Imagine the condition of four former Thoroughbred horses too weak to be sent to slaughter. The mares, owned by New York racing stables leader Ernie Paragallo, who attended Aqueduct today watching his colt, Cellar Dweller, finish sixth, deny knowing of the dire conditions of these potentially lice-infected bred mares. with worms. and severely malnourished. Their neckbands and tattoos were the voices of these horses, examined by PA veterinarian Dr. James Holt. According to Dr. Holt, all four mares suffered from long-term chronic neglect with a score of 1 to 2 1/2 on the Henneke scale. Of the 24 horses that left the Paragallo facility in December, reportedly en route to Florida to be bred to one of Paragallo’s stallions, 17 mares ended up in a slaughterhouse in Canada. The other 3 mares were saved by Lisa Leogrande who also contacted Sheidy about the remaining 4 horses still in the NY pen.

Paragallo says he doesn’t remember the name of the farm or the address where the mares were going, but Richie Baiardi, a horse transporter, said he couldn’t ship the horses he picked up from Paragallo’s farm in late February because the horses were too weak to make the journey. Instead, he sold the horses to a slaughterhouse operator who had to feed the horses for several weeks to get them strong enough to make the trip to the slaughterhouse.

Christy Sheidy of Another Chance 4 Horses has been rehabilitating these mares, three now identified as Theonlyword, Coconut Martini and Firmly Decorated. “It will be a long recovery for these horses, but we already have an interested family that wants to adopt them,” Sheidy said. “I am relieved that these horses are safe, and I already see small improvements in their health and behavior.”

Paragallo has denied responsibility for the condition of these horses even though he says his breeding mares are kept lean in his breeding program, but says he will take full responsibility. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Paragallo has had emaciated and neglected horses on his farm. In January 2007, Susan Wagner of Equine Advocates apparently rescued starving horses from her Center Brook Farm that were underweight, parasited, and in poor health. The horses were released about 5 weeks after the clinic.