Well, here we go again… I had hoped that things in California would have simmered down over the weekend or, at the very least, they had maxed out on bad decisions and maybe run out of bullets, but no joy. Sadly, Charles Manson Michelle has actually topped her own past record of assholery and poor choices and once again, horses are paying a heavy price. As a result, I feel compelled to at least recap the fuckery that passes for horsemanship at HiCaliber. You may want to grab something a bit stronger than a coffee to wade through this mess.
We last left off with HiCaliber resident Dana, who puts the `high’ in HiCaliber, headed to Louisiana, with her 4 horse stock trailer, to pick up some of the remaining horses from Satan Tara. The village idiots were promised a `freedom walk’ and live feed of the load out and that’s where the latest round of lies began. Unsurprisingly to everybody BUT the village idiots, the load out was not shown, not even on a hastily deleted live feed. The official reason was that there was nobody there to help Dana and her accomplice 2nd driver, but once again, they forgot to get everybody on board with the official line of bullshit, so Satan Tara basically discredited the whole thing with one post. I don’t think anybody really believed that Satan Tara, would allow them to wander around and load horses on their own anyhow. There was no more video of the lot probably because the hay that had been set out for the Romney videos was no longer in situ.
So yeah, the lies started early on in this adventure and so did the fuckery because you’ll notice the mention of the animals already foaming at the seams with sweat after loading mentioned in the video posted above. That’s kind of important because for reasons I can’t fathom, they decided to cram six horses into a four horse bumper pull. I probably shouldn’t be all that surprised because it’s not the first time they’ve pulled that stunt. I believe the claimed that weak horses need support when they did it with nearly disastrous results last year for the infamous `slaughter 11′. One of the loose horses in this latest load was a stud colt and they couldn’t even get a halter on him prior to loading. We probably don’t want to know the chaos that ensued getting him loaded in after all the others in that heat and humidity. I think he’s the same one that Romney informed us all was `chill’ because he was in a pen with a bunch of mares and not acting studish. It probably hasn’t dawned on any of the HiCaliber brain trust that was likely because he had already settled them. At any rate he was crammed in the trailer too tight to do much more damage and Dana informed us that the Palomino mare was `super dehydrated’ BEFORE they stuffed her in the trailer. That’s ok though, because the 30% Vet, Michelle informed us on another live feed that they give the horses Gatorade or whatever is cheap and on sale as electrolytes. I know some people think that’s a thing but Gatorade really doesn’t have enough electrolytes in it for a horse. Show horse people only use it to flavor the water so horses will drink away from home and since it’s highly doubtful that Tara even fed them after Romney left, I’m willing to bet she wasn’t flavoring their water with Gatorade so that they’d drink on the way home.
I’m not really sure who all to blame this hellish trip that these poor animals were subjected to. We already know that Dana isn’t really a professional hauler and it has been said before that she learned nearly everything she knows from Michelle. She doesn’t even have a DOT# and is technically an illegal hauler. I’m only guessing here, but I’m pretty certain she took all her marching orders on this trip from the alpha mare back home. Regardless, somebody made the absolutely moronic choice to not lay these animals over and, instead, keep them on a trailer for at least 50hrs. We don’t have an exact time stamp because there was no loading video and there was, as expected, no unloading video. We just know that the horses left the Thompson lot at some point before the sun went down in Louisiana on Friday, May 19th and didn’t get to HiCaliber until just before dark on Sunday, May 21st. The reasons given were that they were stopping every hour for water along the way. Personally, I’d have run at night with them and kept moving to get some air circulating rather than overstuffing them in a tin can and letting them bake in the sun, but that’s just me. What is not in dispute is that those six horses suffered a ride every bit, if not more, miserable as any horse being shipped to slaughter endures courtesy of HiCaliber. Don’t believe me? It just so happens a concerned party encountered them along the way.
I know, I know, the village idiots will say that this is all a set up with the temperature reading etc. Still pictures and all. Way ahead of them though… Enjoy!
