Intro/Commentary by R.T. Fitch Story and Photography by Vicki Frieberger
A Year Later and the Bare Bones Still Bear Witness to the Cruelty
It’s now been a year since the seizure at convicted wild horse abuser, Jason Meduna’s 3-Strikes Ranch.
Many thoughts come into play when we think of the events one year ago as so many stories were written, so much was lost and new hope, for a few, was born again. Each of us remembers with shock and horror when Habitat for Horses President, Jerry Finch, took the lead and with the help of the local Sheriff seized the 200+ starving survivors on April 22nd, 2009. I, personally, felt the shock and the outrage from the wanton neglect that led to the slow death of dozens of wild horses and I equally shook with fear at the realization that we now were responsible for 200 additional horses and how would we cope. But these are separate stories, ones to be told when the time is right.
Instead, today, we would like to share with you the story of an individual and family that knew of the trouble, first, that were witness to the brutality and had to live next door to the evil that is Jason Meduna and his wife.
Long before the good folks on the ABR forum urged Jerry Finch to go and investigate 3-Strikes, this “Good Neighbor” was blowing the whistle on Meduna but no one was listening. Through pictures and personal testimony she attempted to get the proper authorities to listen yet her laments fell upon deaf ears. And then when all was said and done the corrupt and disgusting Meduna, along with his buddy Ray Fields, pointed fingers at her and her friends claiming that the good neighbors were at fault. When that lie failed to gain traction Fields went down a demented path that some strange sickness possessed the horses and still the property next to the good neighbor was littered with bones and bodies, never cleaned up by Meduna and his twisted spouse.
Today we share with you the anniversary perspective from the woman who suffered long before any of us were aware of Meduna and who continues to suffer, today, from witnessing the evil that walked on two legs and killed wild horses as a hobby and pastime. Her name is Vicki Freiberger and this is her story, in her words and through her eyes.
We bless her for bearing witness.
The Anniversary of
the Death of 3 Strikes Ranch
This picture was taken Saturday, April 10, 2010
It is already different from when I first saw it earlier. My mom stands in the background. That day Mom, Dad, and I went to the bone pile. They had never seen it; in person. As we crested the hill and the bones were in their view for the first time, there was a little gasp. My dad said, “That’s not right.” My mom said, “Oh my God.” It is hard to imagine someone just dragging a bunch of horses to a pile and leaving them to rot. It’s hard to imagine until you stand at the pile, and those bones become bodies of helpless, loving and innocent horses. Horses of all ages. A baby laying by it’s mom in bones over the hill. A sight that those who were out there could have seen, if they just could have been allowed off the trail, because the trail was so close. Many would have driven right by this pile….they did not hear the cries of the horses. They did not listen. They listened to Jason. Now, people are listening. The horses and burros will always be remembered. Time will go on, more horses will have unimaginable endings somewhere else, but some horses will be saved…. By loving, unselfish people who do what they do, because they are called? or because they just know they are needed. So in their compassion they reach out and give all they can to help. They do this time and time again. The strength they have is something I cannot imagine; but it is something I could only hope to be blessed with. Thank you Mom and Dad for all you helped me with during this whole entire ordeal. And thank all the people who had anything to do with the saving of these wonderful animals. You can find more information about the survivors on various sites. Start with the NE200:
http://nebraska200.horsereunions.com/
One of my favorite songs, “Bless the Beasts and the Children”…I think I’ll go sit down at my piano now. I haven’t played this in ages. I imagine I’ll have a whole new perspective on the song.
Visit Vicki’s touching and heart rending blog by clicking (HERE)
Copyrighted Photographs reproduced with Permission
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Categories: Equine Rescue, The Force of the Horse, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
“Due unto others as you would have done unto you.” Hell awaits for you Medunas.
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More tears for the horses!
Thank you Vicki.
Marge
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Thank you Vicki
Flowing,glow-white mane in the sands.
Move in the wind, lift in the air.
Lifeless,
Lively,
Mane in the sands.
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Why did the BLM never go out to check on these horses? Even before there were concerns? Anyone adopting this many BLM horses needs to have bi-annual visits mandatory. And why didn’t they go out and investigate after hearing possible abuse?
