December 2021/January 2022 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN December 2021/January 2022 Page 7 Learn more at horseworldexpo.com Horse World Expo returns March 3-6, 2022! Farm Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA By Amy Worden The operator of a long-trou- bled trail riding and lesson facili- ty in Maryland could get jail time for the starvation deaths of horses in her care. Nichole Reinke, of Sykes- ville, who ran Misty Manor Riding Stable, was arrested in October and charged with 64 counts of animal cruelty includ- ing 11 felony charges of torture. Charging documents filed in Carroll County Circuit Court allege that horses at Reinke’s property were intentionally tor- tured, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun. Reinke could face up to three years behind bars and/or fines of as much as $5,000 on each count. Reinke also is charged with depriving horses of food and veterinary care, court documents said. Each charge is a misde- meanor carrying a maximum jail term of 90 days, and/or a fine of up to $1,000. A trial date had not yet been set at the time of publication deadline. Nineteen horses were seized from the 64-acre Marriottsville farm in December 2020 after a year-long investigation. Four of the 17 horses taken in by Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine had to be euthanized because of their extreme health conditions, the rescue said. At the time of the seizure there were more than 120 horses on the property and the remains of dead horses were found in manure piles, according to court documents. G. Michael Keiner, senior animal control officer with the Humane Society of Carroll County, declined to comment on the pending case, but he said in a court statement that he had re- sponded to complaints about the treatment of horses at the stable numerous times over the years, the Sun reported. Reinke’s attorney, Kirk Seaman, declined through a law office staff member to comment on the case. Misty Manor, which had been in operation for at least 20 years, was known to many in the Baltimore region for renting out horses for trail rides. A volunteer holds Henry, one of the Misty Manor horses that was rescued and rehabbed by Days End Farm Horse Rescue, and who has been adopted. Owner of Troubled Riding Stable Charged with Torture of Horses (Continued on page 9) “It was a hack stable,” said Christine Hajek, founder and director of Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation