Two horses released Wellington, FL (US) Incident Date: Monday, Jul 11, 2005 County: Palm Beach Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Emirez Hernandez

Case ID: 5027 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: horse View more cases in FL (US) Drugs or alcohol involved Login to Watch this Case

A sheriff�s deputy arrested a horse groom on the evening of July 11 after he released horses and destroyed property at a Wellington farm, according to a report from the Palm Beach County Sheriff�s Office.

Emirez Hernandez released five horses from their stalls and ripped telephones from walls in the barn at Castlewood Farm, according to the PBSO report.

Kirsty Korotkin, wife of farm owner Alan Korotkin, fired Hernandez around 1 p.m. that day for coming to work drunk. Korotkin said Hernandez worked at the farm for six months and lived on the premises. She said she had sometimes seen him drunk after work, but he had never before appeared drunk while working.

�He was drunk, and we were getting ready to go away to a horse show, and he decided he wasn�t going,� Korotkin said. �He just didn�t look altogether there. It just looked like no one was home when you looked at his eyes.�

According to Korotkin, Hernandez waited on the property for several hours for a ride before the incident at 8 p.m. �He put the horses out and then started ripping phones out of the wall,� she said.

An employee who witnessed the incident rode his bike down the road and called the barn manager with a cell phone from a passerby, Korotkin said. The barn manager then called the PBSO.

According to the report, Hernandez released five privately owned horses, four mares and one stallion, into a pasture together. The horses, which are kept in separate stalls, fought when the stallion attempted to breed with the mares.

Korotkin said the animals, show horses worth at least $150,000, are accustomed to individual care and don�t normally interact with other horses in the pasture. The farm, a hunter/jumper show barn, has a policy against releasing male and female horses together because of their tendency to fight, which the arresting deputy said Hernandez knew.

�They�re handled very carefully,� Korotkin explained. �You don�t ever want to put a group of horses out together. Our horses go out one at a time.�

Two mares were injured and one received about 10 stitches. The stallion was also injured on the inside of his rear left leg and received 10 staples in his nose. Overall, Korotkin said, the animals are fine, and the horses� owners have been understanding.

�I called [the owners] and they were happy the police took care of everything,� she said. �They were all fine about it; they understood these things happen with employees once in a while.�

By the time the PBSO arrived on the scene, Hernandez had been restrained in a trailer. He was arrested and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and cruelty to animals for intentionally releasing the male and female horses into an area where they would fight and injure one another. He later told deputies that he was in the country illegally and that he consumed 24 beers after Korotkin had fired him. He also claimed Korotkin had not paid him for three days of work, but Korotkin said she did pay him.

Hernandez appeared in court on Tuesday and failed to post $3,000 bond.

Korotkin said she has hired extra security to guard the horses and will install security cameras to monitor the farm more closely. �I�m just taking the extra precautions just to make everyone feel more comfortable,� she said. �I don�t expect any more issues.�

Capt. Greg Richter, commander of the PBSO�s Wellington substation and a former member of PBSO�s Mounted Unit, said the incident could have been much more serious than it was.

�When you put a stallion out with four mares, or even mares that aren�t used to being turned out together, they can cause injuries to each other,� Richter explained.

Sometimes these injuries are so severe that the horses involved have to be put down, he said.

�You, in essence, could be killing a horse by doing that,� Richter said. �[Hernandez] being a professional groom, knew exactly how dangerous it would be by releasing those horses.�

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Town-Crier - July 15, 2005

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