SPCA Raid of 73 Horses at Morgan Horse Breeder's Eden Farms, New Information Exclusive!

There is no DBA filed for Eden Farms, East Aurora,NY. So if Beth Hoskins was boarding or selling horses, it was not under her name in Erie County.

Secondly she was breeding Morgans according to her website at http://www.edenfarmliveyourlove.com

People usually breed horses to sell and for profit. Very little for themselves.

I have personally passed the farm each week and have not seen these horses out since last June.

If you visit the website of Beth Hoskins you will find a completely different farm that is exposed in articles about Morgans. Morgan is a breed of horse very much desired by the horse community as they entertain all riding disciplines. Originally Morgans were only for the Aristicrats and their true English fussiness. "The beauty of the Morgan horse lifts the heart. The breed exists solely because it pleases people. It is their heritage", American Morgan Horse Association.

Beth Hoskins, Eden Farms was raided the other morning in East Aurora, NY. We all wonder, what happened? Here is her website for the Eden Farm, now empty of all the animals. http://www.edenfarmliveyourlove.com/edenfarm.html

The website boasts of beauty and grace at the Eden Farm, yet was raided and 73 horses seized, along with 53 cats and 6 dogs. Will the animals be returned? What went wrong?

Clearly there had to be a problem. I spoke with a few neighbors. The fairy tale marriage depicted in the website is no-more. Divorce is never pretty. Bills piled up and 73 horses is a lot of hay and feed to buy. Illness struck in the family. A former model with a gorgeous smile turned bitter and may have succumbed to life's tragedies abandoning the horses that she once bred and loved. Neighbors tried to help. Another neighbor told me the SPCA had this very well organized as they volunteered to haul horses for them that day and the SPCA did not need their help. This investigation was underway for awhile. I guess I would ask anyone that had 73 horses what would they do if all those things hit them at one time?

I do not personally know Beth. I have horses and was hit with divorce when I had cancer. I was used to taking care of 20 horses at the time and all that had to stop as I could hardly walk. My grand daughters stepped up and took care of the horses for me.

Divorce was a whole nother issue. Even though I bought the horses, cleaned their stalls, bought their feed,hay and paid their board, the horses were being fought over by my ex-husband, who could have cared less about them? Why? Money and he wanted to hurt me to my very core.

I had 6 horses at one time. Let me give you a preview of a normal day to take care of 6 horses. You go to the barn in the morning and turn them out and proceed to clean 6 stalls. This is raking manure, piling it in a wheel barrow and taking it out to the manure pile. You do this 6 times. Each stall takes about a half hour. You fill their 5 gallon water buckets. 6 horses, 6 times. Then you fill their hay and in the summer the horse gets maybe 1 or 2 flakes of hay in the morning and at night, unless the horses are out on pasture. This is usually only in spring, summer and fall months up here in WNY.

Then you fill their grain buckets. this again is 6 times. 6 horses took me about 2 to three hours right there . Then you have to groom the horse. 6 horses about 2-3 hours.

You have to fill outside water barrels for 6 horses so that may take an hour or so. If the pasture is green you don't have to throw hay out, otherwise you have to put round bails of hay out for them to munch on and keep them happy and fed. If no round bails then you put out enough hay for 6 horses everyday. In my case it was three bails of hay. Have you ever lifted one bail of hay? It's pretty darn heavy if you ask me.

OK now you may have to wash all their legs down from mud, so they don't get these mud sores in spring and fall, when they go out to the pasture because it may be muddy. Then at the end of the day you bring the horses in, walking all 6 horses or leave them out for the night if it is warm enough. Clean their feet at least every other day or at the minimum once a week. About every 4-6 weeks it's time for the farrier to come and clip their feet or put shoes on in spring to protect their feet if they are working or showing.

If you show your horse, we did, 3 of them, then each of those horses has to be shampooed, clipped of all extra hair on legs, face, belly, wherever to look great for the show ring. Their mane and tails have to be braided. Their feet have to be trimmed and glossed with lacquer. Tack polished and rider with proper attire for the show arena. You have to love horses to do all this.

We are not done yet. Now we need to put up as much hay as we can to get through the winter time. It would be not hard for me to go through 600-800 bails of hay.

Still not done. We need to race them which requires travel, special show tack costing thousands and trailering to and from show and pay show entry fees. WOW! Yes it is over whelming.

