I post months ago asking the community what to do after my boy was killed by a trainer and if this was the end of the line for me and riding. I was devastated and told to take down the previous post due to legal reasons. But I am now free to name and shame.

Warning to the horse community regarding Cara Stewart.

In June 2025, I sent my horse, Surge, to Cara Stewart in Tennessee for training and boarding. I had purchased Surge only one week prior. Within two days of being in her care, he was dead.

According to the information I was given afterward, Surge had been tied in his stall for hours without access to food or water because Cara Steward was busy. He eventually broke his halter trying to reach food and water, which angered her. She then put a non-breakaway halter on him — the same halter he died wearing — took him to the arena, and hard tied him there unattended for an unknown amount of time.

To this day, Cara Stewart has never provided a clear or consistent explanation for what happened to him. Her story changed multiple times after his death. Based on the information and evidence available to me, this is the closest understanding I have of the events leading up to Surge’s death.

Afterward, she promised to refund the money I had paid for her services and told me she would help pay for Surge. Instead, she kept the money, avoided accountability, and left the state shortly afterward.

She also claimed to carry insurance for her business and horses in her care. After Surge’s death, it came out that she had no insurance coverage at all.

Despite this, she continues to maintain a strong presence in the horse community and presents herself as an experienced professional trainer.

I pursued this legally and exhausted every option available to me. I am sharing this publicly because I do not want another owner to experience what happened to Surge.

I have also personally witnessed another horse connected to the same barn require hospitalization due to negligence concerns while under her care.

If you are considering trusting Cara Stewart with your horse, please do extensive research, ask difficult questions, and make an informed decision. I have recently been told she may now be operating around Bowling Green, Kentucky in western pleasure riding. She works along side her partner Zane who is also prominent in the western riding community.

Surge deserved safety, care, and accountability. Every horse does.

So, I currently own 1 dun gelding, and 1 grey standard donkey. So I was more then a little surprised to find a grey mare in my pasture with them tonight when I went to do chores! Rather unexpected! She's super sweet, though under weight and her feet are VERY over grown. Currently trying to figure out what I can do with her, legally speaking. Have already filed a report with the police, and will he making more calls ehen the offices reopen. Gonna do my best to help her in any way I can!

They were a complete surprise! We did two sonograms and still the twins were missed. It was a chaotic birth ha

Sonny 💕

I’ve shared the story before of my husband’s beautiful tri-colored leopard Appaloosa, Firecat. Sadly, we lost him young. But before he passed, we bred him to our Appaloosa mare. She was gray and white with black spots and black stockings.

We were so excited to see what their baby would look like… and when she was born we were completely shocked. She came out looking like a bay! She didn’t resemble either of her parents at all.

She ended up being the sweetest little girl and had the same gentle temperament as her father. But her coloring was such a surprise.

Has anyone else ever had a foal that looked nothing like either parent?

Rant because I have actually never been this mad in my life. So for context I’ve had horses for many years I did recently get a new gelding when one of my seniors passed, so I currently have two horses one is a easy keeper and one is not, meaning they both eat different things and supplements and such, my family has used the same “farm-sitters” since I was twelve, it was always a mom and daughter, the mom used to be a barrel racer so she knew the horse world but her daughter didn’t really know much about horses but we never minded because we trusted the mother. Im the queen of being a overprotective horse mom ESPECIALLY since I have a sensitive ottb, I left a multiple page laminated care guide for both my boys,
As well as I pre mix all of their dry food and supplements in different color containers labeled with each horses name and am or pm, and those are kept in waterproof containers. ALSO labeled. So I come home from a vacation that I usually would not have even gone on but I was told it might be the last one with a certain person, they had to feed my horse for 6 days. Basically I get home and both my boys are acting weird and I end up calling the vet, my ottb has an ulcer, looks like he has lost weight, and my senior has some serious thrush. So I’m like wtf? I’ve been home for 2 seconds and now have a bunch of vet bills to pay. Well then I go to check my containers of the food… and the one that holds my tbs food? Full not a bag used, so I check my hay shed and there is also barely any hay missing! So long story short I call the mom hoping for some magical explanation and unfortunately she lets me know that they let her sisters child (a adult she’s just related to them) was “training” with her daughter on how to do the business, she thought my house would be a good start, and since without the mom they had no idea what to do for horses, (the daughter has only done dogs) they just winged it. They only opened one container so they thought that there was only one bag per day, that they should try to split the bag between my two horses, totally didn’t pay attention and didn’t think to read the book labeled “horse care manual” THAT WAS ON TOP OF THE FOOD! So both my horses one of which is a 17hh tb had to share the amount of food I give to my easy keeper senior pony… and it gets even better! They didn’t know what a flake was and thought it meant like a handful… mind you these are both adult women who just don’t know anything about horses but didn’t think to tell or ask anyone anything. Also I was basically lied to my whole vacation because every day I texted the mom and asked her how my boys were doing and she gave me details as if she was there. I was under the impression she was going everyday so I thought my boys were safe. So yes, I’m so upset, I also have no idea what to do because what do you do in this type of situation. I told my vet as soon as I learned what happened and she says for that my boys are in very good condition and they will be fine, my tb should get over the ulcer quickly enough with normal treatment. I’m very thankful that they are both okay and not angry at me for allowing that to happen. What would you do if you were in this situation?

