Neglect Case Strains Horse’ Caretakers To Breaking Point

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – Boyd and Heather Smith might have had $35,000 in the bank by now – a college nest egg for their four young children – except that an unexpected, drawn-out legal process has nearly bankrupted them.

An animal cruelty case last year left the Blountville, Tenn., couple caring for horses that were essentially evidence. And after a conviction in the case, the couple was left continuing to care for the horses. They said the situation and other factors have caused the young family to do everything they can merely to survive financially.

“We have to leave [our home] so we can be a family again,” Boyd Smith said Sunday, adding that his family does not currently live together.

Boyd and Heather Smith are the owners of B&H Stables in Blountville – the farm made infamous last year when 19 nearly-dead horses were rescued from its front field.

The horses were owned by Karen Harlan of Bristol, Tenn., who rented a portion of the Smiths’ land in February 2007, and who Boyd Smith said stopped caring for the animals and paying board a short time later.

The horses’ condition declined as winter dragged into summer and a crippling drought parched the region. Boyd Smith said that by June, Harlan’s horses were malnourished to the point she could be prosecuted for cruelty.

In October, Harlan, 47, was convicted on 15 counts of animal cruelty and ordered to spend 90 days in jail. The court relinquished her ownership of the animals and in addition, she was prohibited from owning another domestic animal for a period of time after, Boyd Smith said.

Court officials talked about implementing a surety bond of $2,000 per month on Harlan to help pay for feeding costs for the horses while the case was pending. However, the Smiths said they never received any money.

Animals in the most dire conditions were taken to University of Tennessee and given urgent medical care. Another portion were taken to Horse Haven, a Knoxville horse rescue farm, and nursed back to health. The final six were orphaned at the Smiths’ stable.

The horses flourished after being rescued, Boyd Smith said, but those at B&H belonged to no one. The court ruling did not designate a rightful owner for the remaining six.

In the 15 months since, they’ve remained at B&H with Boyd and Heather Smith, who, not being the legal owners, were unable to sell them and were forced by default to foot the bill for their care.

“It ruined our boarding facility. We never even had a chance to get going,” said Boyd Smith. “When [Karen Harlan] first came it was a godsend. She agreed to pay $1,500 a month. She paid $400. That was all we ever got.”

Now, Buck, Jellybean and Major, to name a few, spend their days in care of Boyd and Heather Smith, who said they have in spent tens of thousands of dollars on their care.

“It wasn’t about the money,” Heather Smith said. “It was about the horses, their lives and their health.”

Boyd Smith lost his job around the same time Harlan brought her horses to his stable, he said, and was not able to find another job that could support both his family and their pets. He took a job in Nashville and has been commuting every week to work since, he said.

While her husband is away working during the week, Heather Smith said, she spends more than two hours every morning cleaning stalls, hauling muck, feeding and watering the horses. Then, she said, she goes inside and takes care of her kids – all four 10 and younger – cleaning house, ferrying the kids to and from various activities and cooking dinner before she heads back outside for two more hours of evening equine care.

“I couldn’t afford to buy sawdust in the winter, so I was driving to mills and shoveling it into my truck to bring back for bedding,” she said. “It was so cold in the winter – my hands would crack and bleed.”

Earlier this month, a judge awarded the Smiths an $18,000 judgment, ordering that the Smith family be reimbursed for some of the costs. However, the decision likely will be challenged, she said, and her family cannot afford to continue paying for the animals’ care.

The Smiths say they’ve been forced to sell their home and are moving to Nashville at week’s end to live together again as a family. Until a few weeks ago, they didn’t know what to do with the horses.

Necessity forced them to make a decision, Heather Smith said, and they recently agreed to relinquish the $18,000 decision in exchange for legal ownership of the now-thriving animals. As of Monday, they have two days to sell each horse.

In the rash of last minute scrambling – which includes the $18,000 barter – the Smiths will hold an auction at their home on Tuesday night. Each healthy, happy horse will be auctioned, she said, as well as a four-horse trailer and loads of tack and equipment.

“We have nothing left. This is what we have to do to move. We’re hoping and praying that they all get good, loving homes,” she said.

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