That’s about all we know about the trip home because there were only the two live updates and then the candid ones. The next time we see the six victims is back at the ranch where they all appear drugged to their knees and Michelle is playing doctor with them again. I guess calling in a real vet to assess and treat them would eat into her personal slush fund too much so she got to hang IVs on two horses that were threatening to drop even though her magical SAA machine assured her that their blood was `beautiful’. I guess we shouldn’t be worried that they were parked in the middle of the barn aisle with other ranch horses because Michelle was wearing surgical gloves so that meant that all biosecurity issues were taken care of. Apparently the wearing of the gloves also meant the horses standing right close by in the arena were safe from all the airborne bugs flying around from the new arrivals too and the dogs wandering all over wouldn’t ever spread disease either. We had to sit through basically all the same drawn out crap the last group of horses were subjected to. Hitting them with enough Rompun that they couldn’t keep their heads up, blamming with dewormer and a bunch of other procedures that could wait until they were rested and stable both satisfied Michelle’s equine version of Munchausen by proxy and ensured she wouldn’t have to bother with them again until the next load comes in unless one needs to be shot in the head. Inside information says that Michelle is adverse to lowering herself to actually doing chores regardless of how shorthanded the feed team gets, but I digress.
I really have learned some interesting things over the course of the past week or so. For instance, thanks to Michelle, I now know that you can tell if a mare has ever had a foal just by looking at her titties! I also never knew, until more than one HiCaliber gunsel proclaimed, that every horse with a bridle path is broke and has recently been ridden. This came as a huge shock to my own hay burners who always have their bridle paths trimmed and mane pulled because I prefer that they don’t wander around looking like they just got drug in off the range. From the time they are halter broke until the time they leave this earth they are groomed and a bridle path is no indication of their training level or if the fat buggers are currently being ridden. It didn’t dawn on any of the village idiots that many of these horses likely weren’t emaciated until they got to stand around the Thompson shit pile for weeks with nothing to eat. Of course it didn’t considering that Thompsons carefully staged any pens that would be shown on video strictly for the HiCaliber cameras. I guess all the advocates that have been tracking and gathering evidence for years, are just imagining things too. With each new day the unholy alliance of Satan Tara and Charles Manson Michelle deepens and even more horses are at risk under the guise of saving them.
Other pearls of wisdom I picked up during the live feeds was that one does not have to worry about strangles or EHV-1, but it’s worth risking an animal’s life to make sure that no parasites are on the property. (The recent outbreak of EHV-1 in Louisiana was traced to Thompson’s feed lot btw.) Also don’t you know that Michelle has a VERY close relationship with the vets she uses and she’s even allowed to call them after hours and text them, which is why we don’t see much of them lately on live feeds. Until today, I wasn’t even aware that having contact details for your vet was out of the ordinary, so thanks to Michelle I now realize how close me and my vet really are and I’ll be eagerly awaiting my invitation to Sunday dinners from now on. I also learned that horses in Louisiana must have different teeth because they are all worn down apparently and that Banamine makes horses sleepy. That last one was shared by a villager who must think Banamine is the horsey version of Diluadid or something. These live feeds are really so educational AND entertaining.
All this having to do stuff seems to be really wearing on Michelle and it is becoming customary to get live rants after intakes. While not as glorious as the meltdown of a few days ago, it was still fairly interesting to hear Charles Michelle rant about how unfair it is that people are disgusted with what has been going down lately (I’m paraphrasing here) and then listen to her lay the groundwork into morphing into doing what Satan Tara does instead as long as she could keep her non-profit status. When she wasn’t dropping f-bombs and trying to project everything onto her volunteers, she took the time to praise Tara and then tells us that she is becoming `anti-rescue’ because the kill buyers are nicer and more respectful than other rescues. Hmmm, why do you think that is, Michelle? She claims to be embarassed to be called a rescue and doesn’t want to be called that anymore. Personally, I think I can get on board with not calling her a rescue. To be honest, one rant tends to bleed into another and I kinda fell asleep with this last one, but she feels that somebody has infiltrated her volunteers, but that doesn’t matter because she has nothing to hide apparently. Hmmm….
One of the things that was said during the rant was that Michelle hopes that with as much money as they bring in every month she hopes that somebody is making sure that it is being spent right and wisely. Ok then…let’s talk about lying some more. Let’s talk about an earlier rant that touched on how much everything cost including the meds these horses needed and that Michelle begged for money saying that a 250ml bottle of gentamicin costs $250. That’s the problem here. The lies have gotten so big they are laughable and tiresome. How are people suppose to keep overlooking this crap?
Speaking of Floyd, let’s get back to these poor animals from Louisiana. Floyd is the one with the wrecked leg that they made ship across the country to probably end up with a bullet between the eyes all because Tara told Romney that he just needed a minor little check ligament surgery for a few hundred dollars and then he’d be good as new. Romney, who is still learning what the different colors of horses are, just ate it right up and put this poor horse through what amounts to torture. I don’t think you have to be too smart to realize that he was in pain and continues to be. Then you have Hazel, another one of the first load who is emaciated. That didn’t stop Tara from getting her ridden for the sale videos and now the poor thing is being subjected to whatever the hell this bandage job is that appears that somebody is actually trying to give her a bandage bow or worse. The scary part is, is that the 30% vet thinks she knows so much she’s the one training her `medical team’ to do this sort of shit to horses. It is borderline cruelty.
