AC4h Hits a New Low

by Sally Schrock 

I seriously wanted to barf when I came across this Examiner article on Christmas Eve. Christy Sheidy and her associates are using a horrible tragedy, the Newtown, CT, massacre, to stage a publicity stunt. If it were any other horse rescue like Angel Acres Horse Haven or Brenda Lewis's ACE or Horse Rescue United, that would be one thing, but knowing Christy's insatiable penchant for publicity and capitalizing on national events to pump up AC4h's image (remember Ernie Paragallo, folks?) and pull in scores of gullible and unsuspecting donors and adopters--and above all, $$$$$, this is way beyond crass; it's self-serving and totally repugnant. 

 This may seem to the uninitiated an unselfish act of compassion, but to those who know all too well Christy's callousness and wanton disregard for the welfare of all life forms, including her fellow human beings, it's anything but. "What's in it for ME?" is the guiding principle in everything she does; it is most certainly NOT for the benefit of others, but for HERSELF, and only HERSELF.

Christy has consistently and clearly demonstrated her lack of knowledge about equines in just about every aspect of running her "rescue", including wrongly identifying horses' sex, claiming certain horses were 'gaited' when in fact they were seriously lame; creating a new and rare breed out of thin air in a lame (pardon the pun!) attempt to identify a particular horse's breed; passing off a certain laminitic mare's condition as nothing more than a "good hoof trimming couldn't fix"; and much, much more.

She's even attempted to pass off a number of horses as being suitable for beginners when they were clearly not and as a matter of fact were dangerous around even the most experienced horse people--including a 17.1h Suffolk draft cross mare that ended up being dumped by her horse-trading partner, Diana Murphy, at the Wyandot County Humane Society in Sandusky, Ohio after my friend Kristen Boltz, an experienced horsewoman herself, could not handle her safely and was forced to return her.

Taking all of that into consideration, Christy and her associates are not qualified by any means to match an eight-month-old colt with a child between 6-10 years of age for several reasons, one being that most children that age do not have the knowledge or maturity to handle what is essentially an ungelded yearling, and a rambunctious one at that, even with adult supervision.

So why would anyone, especially the operator of a rescue, want to put a child in harm's way by giving him or her an untrained colt? That's asking for major, and I mean MAJOR trouble. What's more, how many families out there are willing to lay out the money necessary for at least 90 days' professional training under saddle? It's not cheap at all, and a professional trainer is a luxury few families can afford in these financially lean times. 

It just doesn't make sense when there are dozens upon dozens of dead-broke, kid-safe horses out there for next to nothing on Craigslist or even in the auctions themselves. Furthermore, a child between six and ten years of age isn't going to have the patience to wait for an eight-month-old colt to mature to the point that he can be put under saddle and trained to ride. Even then, I wouldn't consider a colt with 90 days' training under saddle safe enough to put a kid on.  Kids want to get on a horse NOW and go riding, so getting them an unbroke equine just isn't good horse sense at all. Young horses and young kids together are a disaster waiting to happen.

What it all boils down to here is that Christy and her buddies are not doing this out of the sheer goodness of their hearts. They're doing it out of their unbridled greed and love for the almighty dollar.  It's a shameless attempt to snag publicity for AC4h by exploiting a horrific tragedy and a dead girl's love of horses to their advantage. This is a new low even for them, and one that is absolutely revolting.

From Examiner.com:

Newtown's young victim Jessica Rekos remembered by a rescued young colt

• Remembering Jessica Rekos and her love of horses
• December 22, 2012
• By: Cheryl Hanna

On Tuesday, Jessica Rekos, in an emotional farewell was laid to rest at the cemetery of Saint Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, Conn. The six-year-old, one of the 20 young victims and 6 adults gunned down by Adam Lanza, 20 with a military assault rifle was a child

"who loved horses and had asked Santa for cowgirl boots and a hat... She devoted her free time to watching horse movies, reading horse books, drawing horses, and writing stories about horses," stated her parents Rich and Krista Rekos in a statement from People magazine.

Jessica will never get her own horse when she turns ten, but a rescued young Standardbred colt now renamed Rekos who was saved from slaughter will be a small remembrance of a young life lost but certainly never to be forgotten.

Six-years ago the last United States horse slaughterhouse was closed, but just as many horses are still carved up in Canada and Mexico for human consumption. Last year nearly 140,000 horses - healthy, young, stolen, and nearly every equine breed suffered excruciatingly cruel deaths.

 Statistics show that 80 percent of Americans are opposed to horse slaughter, yet legislation to permanently ban the transport of horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter continues to languish somewhere in the legislative system.

The colt and his mother Sheer Sensation were pulled from a horse broker's lot by Another Chance 4 Horses on November 19. The contributions of two longtime supporters, Louise and Ruth guaranteed the safety of the two horses, but finding a home for a young colt can be quite difficult. Thanks to the efforts of Darlene Supnick of Forgotten Angels Equine Rescue in Medford, N.J. and Janine Jacques, from Hope 4 Horses in Massachusetts who specializes in the placement of young horses, the eight-month-old colt will be offered for adoption to a young girl.

Lisa Drahorad, a volunteer for Forgotten Angels Equine Rescue and Another Chance 4 Horses stated:

"Dear sweet Jessica. We have your horse. His name will be Rekos. When the time is right, we will send a photo of Rekos to your family so they know that your memory will live on with something that you loved so much."

Rekos will be transported to Connecticut where he will be available for adoption to a little girl between the ages of 6 and 10 in honor of Jessica and the horse she always wanted.

If you would like to assist with donations to help Rekos get to Connecticut, please click here.

Reko's mother, Sheer Sensation is also available for adoption through Forgotten Angels Equine Rescue. Please visit their website if you are interested in adopting, volunteering, or donating. Follow the group on their Facebook page by clicking here.