out to the field, examined Brodie and said yes on first sights and signs he was consistent with being doped.  He then took some blood for analyzing.   The vet thought that Brodie hadn't been interfered with but wouldn't commit himself, but he had been drugged.    Only the blood tests will tell.

The scene of crime investigation unit them came out, they took photos of Image, the area and again asked lots of questions.  They then asked the vet to see if she had been interfered with, he said that he couldn't tell but thought she hadn't.  He then took pieces of the liver and kidney and was sending them again for testing. 

There were no knives or anything else found at the scene and no evidence pointing towards her catching herself on any wire, branch etc.  It seems consistent with a horse nearby that was slashed on its flanks, I do think that Image wasn't meant to die, and that she should have just been scarred not killed.

Eventually we were able to bring Brodie home, I felt so unfaithful that I couldn't bring them both home, the local huntsman took Image away.

I am still questioning everything, and the police are, I am pleased to say, taking this incident very seriously. As they say there are too many questions and not enough answers. 

It turns out that similar instances to this one that have happened on certain days/nights of the year, involving cults.  Why aren't we made aware of these instances so we can protect our horses? I still can't believe that there are people out there that do this sort of thing to a defenseless animal, an animal that trusts humans due to the handling and love they get from us, the owner.

Brodie is home and is coming round, his fetlock is still swollen but at least he is alive.  I hope to god that nothing like this happens to anyone else.