Horses found mysteriously dead on Shawnee, Wyo., ranch

July 30 started off like any other day in the busy summer hay season for the Bright family of Shawnee, Wyo. Wife Lindsey Bright went to check on their herd of performance horses in the morning to ensure they had water and all was well.

Later that evening, the Bright children came screaming claiming the horses were all dead. What Joe Bright thought was simple childhood dramatics quickly turned into a nightmare for these horse owners.

Upon further investigation, the Brights found that four of their beloved five horses were dead, all within a few yards of each other on their remote cattle ranch. These horses included a recently purchased level four mounted shooting horse, a trusted ranching and team penning horse, as well as two hardly replaceable kid horses.

“These horses were not pasture ornaments, all of them at some point in their lives had been high caliber performance horses,” Joe said. “I had just purchased a new mounted shooting horse and passed my old horse snickers to my daughter just two weeks prior. My other daughter’s horse was one of those just hard to find bomb proof kid horses. We also lost my other personal horse, Max, who was my go to work cattle and compete in the team penning and cutting.”

The only surviving horse belonged to Lindsey and was immediately rushed to Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital. While the horse, Amigo, is expected to recover, the family is sickened to see the extremely athletic, talented barrel horse barely able to stand.

“When we got there, Lindsey’s horse was still barely standing and nearly fell on top of her; he was so weak. I was immediately on the phone with multiple veterinarians, who all agreed he needed to be rushed to CSU as soon as possible.”

INVESTIGATION STARTED

With one horse en route south to Fort Collins with Joe, Lindsey stayed behind to get initial reports with the local sheriff’s department. Due to the nature of the incident, this case will primarily be handled by the Wyoming Livestock Board Law Enforcement.

Once arrived at CSU, they immediately began flushing the horse with fluids and found he was in nearing kidney failure and his heart rate was through the roof. Professionals at the hospital believe the cause was some sort of neurotoxin, but cannot be sure without a full panel of tests, which can take weeks. The family is leaving no stone unturned and no room for workarounds in the courtroom. The samples have been sent to not only CSU for toxin testing, but also University of Wyoming and Texas A&M University.

The Bright family is certain this was a malicious act of hate.

“I want the tests to go to multiple places so nothing is missed,” he said. “The last thing I want is someone getting off for this on the basis it was only sent to one place for testing. Lindsey and I recently got married on July 17 and had a horseback wedding. These photos were shared to social media and it is no secret horses are a big part of our lives.”

Bright believes posting the wedding photos may have been what made the horses a target for this suspected crime.

Joe said while their property is remote, it does house numerous gravel pits and there is a constant stream of vehicles in and out of the property.