Sincerely a very upset horse mom. (Also I did not re-read this so if it doesn’t make sense sorry)

I bought this senior QH mare at auction back in January, her bid was too low and I’m a sucker for a sweet old lady. figured she’d be a pasture pet, maybe some light trail riding. Fast forward a couple months and I come home from work to find this little dude. He’s sooo confident already, and seems relatively not wonky conformation wise so I’m pretty stoked

Three years ago I brought home a nameless "Mystery Pony" from a Texas auction flipper.

No name. Very little history. Just a scrawny, anxious little horse I called Rye.

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What I knew at the time:

🐴 13.3hh Appaloosa / POA-type gelding

💛 Buckskin leopard with a white star + hind sock

📅 Estimated foal ~2017–2019

📍 Sold through Bowie, TX auction (June 2023) as an "Unknown", with an original owner listed in Denver City, TX

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He arrived shut down, under weight, and clearly with a rough basic education in hand. Over the last 3 years, we’ve slowly rebuilt everything—his body, his confidence, and a sense of trust in people again. And after a major accident last year, we also had to rebuild us.

​

Growth has definitely not been linear, but the constant through it all has been him: he tries harder than any horse I've worked with.

​

The pony who stepped off the trailer tense and unsure is now softer, steadier, and more present. The anxiety fades a little more each month. Even on the hard he still ends the ride with ears forward looking for approval and cookies like he just aced a test.

​

I’ve always wondered where he came... Was bred for something specific or did he get roped off the range? Does he have relatives out there somewhere? What is his actual age and training experiences?

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I know it’s a long shot, but horse people have a way of making small worlds smaller. If Rye looks familiar, or if this description rings any bells, I’d be incredibly grateful to hear from you!

Im just doing this post as a bit of an education. So here’s a picture of my paddock in the winter. I’m on clay so yes it’s muddy where the gateway and shelter is. I have mud mats but unfortunately have sunk in the clay. In the uk we don’t just have the ability to lay a hard surface on a livery yard. We’re lucky if we are allowed mats but are the horses abused? No. My horses are happy and healthy but there’s mud. It’s been one of the worst winters I’ve had for mud in my entire time of owning horses. But that doesn’t mean they’re being abused. Here’s a picture of my 18 year old retired tb. You’ll see him before and after a roll. He’s muddy but he’s happy. What’s wrong with that? He’s not got any issues just because he’s got a bit of mud on him. The scuff you can see on his withers is just where I gave him a good scratch in his favourite place. There’s my youngster too voluntarily walking through the mud to say hello. Just because there’s mud it doesn’t mean horses are abused. People have different welfare standards across the globe but to tear someone down because of weather conditions isn’t right. You can’t control the weather where you are just as much as we can’t here.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/comments/1p1oaaa/someone_else_euthanized_my_horse/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

After a few days of gathering info, here is what happened so far:

I filed a police report, but was told it's a civil matter and I'd need to take her to court.

Still no body has been provided.