While we’re on the subject of the horses, and really that’s why we’re all here hopefully, let’s get back to quarantine discussion. We already know that the horses that shipped together were all put in a pen together. Michelle is strying to ship out a pregnant mare to spread her germs elsewhere already and the truth is, there really isn’t a proper quarantine area at HiCaliber anyhow. At the beginning of her most recent ranty video, she tells a volunteer to put the newly arrived stud in pen #20 and the rest in 39. Here is a map of the pen layout at HiCaliber and pen #20 is on stud row right in with a bunch of other horses that are not in quarantine. They are so over stuffed horses are living in round pens at the moment.
Also, because there are still something like 16 horses coming, the body count is rising with Breen, Phelps, Stanley and a couple of others getting the bullet in the head in last week or so. HiCaliber have often stated they don’t announce all the deaths. How is that transparent??? They also fudge some of the adoption announcements because Rhys, was adopted by a HiCaliber resident and remains on the property living in pen #17 getting fed the good stuff on the donor dollar.
The other day Michelle mentioned that a horse called Saban had gotten aggressive and started biting and that poor bastard got The Fice. Andrew Fice was a trainer they sent their `fuckheads’ to until people started freaking out about his methods. He has zero riding skill to the point that he was excused from the Norco Colt Breaking Challenge for being too rough on his horse. Even so, Michelle had zero fucks to give what people thought about the Fice until he decided to make fun of autistic children and it was revealed he had done prison time for beating the shit out of his ex girlfriend. Then, in the interest of public relations, HiCaliber appeared to withdraw their support of him and brought one of the horses home. Novalee. The gelding Rojas seems to be missing in action as he doesn’t appear to be at Fice’s and they never mention him although he is on their adoption list. Hopefully, he’s alive somewhere and has found a softer landing. My main question is why hide that Fice bought these horses for $2 for the pair if he’s so super awesome and you don’t care what peope think?
So much for `failing forward’, which is one of Michelle’s favorite catch phrases when she gets caught with her proverbial ass hanging out. I guess it wasn’t enough to subject six poor souls to baking in a tin box for 1700 miles, it looks like the Cheech n Chongmobile is going back for more. This is despite Michelle claiming on a live feed they were sending an air-conditioned rig for the rest. Perhaps the good ride is just for the horse she bought for herself or maybe she meant poverty A/C though, where you roll the windows down and drive really fast. I’m sure the horses will totally appreciate that along with their frequent Gatorade stops in the boiling sun. Given the total shit show this entire endeavor has become, don’t hold your breath for any live feeds or much information at all. One thing is almost certain though; we aren’t likely to see any invoices or vet bills posted for any of this. What truly sucks about this is that they know damn well this is an illegal haul, Dana knows it (confirmed by calling her dumb ass and asking her) and still they go ahead and do it.
I think this is as good a place as any to wind things up for today. I apologize for bouncing around so many different issues, but there are hardly enough hours in the day to stay on top of all the grifting going on and these bitches seem to want to live on live feed. Despite the massive overcrowding and having no quarantine pens left with more horses still to come from Louisiana, the HiCaliber team is headed off to auction today to buy more horses from their favorite kill buyer, Misner. Once again the village will be asked to dig deep and cough up their lunch money, college funds and rent money without ever once seeing an auction slip or invoice. Once again, more horses will likely die to make room or get shuffled off to people like Fice for $1, never to be heard from again. The village idiots tend to lose interest once the purchase is made. I think the above screen grab pretty much says exactly the mentality that we’re dealing with. I’m not sure anybody that has seen this blog, whether you hate it or not, could ever think it’s a front for the slaughter movement. However, I guess when you’re convinced that what HiCaliber is doing is rescue and that Satan Tara Sanders is one of the good guys, it’s not so hard to get pretty upside down about which side is which. No hunty, I’m distinctly anti and that is a big reason why this blog has put HiCaliber on blast. The blurred lines and misinformation they spew is making the job of legitimate rescues and anti-slaughter advocates extremely difficult and enough is enough. Until next time, folks…
Shedrow Confessions 
I’m good with not calling them a rescue.