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because these were “3-strikes” horses, hence the name of the ranch, they were bought, not adopted ,for $25, you get the title when you sign the bill of sale, go to the BLM website, you can buy a truckload of them, this is the infamous “sales authority” /Burns rider, that allows BLM to sell all horses 10 years and older or with 3-strikes( meaning they have been up for adoption 3 times and have not been adopted)
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Would you believe he bought many, many of the horses for $10 each. And if you take a semi-load, they deliver for free.
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I remember reading the BLM did 2 inspections in 2008. guess the BLM just drove up saw one live horse by the house and drove away. Only the BLM knows how to squander taxpayer money with sham inspections.
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Muduna and his accomplices await judgement by a higher authority than our broken animal welfare system. Meanwhile, there are many other equines that need peoples’ help.
We receive numerous reports of “skinny horses” in San Juan County, NM, and do drive by follow-up confirmations. If we determine the horses are truly in peril and need to be seized, we first urge the individuals who have reported the abuse to contact the New Mexico Livestock Board or other animal welfare organizations. If there is no action taken, we try to influence the Board, but are hesitant to “go to the well” too many times for fear of losing their cooperation.
Recently the NMLB has embarked on a program to “educate owners on rehabilitation.”, and complaints by individuals have either been put on the back burner or the Board has convinced them they are taking appropriate action. This “education” often has been extended over many months and the condition of the horses hasn’t improved. Meanwhile a number of abused horses have mysteriously disappeared, especially those owned by powerful and well-connected individuals.
We are all about the horses – get them out of the perilous situation first and educate owners later. We are WAY over capacity right now, but have a network of 5 other licensed NM rescues to hopefully place horses. We NEVER turn down a horse in true need of help, and have had some unbelievable successes. Occasionally horses have been beyond saving and we have paid for humane euthanisia.
The federal government has recently relaxed 501(c)3 certification to the point where just about anyone who applies can obtain non-profit status with little proof of their qualifications or how they will use donations. We strongly urge donors to equine rescues and other charities to ask for their certification number. Of course, it is always an individual’s option to chose organizations they wish to support.
This is a bit about the NMLB Equine Rescue Certification Program. You may have similar programs in your state.
http://www.nmlbonline.com/index.php?id=23#
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Wow, R.T.; I am SO honored in your writings. So honored. The justice that was brought to all of the horses: the ones that perished, the ones that made it out before – and were not counted, Dr. Bill (who made it out unaccounted for, but was never able to regain his strength and went through a lot of suffering before his young body gave in to the Meduna’s evil lack of care) and to all the survivors – God Bless everyone who had a hand in this, and who continue to fight for the horses.
In answer to savewildhorses; I personally talked to the BLM woman who was involved with the 3 Strikes Ranch. The first reaction to my questions was a reply of, “I don’t understand, many people have their horses out there, and they are happy with what Jason is doing.” I begged her to have someone come back and check the place, that’s where you get into all the paper shuffling, etc. I also found out later, that this BLM person was in contact with Jason on a quite regular basis. My theory: she let personal emotions get the best of her. I contacted her a couple more times, until my brain turned on and realized there are more people in the BLM program than her. Not ALL BLM people are bad, thank heavens for Joe. He was truly concerned about the horses.
I could go on and on… and I am beginning to think that tears will never be void when I read things about the former 3 Strikes Ranch. I’m sure Meduna will be out sooner than what we all think he should be; but I pray his judgement will follow him forever.
Thank you R.T. and Terry. God Bless Ya Both!!!!!
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Dear Vicki (and family),
Thank you for never giving up! Thank you for sharing this story. Thank you for caring. Thank you for bearing witness and continuing to spread the word.
p.s. I never believed for one minute that the animals were being poisoned, especially by you. It just never made any sense to me, but there were those Meduna zombies that did. I think that horse killer Meduna still has a warped fan club. Disgusting humans.
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You’re right! He does still have a fan club! And some of them are involved with horse rescues!!!! How crazy is that? Thank you for not believing the lies about my family and myself. Meduna told people that we hated horses, didn’t have any, only used 4-wheelers; and that’s why we wanted the mustangs out of there! And once again, many people fell for his lies.
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Amazing saga!