I did some figuring to see what 73 horses might cost a year. It was over whelming. One horse alone can eat close to one bail of hay a day. 73 horses is 73 bails of hay a day. The going rate for hay is about $2.50 a bail. That's $182.50 a day for hay for 73 horses.5 gallons of water a day per horse is 365 gallons of water a day. I hope she had a well. I feed my horses about one pound of grain in the morning and one pound at night making 2 pounds of grain a day. We buy 50 pound bags at 12.00 a bag. That's 146 pounds for 73 horses a day or 3 bags of feed, 50 pounds each at $36.00 a day.

So for one day alone for 73 horses, that's $36.00 for feed, $182.50 for hay hoping that she had a well for their water would be a whopping total of $218.50 a day just to feed 73 horses. Multiply this by 30 days and you have a bill that is $6555.00 for one month alone. For the year you are looking at $79,725.50. I am not sure who could really pay those bills, even if they were independently wealthy. Unless you board horses to help pay your bills.

We have not talked about vet bills yet that generally yearly are about $200-300 per horse for basic shots. We have not talked about farrier bills which run anywhere from $30.00 to a trim per horse to $100.00 per horse for shoes. One basic trim at $30.00 for 73 horses is $2190.00. They need to be trimmed or shod every 4-6 weeks.

Shots would be in the yearly range of $14,600.00.

The horses that Beth Hoskins had were show horses.

Now if the owner of Eden Farm was boarding these horses, some of the owners may come forward. I also understand that Hoskins is a breeder.Breeding can bring you a stud fee and price for the horse. This can not be determined from the information I have.

To board a horse full care in these parts runs anywhere from $175.00 to $450.00 per month, depending on the care you want for your horse. If the owner of this farm was boarding horses and not taking care of them, I believe the owners are now responsible for allowing this to happen to their own horses as well. This is a complicated raid, so that's why you are not seeing charges coming down fast. A lot of things have to be found out and considered first. Each and every one of those horses has to have a full evaluation by a veterinarian. If their feet need care a farrier will have to trim or shod all of them as well. No to mention medicines.

Now if the owners of any of these horses were paying full board and that care included daily turn outs, hay, grain, water and grooming, this owner is deeper in trouble and may owe board to be paid back to the owners. I am not sure who owns all of these horses or if some of the horses were boarded there.

Board at $450.00 times 73 would be $32,850.00 a month, $39,420.00 per year income. However if you take in a boarder at $450.00 a month for 73 horses and your care as an owner of the barn bill is grain and hay at $30.00 for hay and $24.00 for grain, your profit is about $350.00 per horse per month and you could be making clear profit of $25,500 for boarding 73 horses per month. That's $306,000 clear profit. At this point the owner of the horses is responsible for vet bills, trimming, shoeing and any other expenses of the horse. Puts a little question in your mind doesn't it. Now the care cost doesn't seem so big in comparison to the profit level and we have not included stud fees and foal prices.

Certainly the farm depicted in the website does not match what the investigators from the SPCA found. That is why when you buy a horse or board a horse it is wise to get a boarding contract including everything you agreed on.

I have boarded at nightmare barns that have stolen my tack, refused to let my horses out, said they were graining my horses only to find that my horses were losing weight so rapidly that it was dangerous to the horse. When you confront these owners they give you a tough time. One barn owner actually shut out all the lights on me and shut off the water, saying I broke the pump after I gave a 30 day notice to move my horse from their premises. This barn owner also slapped me across my face, knew the Sheriff's and crooked judges in town and they kept my receipts showing that I actually owned the tack that they stole. Now they know that you are moving so they spread vicious lies about you so you don't get another barn to go to and you are forced to stay there and they victimize you so more. With me I paid my board on time every month, but I wanted what I was paying for and the barn owners didn't like it. One barn threatened to kill my horse, another threatened to turn them out in the street. Another posted my name on the arena and street blaming me for his own problems.

My cousin also has horses and 2 barns. A boarder recently slashed all her tires on her dually truck and on her 10 horse trailer. Very expensive indeed.

Another barn owner rented to us and did not tell us he was also running a hunting and game farm and we could not ride during hunting season and that guns would be constantly fired in the woods, making it dangerous for riders. This man is still boarding horses in spite of me contacting authorities. In fact all these barns are still boarding. There are very few laws that stop these barn owners from taking money and misrepresenting what you are getting, so be careful.

I have seen barn owners that successfully keep horses if you do not pay your board, especially if you have no papers on the horses at all. Make sure you keep all receipts and a folder of records on each horse to prove ownership.

Other people sell horses without papers( registration & bill of sale), so get the papers when you pick up the horse, include the papers in your contract as this is another trick of crafty horse owners to keep you from breeding the horse or transferring ownership to other people. Do not let them tell you they will give you the papers later, they won't. It has happened to me and several of my friends and we are experienced horse owners.