Geez what a colossal cluster this has become. How can their sheep not even see that they are being fleeced? Those poor horses. The ones getting the bullet may be the lucky ones. The fact that these people get away with this over and over just boggles my mind. What will it take for the villagers to get their torches and pitchforks and go after Dr. Frankenstien and Igor?
Once again, brilliantly spot on! Wonder what happened to Dr Grove, of West Coast Vets, that used to do the Wednesday intakes, castrations, etc. Michelle once said he was one of her best friends. He was also on the board of directors. Then all of a sudden he was gone, with no explanation. I saw a recent post by another “hater” that mentioned that he had gotten wise and was talking. Don’t know what that means but I am guessing that he didn’t agree with all the horse murders. Someone else said that is why her whole board of Directors quit. All rumors but where there is smoke… I truly think that the “haters” should be rename “doubters”. He second rant video was so full of hypocracy that it was laughable. I really do believe that she is a sociopath. She really does believe that she is so much smarter than everyone else and that no one will will ever figure out her fuckery. It’s just a matter of time and I for one will get the popcorn and watch it go down. She will squeal like a pig I’m sure and I will be delighted. I saw one post that a woman said that she would be getting her Social Security check the next day and would send a donation. Made me sick.
I know of a couple of trainers that have asked about fostering Saban recently and were told he was “too skinny for training.” Guess what that really means is “too expensive to send anywhere where he’s still partially on our payroll.”
I feel really badly for both those horses that ended up with Fice. So much for vetting new homes.
I saw that woman’s comment too. I wanted to reply “doooon’t do it!”
Wow, you’d think if they had half a brain they’d cut ties with the Fice. Poor horses, but Saban doesn’t look like he was too happy at HC either. Not in very good condition for a horse that’s been with a “rescue” for 4+ months.
Well, you heard Dr. Michelle, some horses just don’t “do well” in that setting. Never mind the fact she went to a day long seminar that was supposed to teach her how to help the horses to adjust and be happy. Although I’m not sure how “happy” four horses living in a round pen are…
I’m guessing a lot of horses wouldn’t “do well” in that setting. Crowded shit-filled pens where they get some hay thrown (by a different person each day so probably not in consistent amounts) at around 10am and ?pm
I know of a couple of different trainers that have asked recently about taking Saban as a training foster, who were told he was “too skinny for training.” I guess that really translates to “too expensive to send anywhere where he’s still partially on our payroll.”
They have a lot of horses losing condition. I’ve seen the feed schedule and it’s more likely that, than the environment.
I remember them posting a feeding schedule before when they were in need of feeders. You know, because it would be way too much to ask one of the residents to get up before noon and feed…
I’ve seen the one where it tells what they are feeding and to which horse.
Ooh I bet that was interesting, and probably frustrating to see…
enlightening, to say the least.
Think Saban may have already gone down. Couple days ago Fice posted a “hilarious” video of Saban refusing carrots and mouthing and then dropping hay. Several people urged him to call a vet, no response. Now the video is gone 😦 wonder if Saban is too…
He bought him for $1 . Rojas is the one that seems to have vanished off the earth. Michelle seemed to want to hide the fact she had given Saban and Dylan to Fice. While we’re at it, the horse Mardi seems to be missing too.
Right. What I’m saying is a few days after Fice got Saban, he posted that very concerning video of the horse, did not respond to people pleading with him to call a vet, and then later removed the video. Very ominous if you ask me.
I too, am concerned about Saban. I recall many people were saying the horse may need to have his teeth done, which is interesting because HC claims floats are included in rhe amount they fundraise for “responsible rescue”. Although, it should come as no surprise that those cons probably pocketed the money that should have gone to dental care.
It’s not surprising the Fice deleted those videos, but he wasn’t fast enough as I saved them both!
I was wondering about Rojas – no one knows where he went? The Fice didn’t fix him up and ride him in a parade?
No, he’s listed as adoptable or he was, but he is not on their feed chart. He’s also not at Fice’s.
Minion on FB said she was going to check on where Rojas was, apparently he is still “in training”…
Is that code for under a blue tarp on the driveway?
That’s what I expected… according to her, he’s still with the Fice, but no recent videos or anything
Let’s not forget the fact our buddy Rene kept telling people the horses would have layovers on the way to California. Someone forgot to tell her that a layover is when horses actually get OFF the trailer and are given a chance to rest, roll and rehydrate.
The HiCaliber version of layover consists of Dana stopping for gas, throwing some hay into the trailer and putting water in buckets she keeps on the floor. Take a look at the sides of the “ventilated” trailer. How easy is it to get hay through there and how easy was it for them to eat?