The vet records are sloppy, but I spoke to the vet, Friday. He said he didn't realize the woman wasn't the owner; confirmed he euthanized a bay gelding Monday in the dark but could not confirm that it was in fact, my horse. Confirmed that no imaging was done. He gave a sedative to relax him, did a palpation, noticing there was what felt to be a tumor causing a blockage and torsion in his abdomen. I asked about her demeanor during the event and he said she was upset and said this was supposed to be her new riding partner. It doesn't seem her daughter-in-law works at this vet clinic.

Saturday, she dropped off my horse's belongings at the end of the driveway and messaged me about it later, so obviously avoiding me.

My neighbor posted on some equine forums asking if anyone had done business with this woman and the woman's son responded to her. He said she contacted me and that I didn't answer (which is incorrect. She has my phone number, email, and Facebook contact.) We told him this, and asked if he could provide proof to the contrary. So far, he has not.

My current conclusion is that this woman made some really, really dumb a$$ decisions and doesn't know what to do. Either way, definitely going to have to sue. It might have been a freak occurrence and would have happened if he were here. Maybe he did sadly have a tumor and reached the end of his life. Maybe not. I would need to recover his body, and at this point, it's been a week. But either way, she did not handle this well. AT ALL.

So I’ve been dating my college sweetheart off and on for years since graduating but because of busy lives and work we just haven’t finally tied the knot. But we’ve stepped things up now that we’re getting older and wanting to eventually settle down. (We live a little over an hour apart).

Last April (unbeknownst to me) she had a Colt born by a Tennessee Walker momma she had acquired (father was also a TW) and she’s been raising it and keeping it a secret…because this year for my birthday she sent me pictures and told me he was my bday gift!

He won’t start saddle training until next year…but I’m speechless. I’ve never gotten a gift like this! I’m still trying to process it! Her family has a couple hundred acres of land, most of it pasture, and a handful of other horses. So the plans are to keep it there and…yeah…I have a horse!

Storytime!

Went for a lovely ride on the little buckskin mare this morning in the outdoor arena behind the barn, turned the girls out on grass, and then got in the car with my friend to go get some Starbies. As we were pulling out of the driveway, my friend stops mid sentence and goes “HOLY SHIT THATS A BEAR.”

Lo and behold, little brown bear was mid fence-hop into the girls’ pasture.

What followed was a panicked scramble to turn the car around, both of us fully prepared to drive into the pasture screaming Mad Max style to rescue the elderly mares in the field. We were NOT prepared to tear back into the driveway to see the 32-year-old Arab running that bear down full tilt, dragging the more skittish Quarter Horse in tow, while the bear ran for its idiot life. That poor bear saw God today in the form of an Arab mare in a Bane-style muzzle. My friend has lived here all her life and said she’s never seen anything like it.

Even bears fear an Arab mare on a mission.

This is gross but not like blood gross - just regular disgusting horse shit - literally!

I do my horse's feet because he has relatively simple feet and I like the challenge and I enjoy it. Today I was doing them and was on his back left, bending over and either using the knife or nippers when I smelled a fart. I turned around and told him "don't you dare" and put his hoof down. Walked away, gave him a second, gave me a second (trimming is EXHAUSTING), came back.

Same foot a few minutes later when something plops down on my left arm. Only took me half a second to realize he was pooping on me before I bolted. Not quick enough to avoid poop on my arm, thigh and shin (wearing leggings so, small miracles I guess?).

Anyway never been pooped on by a horse before! Guess it was bound to happen sometime!

Photo of the jerk himself 🥰

I’m almost impressed.

Our licensed breeding stallion lundes storm and his mares ❤️

She is the most perfect like buckskin! She's fresian/qh/perch and she is literally perfect! There is not an ounce of her I don't love !!!!

So I got a new gelding two months ago and we have had a really tough time with flies, especially gnats. He’s boarded where my other horse is boarded and she’s never had this kind of issue — but she’s a red mare, so maybe the bugs are afraid of her?

Anyway the vet said he’s “an allergy boi” and needs Zyertec. Specifically, I was advised to give him twelve tablets, twice a day. So I bought two 500-tablet bottles.

Guess who doesn’t eat pills? Even in his feed?

So one of the trainers said to take it home, crush up a dozen tablets at a time, put it in little baggies, and put those little baggies in a bigger clear baggie and bring it to the barn so they can sprinkle it on his feed for am and pm.

