Concern for mini horses goes global

International attention has descended on Vern Trembly and his miniature horse farm near Uniontown.

Animal lovers and members of horse rescue organizations have questioned Trembly's treatment of his mini horses. They allege he's mistreating the animals.

Ronni Folden, Fort Scott, first blew the whistle on the issue. In late August, she noticed the farm when driving around the county. She went up to the animals and noticed they appeared to be undernourished and suffering from uncut hooves and sores. Folden knows because she owns horses.

Folden said one of the geldings' penile area was swollen and had blood, maggots and flies inside. One horse was missing an eye. Flies were going in and out of its eye socket, she said.

She contacted Chances Miniature Horse Rescue, a non-profit organization that rehabilitates abused, unwanted or neglected miniature horses. A few weeks later, Virginia St. Pierre, a representative for the group, inspected the horses Friday after getting permission from the Bourbon County Sheriff's Office.

"In 20 years of rescues, I've never seen minis in that bad of physical condition," St. Pierre said. "To see that many minis, in that condition, was mindboggling."

She found several of the horses were skinny, with visible ribs, hips and backbones.

She said some of the horses immediately need better care. The organization is ready to step in and take the horses, if it's granted permission by Trembly or local authorities.

Trembly has operated Trembly Tiny Trails, located at 903 Limestone Road in rural Uniontown, for decades. He's been raising mini horses for 50 years. He mostly sells them. He hasn't shown them for several years, because he doesn't have a full-time employee to prep them.

Currently, there are 96 mini horses on the 80 acres he owns.

The Internet has generated nationwide and even worldwide attention on Trembly and the horses. An Internet message board on the Web site, www.miniaturehorsetalk.com, has produced comments from animal rescue organizations and horse lovers from all over the nation and in several other countries. Youtube.com, a video sharing Web site, has posted a video clip of the animals' condition.

Some of the comments have attacked Trembly for mistreating the horses, causing them to suffer. They've gone after the sheriff's department for its handling of the situation.

St. Pierre said the organization has received inquiries from all over the county about adopting the animals. Bourbon County Sheriff Harold Coleman and his deputies have been fielding calls from people all over the United States, who are concerned about horses.

They've gotten inquiries from New Zealand and Canada asking about the situation.

Trembly denies the accusation that the horses are mistreated.

"They're saying I've let them go for days, and that stuff just is not true," Trembly said. "They're saying I'm abusing them, and that's not true. These people have turned into alligators. They're all wanting to bite."

Trembly said the response from the organization and animal activists might be because they want free horses. He's not going to let the horses go.

"It's not that I'm not trying to take care of them," Trembly said. It's not a hunger issue, it's illness related, he added.

Some of the horses have worms, he said, and those are usually the skinnier horses. Also, some of the skinnier animals are old, as old as 25 to 30 years old. They're not dying and aren't starving. However, that might contribute to the appearance of neglect, he said.

Tremby said his worming program was not "working right for all the horses." He said he started changing the worming program about mid-August, working with a veterinarian. Trembly said it seems to be working but it takes time.

"You just gotta have the right worming program and keep taking the worms out, and I wasn't quite right (with the program)," Trembly said.

Coleman said he wants to see Trembly meet several criteria: He needs to reduce the number of horses, have better grass-pasture management, and get the horses on a more frequent worming schedule.

About the worming regime, Trembly was worming four times a year. Ideally, he should have been worming every 30 to 45 days, a veterinarian, who the sheriff's office contacted to check out the farm, advised.

There really isn't a time table Trembly must follow, officials said, but improvements need to be made, preferably sooner than later or action may be taken by the sheriff.

Coleman said the sheriff's office doesn't put up with animal neglect. "If this was deliberate neglect, they (horses) would've already been gone," he said.

The sheriff's office contacted Kansas State University's veterinary department about looking into the issue. A KSU vet will be on the Trembly farm Thursday to check out the situation and report their findings back to the sheriff.

Trembly defended the accusation that he can't handle the 96 horses. He said it's no problem taking care of that many horses. Trembly usually has more than his current stock.

But Folden and St. Pierre said Trembly is hoarding the animals.

"I understand that he loves his horses," Folden said. "I just think that he has become like a cat lady, so to speak. He's hoarding now. I just think he doesn't realize it."

Trembly said he doesn't want the horses taken away from him. "That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to steal my horses."

Trembly first found out about the controversy when a person called him about alleged abuse going on at his farm they read about on the Internet. He invited the sheriff's office to come out and take a look. It was around mid-September.

He's getting hate-filled phone calls. He's getting calls from out-of-state ranchers wanting to rescue the horses.

Trembly said the stepped-up worm program will cost money. If someone wants to donate money that will go toward the program, he wouldn't turn the money down. However, it's not his mission to get free money out of the controversy.

"I don't want to go around with my hand out," he said.

The horses mostly stay in a bare dirt area, because that's where their feed pens are located. However, they have access to pasture area, which is mostly dead grass with little greenery.

Trembly is not planning to move the horses unless the KSU veterinarian suggests relocation.

He has worked out an agreement with a landowner to rent better quality pasture. He'll move them to higher-quality land if it's recommended, Trembly said.

There have been reports that some of the worst horses have been relocated. The sheriff's office confirmed that no horses have been moved.