I also love that their main spokesperson on live feeds is someone who lives in Nevada. How can she possibly keep a pulse on what’s going on at the Motel Hell for Horses? Oh, that’s right, she can’t, which is why she gets to be the one making the unfounded promises. You know Romney and Michelle have no idea what Rene is telling people, becuase if they did, they would probably have to throw her under the bus, which would most likely make her cry, and then she would become a disgruntled volunteer. Hey, maybe she’s the mole! ; D
Romney very rarely ever goes near the place either. Her main function is to play good cop, to Michelle’s bad one.
Rene’s updates and condescending responses to people’s questions are seriously driving me batshit. Talking about how “we” did this and “we” did that with such smugness (I mean, authority). I don’t understand how people can take her seriously as a source of information when she literally only knows what Michelle & co. tell her….
I would love to see her spend a month at HiCal (and I mean actually working, not just fartassing around on Facebook) and see how willing she still is to take everything Michelle says as gospel.
She did spend a week there or something and still drinks the kool-aid. She does not appear capable of independent thought.
I wish we could give the thumbs up/Like the comments on this blog.
I helpee run a successful 501 (c)3 horse rescue for almost 6 years, working wit law enforcement, breed associations/registries, former breeder, feed lots, and PMU breeders.
Not once did we have a shit show go on like this, nor did we have the “village” or fall under such critisim.
These people are such bullshit scam artists it makes me physically sick. And the money they get! Most of our opeating budget came from our own pockets. We broke ourselves trying to stay open and help as many horses as we could.
I saw a photo of one mare. Not a burned tattoo. An ulceration that resulted in an abscess that blew out and went untreated and necrotized.
I’ve been working in vet med, specializing in biosecurity and epidemiology, for almost 15 years. Again, these people just leave me feeling sick.
Michelle would laugh at all of us saying we’re haters because we haven’t figured out a formula to make it rain money like she has. My conscience wouldn’t allow me to treat animals the way that they do.
The “medical care”… That was a red flag the size of California and Louisiana combined! I am a trusting person; I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. So, to give HiCaliber a fair shot (oh, the irony), I read their posts and watched their live-feeds. At face-value, their mission was a noble one, so I thought. But as the LA horses were standing around the barn and trailers upon arrival in CA, my heart sank. The misinformation, concerning the medical treatments needed for these horses, so effortlessly spewing out of multiple “live-feeders'” mouths made me realize I was out like a fat kid in dodgeball.
Oh, I forgot to mention. Today they are rescuing another stallion. That seems like a good idea for this group of brainiacs. Maybe he can keep the other stallion company as they ride out their EHV-1. I jest, of course.
I saw that. They always go and clean up Misner’s messes for him and pay to do so.
OMG. I want to SOB! I had never heard of Andrew Fice so I looked him up on FB.The “training” videos! The absolute horror. I think he deserves a blog post of his own.
I hesitate to make him more notorious than he is. He kinda gets off on negative attention.
The picture of him jumping his four-year old mare… My jaw dropped. I suddenly feel incredibly talented as an equestrian (and I’m a novice adult).
Watching him get dirted was fairly amusing for me if those poor horses weren’t in so much discomfort. He broke his saddle tree and continued to ride on it, wondering why horses were bucking.
SCR…I have a few questions but I have to go visit my therapy mare. Thank you for this update. BTW, I LOVE the word fuckery! It truly describes this shitmess.
I started watching Hicaliber about a year ago, I’ll admit. At first I was intrigued and thought I saw something pretty cool being done. However, I quickly saw way too many red flags and the BS is just out of control.
Every week it’s some crazy sob story to drum up tons of drama to get people to donate. It’s always something made up. From cigerrate burns to every freakin grey horse has cancer to every horse that has a bad hoof angle from not enough trimmings it automatically has DSLD.
When you call yourself a horse person with a “decade” of experience, then you should probably know correct colors and breeds too by now. She can’t even get a saddle that fits and this whole “bit less” riding is such nonsense. I’m fine with a bit less bridle, but at least use an actual bit less bridle and not a rope halter and lead rope that pushes into the horses throat every time you pull back on it.
This whole OTTB thing has really taken the cake, what a cluster and so full of lies and that village just eats up all the crap that she spews out of her mouth as if she was Oprah or something.
I want to know, how did they get a negative Coggins on the 6 horses that they switched out at the last minute? I’ve hauled our show horses from CA to AZ, NV, TX, NM, FL, LA, GA, and OK and we could never get a Coggins done in 24 hours, so same day is highly suspicious. We also only travelled at night because it was cooler and we always had layovers at no more than 12 hours on the road and this was for healthy fit horses too!