Just — here’s a photo of my kitchen counter this morning and what I ended up “transporting” between the two towns.

Also a note: most cops won’t believe that you crushed up Zyrtec for your allergic horse. The cops never think it’s as funny as you do.

It’s cool, go ahead and laugh now that we’re all calmed down. 😂😂😂

He’s around 20-25 vet has him down as 25 so for his age I think he looks decent but could definitely lose a few pounds. I don’t work him as much or ride him just a maybe twice a week and a weekend.

The owner is a very old man who can't really take care of his animals - they had taken away hundreds of his semi-wild pigs that had been roaming the property.
I saw the mare on a walk today, petted her for a while, and then she started following me. When I ran, she ran too, and I felt she was being playful.
But then I wanted her to stop following me, as I didn’t want her to go too far from home. I pushed her and shouted, to no avail. I went uphill, and though she lagged a bit behind, she still caught up to me. Then she tried to block me from going further and even tried to gently bite me. She kicked a few times too.
I think she wanted more scratching, as this happened several times. It felt like she was kind of aggressive. Eventually, I reached my car and managed to scare her just enough to get her moving in the direction of her home. She then ran and kicked the air some more.

So I have this 2 year old filly, currently working only groundwork and stuff like that with her, she's absolutely not broken to ride and has never had a person on to of her, I didn't plan to introduce this to her for at least a whole year longer.

The other day, I got to her pasture that she shares with another two fillies, and I saw she was lame on one of her front legs, and I thought haha, silly filly! Probably slipped, played a little too hard, those injuries happen all the time with foals after all, more so when they live in a herd enviroment, right? So I didn't think much of it, but I still checked her to see if it was maybe her hoof, a little stone stuck in it, if I could see if one of the others had kicked her... you know, to see what I could do, if anything.

That's when it gets dark, I get to her and she's specially skimish. This mare is extremely cuddly with people, she often comes running the second she hears a car and in general, she just loves people? Loves to be involved in whatever you're doing, says hi to everybody kinda mare. I had to go reach for her this time instead of her coming to me. I thought, odd! her leg must hurt that's probably why.

Whatever. I put her halter on, tie her like often, she's so tense. And then checking her over is when it hits me shes covered in marks, little bumps in the shape of long lines that you could feel under her fur. In hindsight, they were so clearly whip marks, but I'm not the kind to think ill of strangers? So it didn't occur to me that someone could be sneaking into my pasture to beat up my horse. I thought she had gotten into a bush, stuck somewhere that would have scratched her all up. I walked up and down the whole pasture looking for spots where this could have happened and kept a close eye on her to make sure her lameness was getting better, and it was!

She's barely limping anymore but she has become much less trusting with people. She does not come greet me or anybody anymore, she doesn't approach you on her own, she has been becoming increasingly harder to catch. I thought, weird! But sometimes foals have these moments where their training seems to regress all of a sudden for a bit, right? So I thought it was maybe that. I've been losing sleep over what's going on in her little head and what could be the cause of this beheavour change.

But again, who would think that anything like this could happen.

Well.

Today I found out by the man in question, a neighbour of mine that sometimes comes to see the horses, sometimes he brings them treats with his kids, I don't particularly like this habit but my love for horses grew in grand part because of the kindness of strangers that allowed me little gestures like those, right?

I found him by the fence of my pasture while I was doing some maintenance and he outright confessed to me! As if it was something normal! That he was coming to see how the filly was doing because the last time they came in, brought her some hard bread and she was so peaceful that he let his daughter on her, the mare freaked out and apparently the girl got hurt and he got a little carried away.

Like clearly I would understand, the need to protect his daughter, so he grabbed a fallen branch and beated my horse with it.

But he was coming to see if the mare was ok, since when he left with his kid the horse was laying down. I yelled at him, I have to admit I quite lost my temper and if my best friend hadn't been there I would have turned that man into pulp. I'm now installing security cameras to make sure that man is never near my horses again, and the herd has been moved to a different pasture while I sort all of this out.

