Operation Home Place in Montana: The Effort to Help the Neglected Leachman Horses

Three dead horses and hundreds more left to starve. That's what investigators discovered when they arrived at Home Place Ranch, which is located east of Billings, Montana on the Crow Indian Reservation. Billings Gazette reports that a Yellowstone County Sheriff's Lieutenant humanely shot two horses because of the severity of their injuries, which brings the total dead horses to five. One of the mares apparently broke her leg a year ago when she was a baby and had since been walking around on the ankle bone. Investigators believe this may be the biggest case of horse abuse in Montana's history.

Estimates are that there are about 350 horses in a 2,000 acre fenced pasture. As many as 350 more broke through fenced pastures due to hunger and are now scattered throughout the 40,000 acres of the ranch. According to the Billings Gazette, the horses that broke through are now scattered throughout four townships.

On January 26, 2011, Reuters reported that James Leachman was charged with ten misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty but could possibly face more charges. Leachman pleaded not guilty and claimed that the Stovalls interfered with his horses by mixing them up and moving them around. He believes the accusations by Stovall stem from ongoing disputes between himself and Stovall. According to Reuters, a report by the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office states that Leachman hasn't been seen at Home Place Ranch since the beginning of November.

In July 2010, owners of The Stovall Holding Co., who owned a neighboring ranch, bought the Home Place Ranch for $2.6 million at a federal foreclosure sale. Leachman was allegedly supposed to move the horses last summer but he refused, explaining that he has until July 2011 to raise the necessary $2.6 million plus foreclosure costs in order to buy his ranch back. In an interview with the Billings Gazette in early December 2010, Leachman adamantly denied the rumors that he was neglecting his horses.

The Stovalls, who own the land but not the horses, cannot actually feed the horses because they don't own them, however, they stated that they've been feeding the horses their grass for the past six months. According to Reuters, the Stovalls finally had to call authorities after the health of the horses continued to decline.

As of January 22, 2011, the horses couldn't be adopted because Leachman still owned them. That wasn't the only problem authorities were facing. The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office doesn't have the ability to handle horses. Scott Twito, who is a Yellowstone County attorney, explains that his office doesn't have the legal authority to pay for the wandering horses to be rounded up and that legally, a livestock association or the adjacent landowners are supposed to pay for it. There were also numerous other costs including those for feed and vet care as well as the cost for bringing hay and water to the ranch. In mid January, Dr. Jeff Peila, a veterinarian, explained that the 350 horses left in a pasture would die in about two weeks if they didn't receive help. It all seemed too much for one person or organization to handle physically, financially and legally while hundreds of horses faced a certain death.

Here come the heroes!

The Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) stepped in and started handling the donations and nicknamed the effort Operation Home Place. As more people hear of the story, they are trying to help in any way possible. According to Billings Gazette, Westfeeds Inc. donated 4.5 tons of horsefeed. A couple from Valley M. Ranch donated 100 tons of hay bales and generous people from all over continue to send in monetary donations.

The majority of the water tanks were donated courtesy of Shipton's Big R and Tractor Supply Company. According to the NILE Facebook page, C&B Operations John Deere Dealer provided tractor use, Dan Downs of Montana Seed and Grain provided use of their flat bed trailer and Billings Flying Service donated use of a helicopter to carry hay to the horses. Students at Riverside Middle School in Billings had a "Hats for Hay" day to help raise money to feed the horses.

The warmer weather melted the ice and snow and allowed the horses access to more water. Hay distribution is being handled carefully. According to a state veterinarian, dumping too much of it at one time could cause the hungry horses to get colic from overeating, which in turn, could be fatal.

Many volunteers have also stepped up and donated their time. If you can help, they desperately need donations of grass/alfalfa hay, monetary donations and good grass. They also need volunteers who are willing to pick up hay donations. If you can make any of the aforementioned donations or you have another idea of how you can help, call NILE to make arrangements. For continued updates on Operation Home Place, check out the Northern International Livestock Exposition, the NILE Facebook page and the NILE Twitter Page.

Sources:

Billings Gazette - "Leachman Cattle Co.'s heydey featured world-famous cattle sales"

Billings Gazette - "Leachman ranch sale canceled with last-minute bankruptcy filing"

Reuters - "Authorities airlifting hay to starving Montana horses"

Stltoday.com - "Hay on the way for hundreds of starving Mont. horses"
MSNBC.com - "Montana ranchers rally to save starving, abandoned horses"

Billings Gazette - "Leachman charged with animal cruelty"

Billings Gazette - "Some Leachman horses get first hay"

Billings Gazette - "Offers flow in to help with Leachman horses"

Billings Gazette - "Students don hats for Leachman horses"

Billings Gazette - "Leachman pleads not guilty of animal cruelty"

Nile News Press Release - "NILE Coordinating Donation Efforts for Operation Home Place"

The NILE - Twitter Page

The NILE - Facebook Page

The NILE - Northern International Livestock Exposition