This has got to be th biggest shirt show I’ve ever seen.
Totally agree and many of us were the same. I liked this rescue in the early days. They just lost their way in spectacular fashion and now the animals they claim to rescue are suffering.
Thank you for the exhaustive work keeping track of their many, many, many acts of cruelty and transgressions. They need to lose their 501(c)3 yesterday. I am sick thinking about everything every one of their horses suffer as a consequence of being taken on by their “village.”
So they are saying on their page they bought 30 horses from Thompson’s hell hole. They got them home and all vaccinated, dewormed etc already. Seriously? Vaccinating stressed, debilitated and likely sick horses is not “responsible rescue” It’s idiocy. And now they are asking for more donations to get yet more horses at auction today. And…bitching that someone reported them and now the state vet will be out inspecting today.
They only have 18 home so far, but yes, other than that, you are correct.
Ahh…I just meant that they got them ‘home” to HiCaliber. I’m actually impressed if they have found homes for 18. Are we sure that’s not a home in a hole in the ground?
They haven’t found homes for any of them aside from the private buyer ones. They’ve already started to shoot them.
Yeah the rest are sitting in muddy pens in Louisiana, and apparently aren’t even getting picked up until Friday
They won’t be showing any more loading or even intakes on the remaining horses probably. They wouldn’t want their adoring villagers to see the Louisiana horses arrive aon a slaughter truck driven by a kil buyer.
I’d like to help you bring these bitches down for Good! Let me know how I can help. I think I’m going to start with the the station who aired the story and asked them why they did not check all facts .
Many of us posted comments on the thread on their Facebook page. It all fell upon deaf ears.
Heather,
I tried to contact both news organizations in a polite and professional manner. They didn’t even acknowledge me. I then figured out they were undoubtedly warned by HC that the crazy haters were going to come out enmasse and attempt to discredit them.
As someone who studied Journalism at a top university, I reminded them there was a certain standard of ethics to be followed, but apparently ethics aren’t as important as a sensationalized story.
A lot of people are wondering why they didn’t check the facts.
I like how in Romney’s initial post about the stud today, when she is talking about why she and Michelle aren’t at the auction today, she says the reason Michelle isn’t there is because she’s going to be at the ranch when the HCR vet and the state vet come to look over the six Dana brought. She also makes sure to blame the haters for reporting them as traveling without legal paperwork and basically said the joke is on us because they have the paperwork and will show the state vet, but because Michelle has to do that and won’t be at auction, the horses at auction that needed saving are going to suffer. Riiiiight. Michelle is the savior of all and everything equine and clearly no one else can handle it, not even the rest of their team. Glad to know she trusts her minions.
I know HCR has worked with a couple of other rescues, like Mea Ola’s Place. That’s one that I had liked on Facebook a while back but never pid a ton of attention to. What are the thoughts on them?
No clue about Mea Ola’s other than guilt be association. I haven’t really heard much about them one way or another. HiCaliber created that market at Ontario auction by buying anything and everything people bring. Now they are dragging TBS there because Michelle has said she has a waiting list for those. They are such a huge part of the problem it’s ridiculous.
Could some first year vet student puhleeeease inform ‘Dr. Knutilla’ what it means to quarantine horses?! As in NOT putting them in the barn with other horses? And NOT shoving every cocktail she can find in her glorified medicine room into starved, sick and emaciated horses that have endured an unforgivably long ride through hell, fire and brimstone?! Good god that was brutal to watch. Do any of these ‘rescuers’ know how to pick up a phone and call a REAL veterinarian when Michelle insists on playing Dr. with these poor equine souls?! Her field veterinary skills are sorely lacking. But then again buying yourself some logo scrubs is practically as good as any degree in veterinary medicine! She really may be a sociopath. As for her choice in trainers i.e. Andrew Fice, did she just open the phone book and point to any name? No vetting, no google searches must mean ‘not responsible’ for any abuse the horses endure at his hands. HiCaliber has grown too big for their britches at the same time throwing all accountability out the window. They’re putting these horses at great risk of sickness, injury and physiological damage. They could employ Laurie Baker full time at this point. Those horses need help to get away from these women who have no business running a ‘rescue’. I’m not even going to speak on the fact that they didn’t know anything about Tara and the Thompson’s lot beforehand. Now they’re besties! I’m going to be sick!!!
You must have missed the part where she did a limb perfusion on an injured horse and ended up having to shoot it in the head when it didn’t work out.
