Horses

STANFORD - A man had to be extracted from his vehicle early this morning after his car hit two horses on U.S. 27, including an 18-hand high draft horse (about six feet). According to dispatchers, a Percheron and a Percheron-mix belonging to Harold Baker were struck near Fairgrounds Road at 1 a.m. State police, county fire departments and Stanford EMS were on the scene. Johnny Mayne, 65, was transported to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center. He was discharged several hours later.

HARRODSBURG - A Mercer County man facing animal cruelty charges for allegedly mistreating 14 horses pleaded not guilty on Monday in Mercer County District Court. The horses on James "Les" Pease's Curry Pike property were seized by Mercer County Animal Control during the first week in June. A criminal complaint filed June 15 in district court by animal control officer David Quinn alleges that the horses had to be removed because they were not being fed. Pease, 72, was charged with second-degree animal cruelty, which is a misdemeanor.

FORKLAND - Mark Gordon has spent his life around horses. He has a natural instinct as he's a fifth-generation farmer. His wife, Debbie, received her first horse in high school. "Everybody's got hobbies," Mark said. "I just always liked horses. " Together the couple are honing their vast knowledge of horses in on a breed that not even the history books are completely sure about. The Gordons raise Rocky Mountain Horses, a breed considered rare, and originating from Eastern Kentucky.

Editor's note: As The Journal was going to press around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, it learned Jessamine County authorities were raiding the farm on Hunter's Ferry Road. Due to deadlines, The Journal was unable to include a story about the raid in the March 27 edition. See the April 3 edition of The Journal for a complete story. Animal control officers seized 70 horses Wednesday afternoon from a farm on Hunter's Ferry Road in southern Jessamine County. According to Animal Control Supervisor Mike Cassidy, the horses had been neglected and were in extremely poor condition.

A Clark County man accused of neglecting 20 horses, some to the point of death, will face arraignment next week on misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. According to case documents, authorities served a criminal summons April 8 on Linville Davis, 67, of 510 Colby Road, charging him with 20 counts of animal cruelty. County Attorney Brian Thomas said Davis is scheduled to appear before a district judge at 10 a.m. Monday. Responding to a tip, investigators conducted a search April 2 and found a total of 26 horses on Davis' property at 5386 Irvine Road.

Anne Clay's voice takes on a sugary tone when she talks to horses. "They're just like big dogs," she said. "They love to play. " Her horses, she says, are her best friends. Clay and Sheri Robinson, manager of Fountain Valley Farm, wanted to share their mutual love for horses with others and so they have begun to teach riding lessons to adults and children. They teach every discipline from Western, used for trail riding, to Dressage, the equine version of ballet. During the day, Clay works as a sport manager for USA Equestrian at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

The Bible has been an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration for millennia, and Cynthia Webster Nave, an award-winning artist based out of Lexington, has discovered a creative muse in a biblical subject that initially might seem obscure. In a body of work entitled "Horses of the Bible: An Exhibition of Biblical Equine Art," which is on display in the Upper-Level Gallery of the Community Arts Center, Nave has tapped into the 200 references to horses scattered throughout the various books of the New and Old Testaments.

LIBERTY - The 42nd annual Kentucky Celebration Tennessee Walking Horse Show scheduled Sept. 20-23 in Casey County has been canceled. The decision was made Wednesday night by the Kentucky Celebration board after the Tennessee Celebration finale was canceled last weekend in Shelbyville, Tenn., because most of the horses were disqualified by federal inspectors. Jerry Hoskins, of Liberty, one of 20 on the Kentucky Celebration board of directors, said 18 members voted to cancel the show that was moved earlier this year from Mercer County Fairgrounds to Casey County's Ag/Expo Center.

The Jessamine County Fiscal Court voted Tuesday to give ownership of 50 horses to the Jessamine Humane Society, effective June 30. The horses were seized by the county March 26 after animal control officers investigated a claim that the animals were being neglected by their owners, Sharon and Argo Clagett. April 25, Jessamine County and the Clagetts reached an agreement that gave 25 horses back to the Clagetts, and they would be evaluated by a veterinarian for one year, at which point the court would decide whether or not the couple could keep the horses.

Attorneys are still deliberating on and investigating the case of a Boyle County man charged with 10 counts of cruelty to animals. County Attorney Richard Campbell and Tom Hensley, the man representing James Lancaster of Gentry Lane, met on Tuesday and discussed evidence in the case with the investigating trooper, Michael Keaton, and Boyle County Animal Control Director Dan Turcea. Lancaster is accused of mistreating 10 horses who were in his care. The horses were found by state police and Boyle County Animal Control on Aug. 9 in a barn on a farm leased by Lancaster in northern Boyle County.