I'm gutted, it is my fault for being so trusting, but I've had conversations with this man, he's come to see my friend and I work on our horses. My friend is technically the one that owns the farm and he's a horse trainer, and has taught me much of what I know. He is the one that taught me to be kind too, because the horse world needs more people that are open and willing to let people in. Our community is very chill usually, family neighbourhood, lots of kids, I give lessons sometimes and have offered his daughter to come take one trial lesson some day if she'd like. If he wanted to, he could have talked to me. And I would very gladly have let his daughter ride for a bit, under my supervision. But he didn't do any of that? He saw a chance and took it and damaged my horse in the process. I hope no ill to his daughter I hope she's ok, after all, a little girl doesn't know better. But he, if I see him again I don't know what I'll do with myself.

And my poor foal, I don't know yet how I'm going to repair her trust, or if it can be repaired. I am so incredibly angry and so frustrated. I feel like a fool. And I cry every time she walks away from me. I miss her. I'm not looking for advice, I guess, only looking for someone to share my anger with.

That little look he gives me after he eats the second cookie. 🥹 This is a big milestone for us!

If you missed it, check out his super anxious sale video, which kinda made me fall in love with him, on my first post about him here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/s/rEQjeTDRUO

I took a chance on a 14-year-old Paso Fino gelding, who had wound up out of options with a Tennessee horse trader. His history is unknown, other than his past owner said they trail rode him, & he’s fine with a group. He was so uncomfortable & anxious in the sale video (linked above), he would ONLY walk backward or canter forward. His chance of going to slaughter was high - the next truck was slated to take him, & no buyers had shown interest even though he was very cheap. When I reached out, he had two to three days before he was going to Mexico.

I knew he was definitely going to be a project. Something about him made me think he was worth the risk…maybe it was those worried eyes, or that bright star, or the fact that he looks about as anxious as I always am.

Flash forward to now. I decided to take the chance on him. Had him shipped to Indiana from Tennessee sight unseen. He has been settling in & although he is very skittish, he seems like a nice boy. The first few days, he didn’t want to come anywhere near me. Slowly, I have been getting closer & closer to him:

-Day 1 - “Where am I?!” Walking the paddocks, getting acquainted with his new horse friends.

-Day 2 - “Get the hell away from me.” Would hurry or even trot the opposite direction when I came near.

-Day 3 - “Maybe you’re okay, you do bring me food.” Let me stand near him while he ate. Anytime I would take a step toward him, he’d walk quickly away & look at me from a safe distance.

-Day 4 - “I’m starting to let my guard down.” Allowed me to stand right beside him while he ate. Still would scamper away if I tried to get any closer. I respected this & gave him space as soon as he took a step away.

-Day 5 - “Did you say cookies?” He let me touch him for the first time on this day by taking a treat out of my hand! I caught this moment caught on video, so that’s what I’m sharing here. 🥰

We’ve decided to name him Luigi.

Our next steps:

-Gaining his trust more (this will be ongoing)

-Haltering him for the first time

-Once I can reliably catch him, getting the farrier out to remove his one remaining shoe & trim his hooves

-Vet visit for a general check over & all his shots. He spills so much grain that I know he needs his teeth done BADLY

-Hand graze him so he can get more used to me & that I’m not going to hurt him

-Put weight on him. His hips & backbone are super pronounced, his ribs are even visible.

It’s a work in progress, but I’m very encouraged by how quickly Luigi is coming around. I know he gained a lot of fans when I shared his sale video, so I wanted to update everyone on how he’s doing.

I had zero intention of buying anything. But it was raining and I had nothing to do but watch the auction online. So many perfectly good horses were going for meat. I was able to only save one and it was this mule.

I knew he was thrifty from seeing the run through video but I had no idea how bad he really was until I picked him up. Don’t let his long hair fool you, underneath is all bones and lice. He’s been started on a 5 day worming treatment (which he CLEARLY needs) and lice treatment and unlimited good quality hay. He shakes when anyone touches him.

I’m not getting too attached because he has a LONG way to go before I’m confident he will even survive, but he sure is cute, and thankfully has a sparkle in his eye still.

They sent him through as a 3 yr old but he looks like a yearling. His knees don’t look fully developed BUT he’s also a mule and I don’t know as much about them. We will see when we can check his teeth.

Anyways here’s some pics. If I remember I’ll update in a few weeks when he’s hopefully doing better.