What?! Which horse?!!!! Missed that part. Aren’t there laws against practicing medicine without a license? At what point do the real veterinarians step in and say….’enough quackery Dr. Death.’?!! Who appointed them judge, jury and executioners over lives that the villagers saved?! Now I finally understand the whole pitchfork and torch mentality. They should be driven out of rescue. Period! If nothing else then go the fuck back to basic rescue 101….save lives and DO NO HARM!!
It’s sad that she says she doesn’t want to be called a “rescue” anymore but also she really isn’t a rescue it seems more like a broker program. Also don’t they have a limit on how much livestock per acre? Our county has a limit of 2 per acre and yes they enforce it. As my vet has told me “you can’t save them all”
Yes they do have a limit and they do not have a permit but are allegedly working on it. Michelle has spun it into some good will exercise, but that’s not really true. They have to come into compliance sooner, rather than later.
Wow! I had asked them prior to the move to this place and I was told no there is not a limit, just horrible
Of course there is! LOL.
Oh goodie! Another video from Charles Manson. I couldn’t finish watching it. Once she plopped her lard ass in the chair to babysit Sully I was done after a few minutes. So far she hasn’t started melting down yet, but she has displayed several distinctly different personalities. For one she has on her green scrubs. I guess if you are gong to play doctor, you need the right costume. Then she slips into the southern belle. Oh gag me with a magnolia. The soul singer appeared on the way down to the barn. And then Dr Kuttila, knower of all things. The Wizardess of ISH! She repulses me to the core. She casually (as in “Sure is hot today.”) announces that Floyd has been euthanized. Later mentions that Drama still isn’t improving. Next?
Those poor horses. Damn shamed that their fate was to fall into the hands of a sociopath. I guess the next load comes in Friday, but they will no longer show the load and unloads to protect the hauler (or to hide the horses falling out of the trailer). Damn, I wish there was something we could do.
Looks like at least one they bought today is going to get the bullet. She’s always in a good mood after she gets to shoot something though.
What you can do is keep asking questions. Keep calling them on their bullshit. Speak up! Horses are dying because of these bitches and it’s time to stand up.
I honestly believe she gets off on shooting them. If you watch her, she is all about control, she know best, she is almighty, she is the savior of all…..this is a power trip for her. She is never open to suggestions on alternate methods of medicine, therapy, or care. I just feel bad for the people that worship her, they are so clueless, most of the village lacks basic horse knowledge and Dr Death is the one giving the advice? Ugh.
She does always seem to be in a good mood after she shoots a horse.
I don’t know much about Hicaliber and can’t stomach any of their videos for long so maybe I’m confused. According to their website, they are on 16 acres and “provide refuge to over 100 rescues”. Are they saying they keep 100 horses on 16 acres? Surely, that’s not right.
Is a vet helping to make euthanasia decisions? I’m guessing not if they are truly just putting a bullet in them. I can’t fathom how any rescuer could choose that as their primary method of euthanasia. There is only one reason I can think of for this rescue, with seemingly endless resources and access to vets, to put a horse down with a bullet and not drugs.
Yes there are 100+ horses on their 16 acres. Check it out on google maps satellite view, looks like a feedlot. I love how they had to emphasize that people were wrong who called it a “10 acre dirt lot”. Ok it’s 16 and has some trees – still not enough room for that many horses.
According to the County Assessor it is only 11 acres. They are permitted 10 horses per usable acre with an administrative permit. There is no permit on file. I can only assume they are that not all 11 acres are “usable” as you have the house(s), pool etc. so they must be well over the limit.
I posted a map of the property on this post. They use some of the neighbor’s property, but still nowhere near the 18 acres Michelle is claiming. Even if she did have that much, that’s still way too many horses.
Yeah it’s definitely not all usable. I think they may have added more pens (in the “quarantine” area) since that map, too.
they only have so much space to do that. They have horses stuffed everywhere on that property.
I just can’t fathom that many horses in such a small plot of land. Seeing the map makes it even harder to imagine. How the hell are they getting away with that? Going by the numbers on their website, that’s over 6 horses per acre! They must be packed in like sardines. Yeah, that’s not a rescue; it’s a body farm.
I happened across this blog and it is like you took everything me and my friends are thinking about HiCaliber and put words to it! Bravo! Just so everyone knows, they do have a limit to the horses they can keep. They are permitted, according to San Diego County Zoning, 10 horses per USABLE acre of land WITH an administrative permit. (*They have no permits on file). The parcel is 11 acres, though not all of it is “usable”. So utilizing my first grade acquired math skills of addition, I can pretty much surmise they are over the limit.
