Charges are pending against Craig Haydon, 71, and his son Curtis, 37, of Woodstock, Ga., said Ravalli County Undersheriff Kevin McConnell.
“The big thing is the citations were issued and the horses were saved,” he said.
They found the animal lying on the trail, still saddled and without access to water, abandoned about six miles from the Big Creek trailhead.
The two women alerted the Ravalli County sheriff, the Bitterroot Humane Society and others about the downed animal's plight.
“We want the horses to be taken care of,” Merrill said Monday. “They can't speak for themselves.”
The Georgia men told officials they had purchased the animals in several states outside of Montana in preparation for a trip into the wilderness, said Ravalli County Sheriff's Deputy Travis McElderry, who investigated the case.
McElderry said the men have 10 days to appear in Justice Court before a warrant would be issued for their arrest.
The maximum penalty for the misdemeanor citation for animal cruelty is $500 and a year in jail, unless the charges are amended by the Ravalli County attorney's office, McConnell said.
McElderry said the Georgia men were in the Stevensville area late last week, but he didn't know their status over the weekend.
He said the elder Haydon told him he had grown up with horses, while the son said the first time he had ridden a horse was two months ago.
Asked about the demeanor of the Georgia men, McElderry said: “They basically didn't understand why we were seeing what we were seeing. They figured the horses were tired and needed some care. I think a lot of it came to not knowing horses.”
The women who found the downed horse alerted officials and had the animal brought to a Missoula vet before it was released to the Bitterroot Humane Society in Hamilton.
McElderry said the horse has been seen by a Bitterroot vet, but it is “touch on and go” whether the animal will survive.
“We're hoping so,” he said. “It's a day by day.”
McConnell said the Georgia men's other three horses were found in a pen between storage units at the Red River Storage in Stevensville.
Those horses were confiscated Aug. 4 and taken to the Bitterroot Humane Society.
McElderry said he saw all four horses Monday, which range in age from 9 to 21 years. While some seem to be gaining weight, others suffer from severe saddle sores, abscesses, sore feet and other ailments.
He and Vicki Dawson, the operations manager at the Bitterroot Humane Society, praised the women for their efforts in helping the downed horse.
Merrill and DeHart said they are still haunted by what occurred.
On Aug. 1, they passed the younger Haydon, who was leading his horse out and told them he had a horse farther into the trail.
When the women came across the horse on the trail, they found it lying on its side, covered with biting deer and horse flies.
She said the horse was lying in direct sun, without food or water. It raised its head when they approached on the trail.
“We were appalled at what we found,” Merrill said. “His head picked up and he was looking to us for help.”
She said there was a handwritten note attached to the saddle: Horse went down for no apparent reason. Will return within 24 hours.
She said the women loosed the horse's girth and fetched about four bottles of water from the creek.
“He nursed the water bottle like a foal at a mother's teet. We would take turns running to the creek because there was no easy access to water,” she said.
They then pulled off the pack saddle and attempted to get the horse on its feet, but were unsuccessful.
They made the horse more comfortable, cooling it off and covering it with a blanket, and rode out. They called authorities on their cell phones when they were about one mile from the trailhead.
On their way out, they came across the younger Haydon. He asked if the women had come across his horse.
“He was more concerned about us finding the horse and who we told than about the condition of the horse,” DeHart said.
The women drove down to Stevensville and showed pictures they had taken of the downed horse to authorities.
That same night, DeHart's husband, Jay, rode back up the trail with feed, water and animal pain relievers. But it appeared someone had unhaltered the horse and DeHart couldn't find the animal.
On Saturday, Merrill said the women tried to rally forces to search for the horse and called a veterinarian for advice on what to bring the downed animal.
On Sunday, Merrill said she rode up the trail again, this time with her neighbor, Mike Svoboda. Along the way, his horse was slightly injured and he ended up waiting at the six-mile mark along the trail while Merrill rode about one mile farther.
There, she found the horse.
“He whinnied as soon as I walked up on him,” she said. “I put a halter on him. I went back to get Mike and we gave him “bute” (an animal painkiller), water and walked out about two miles. At that point, he couldn't go on. He was in pain and moving slow.”
She took the pads and boots off her horse's hooves and put them on the ailing animal. She rode a “fast clip” down the trail trying to work up another plan for Jay DeHart to ride up again.
But Svoboda had managed to get down the mountain, leading his horse and the ailing animal down the trail.
They trailered the downed horse to Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula.
Veterinarian Dick Richardson said the horse remained at the clinic until last Wednesday.
“I don't believe the horse was terminal, but certainly had been used hard and not cared for in an appropriate fashion,” he said. “I think the horse will survive and recover.”
Dawson said the horses were recuperating.
“It's our opinion that the women saved one horse's life,” Dawson said. “The local vet thinks they all are going to make it, but they are dealing with a lot of pain. They are walking in baby steps and there are wounds across their backs.”
Help is needed
For more information or to help, contact www.bitterroothumane.org or (406) 363-5311.
Reporter Pamela J. Podger may be reached at 523-5241 or at Pamela.podger
@missoulian.com.
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