Transferring seized horses is team effort
Relocating 200 wild horses — which had generally never been haltered or in a trailer — from a Montgomery County ranch where they’d allegedly suffered severe neglect took dozens of volunteers along with a few real cowboys.
“It was difficult,” said Brian Latham, spokesman for Houston’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, after the organization finally completed the largest equine rescue in its history. The transfer took three full days after county Justice of the Peace Wayne Mack decided July 1 to take the horses from the ranch owners, Herman and Kathleen Hoffman, and turn them over to the SPCA.
“Half the herd is stallions, who can be feisty. So we could only take one or two at a time on our trailer that is designed for big groups,” Lantham said. “We are talking about big animals that can kick, rear up and bite. So it took a lot of volunteers and some cowboys to coax them into trailers. Most were not accustomed to human touch.”
The seized horses have been transported to an SPCA ranch facility in Waller County; an undisclosed property that they have leased; and the main headquarters in Houston.
The Hoffmans, who have until July 13 to appeal the judge’s decision, had no comment, Herman Hoffman said from his gate Wednesday, To appeal, they must post a $122,000 bond to cover care of the herd since the seizure along with $1,000 per horse that they hope to recover.
The couple will also make their first court appearance July 15 on criminal charges — three counts of animal cruelty each. For each count, they could receive up to a year in prison.
According to investigators, most of the seized quarter horses — whose
muscular bodies usually weigh 800 to 1,000 pounds — were so emaciated that their ribs and hip bones protruded. These horses, also known for their ability to sprint at speeds of up to 55 mph, had hooves that were so overgrown that “they looked as if they were wearing boots” and had difficulty balancing, authorities said.
Some also suffered from oozing sores and skin fungus, authorities said, noting that many horse stalls were filled knee-deep in feces.
At the hearing where the horses were turned over to the SPCA, Herman Hoffman, 64, represented himself. He denied that he or his wife ever neglected the horses, and instead blamed three young girls that he’d hired to care for them.
But prosecutors said one employee testified that Herman Hoffman would feed his dairy cattle first, and if anything remained, give it to the horses but sometimes there was nothing left.
“Hoffman could see the starving condition of his horses every day from the house where he lived,” County Attorney J.B. Lambright alleged.
The Hoffmans’ Premium Star breeding operation for American Quarter Horses on their 40-acre spread north of Conroe has since shut down, but the couple’s Calico Dairy Farm remains in operation there. Montgomery County’s appraisal district lists the property, barn and ranch house as worth about $700,000.