Thank you for this blog and shedding light on their gigantic shit show!
Another fun math problem I encourage everyone to do:
If HiCaliber has “rescued” over 600 horses since the beginning of 2016 (or whatever it was that Michelle said), roughly 200 have been adopted (supposedly) and roughly 100 are on the property….how many times has the body removal truck had to come out in that same time frame?
😦
So I see they are gloating that the State Vet. came out to inspect and found No-Violations. WTH…just the number of animals alone on that parcel ought to be in violation if the proper permits are not in place or are exceeded. How can you explain the lack of being cited? Lies?
The state vet wouldn’t be concerned with the amount of horses on the place. They were probably strictly looking at the coggins and health certs on the horses shipped in from Louisiana. Sadly, a bay horse is a bay horse on a health cert and it would be very difficult for them to match up the paperwork to the exact horse. It’s not like they had any papers on any of these horses, so the compliance thing isn’ really much at all.
Did you see the latest line of bullshit about why they’re not talking about who is shipping the last load(s) of horses? Supposedly it’s because “our haulers” (meaning just Dana) have been getting harassed by the “haters.”
That’s very interesting since as far as I can tell Dana wasn’t “harassed” until she actually made her haul, and people have been asking about the third load of horses since long before that.
Typical of HiCal to blame someone else for their own opacity/dishonesty.
Refer back to an earlier post I made. They were never going to tell you anything about those last loads because of who is doing the hauling and I’m not talking about Dana.
Oh I’m very aware. I’m just saying that up until now they’ve either refused to discuss the last loads or act as though those plans haven’t been made yet. But now they’ve jumped on the “haters harassing Dana” thing as an additional excuse to continue keeping it a secret… but it was always going to be a secret anyway.
They’re the worst.
I wonder if people realize that the founder of this “Rescue” has filed bankruptcy? Like within the past few years. Seems like the perfect person to be handling the financials…… Let’s not forget the good old harassment charge in 2014 and various other lawsuits.
Or the fact that despite the fact she likes to play the domestic abuse victim card, she is the one who actually had domestic violence charges on her record.
It’s funny you mention the BK and other suits, when I got curious about her obvious BS lies, I looked her up and was pretty surprised at what I found.
My main focus is on what is being done to the horses in the name of rescue. I could do a whole other blog on Michelle’s issues, but what’s the point?
As a former and reformed village idiot, I drank the koolaid for about 3 months and left. I would ask legit questions and was blown off, ignored or told that it really wasn’t my business. I was informed that after 50+ years of horse ownership, sterling references and impeccable income, I was not qualified to adopt or foster one of their horses. I was expected to show up on my days there, scrub waterers, muck pens and stalls and feed horses. No training was available except to volunteers except for paid classes or 30 minutes of no instruction. If you had an idea, you were shut down IMMEDIATELY. HCHR has no agenda except to work their volunteers to death, make money on the horses and feed some gigantic egos.
Floyd (LA horse with bad leg) was “humanely” euthanized by Michelle on Tuesday because the damage was too severe. So this poor horse rode 1700 miles in a great deal of pain to be shot in the head.
HCHR states they are on 16 acres. County records state a little under 12 acres. There are almost 200 horses there. Do the math. I have 4 horses on 5 acres and that is too dense for my liking. Horses at HC in quarantine and herd environments are fed together and get to fight it out for food. Banamine is given at the drop of a hat. The chicken pen is actually attached to the barn and is none too clean. HC does not own that property it is in a trust (county records).
When HC brought the LA horses in, that really sealed the deal for me. I was not taking a chance of bringing home some type of crud to my own herd.
Now they continue to buy at auction, beg for money, cry on camera and refuse to answer legit questions. They trash small rescues and horses are inventory. I have heard it all while volunteering there. No more koolaid for me. I would love to see them audited by IRS and CA. I know the State Vet was there all day on Tuesday and their paperwork was in order for them.
So Romney, I am truly sorry about your son and I would never wish that on anyone but you better get your priorities in order. Michelle, you do not have the medical training to be vetting the horses and maybe once in awhile, give a volunteer a pat on the back and try to learn about them.
I’ve had quite a few emails saying similar things. You are not alone, nor should you feel bad because your heart was in the right place and you wanted to helps some horses. They are masters at social media soliciting and they talk a really good game We, as humans, have free will to decide what to support. Those animals do not have a choice, so that’s a big part of why I speak up. I’ve had enough.