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“KEEP THEM SAFE AND KEEP THEM WARM AND FREE FROM HARM” AMEN
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and let’s not forget what this jackrabbit did to pam’s el mariachi. creep doesn’t even begin to describe this man.
weirdly enough i recently met a woman who REFUSED to listen to my pleas to get her dog off my recently dislocated shoulder. the day after we parted ways i tore the arm worse than before. hence my shoulder surgery and my lack of puncuation. when she was notified about my pending surgery i never heard from her again. gee, i wonder why?
what both these situations have in common is this–lack of compassion. one is towards animals and the other towards another human being. the fact that this woman allowed her animal to hurt me and not do a thing is VERY SCARY. i don’t think i’ve ever met such a scary person in my life.
just a word of caution here–this woman claims to be a horse warrior.
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And here we can view what happened to Jason Meduna, here he sits in jail look and see- plus remember when he gets out no animals for 30 years! and we WILL be watching and never forget
Meduna in jail PUBLIC link-
http://dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/InmateDisplayServlet?DcsId=71105&showInmateImage=true
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Ms. Vicki:
I’ve studied agriculture. If anyone had truly poisoned those equines, tests would show that. Meduna never called for tests…just kept throwing speculation that we all know was to divert attention that was a long time in coming. In addition, scientific study would have shown (if acted upon in a timely fashion by Fed and LEO [local law enforcement]) that these equines were dying singularly without coexisting species substantiation (birds and wildlife weren’t dying also)….or neighboring land owners animals.
Ain’t rocket science!
Never underestimate that there are good people out there. Always suspect that the LEOs and human nature will do their utmost to squash you dissent and concerns.
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and something else to note what a freaking monster this horse killer was. NOT ONE of those horse skulls has a bullet hole in its skull. He had guns yet he watched those horses suffer and suffer and suffer, hide everything from any eyes for years.
The rescued horses were dehydrated, he ON PURPOSE didn’t give enough water. no excuse his friends or he says is good enough, ever. He knew no water kills a horse in 4 days and probebaly cursed God everytime it rained.
That’s the devil himself walking the earth.
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I think the truth speaks for itself here.
Jason is guilty…I witnessed this brutality…I was there…I was there when Friebergers’ delivered the first 6 -1200 lb. bales of hay…I asked them if they had any they could spare…they didn’t have any extra, but they brought it to the fence anyway…I made sure they got hay back before we closed the fairgrounds down…
Vicki was involved long before we showed up…
This rescue took 24 days on the ground once it started… it took a long time to first initiate this response, because quite frankly local law enforcement had no idea how to start proceedings… once the BLM chief investigator got on scene, things started happening…once the BLM got charges brought to the front is when the local law enforcement and County Attorney got their investigation started…Perry from the BLM laid the groundwork out…
Once Jerry Finch got on scene things started to escalate and that’s when they took Meduna down…
When we ( Jerry and I) found a place to go with the horses that’s when Ray Field and Jim Lamley started their lie campaign… I’d still be interested in knowing if Field does indeed run a legitemate horse rescue?…I find it real hard to believe just because of his association with meduna during all this…
Vicki was the first to come forward, and she did it on her own…we can never forget that…the horses won’t forget that!
Vicki should never have had to have seen the piles of bones we had to witness…Jason Meduna, Ray Field (if he is legitemate), and Jim Lamley should have had the decency to bury those poor dead horses…Ray Field should come forward and publicly apologize for what he did to Friebergers’ and apologize for undermining our attempts…He won’t simply because he lacks the courage… my advise? The Wild Horse Foundation should be investigated… if there is indeed a 5013c status to that organization I feel it should be looked at…I ‘ll be the first to say that a person is judged by the company he associates with….
I am very proud to be in the company of Vicki Frieberger, Jerry Finch, the BLM and anyone who took any part in this operation….
Amanda Davis and Steve Trent remain somewhat hidden as to their role in all this…they were very influential in getting the conviction…and never forget Mrs. Heidorne…there are many unsung heroes here…
The horses that made it out of there are a monument to this and a proven fact that it was only starvation that took place…with all the windmills that were shut off and the lack of feed on the ground, it is any wonder any horse made it out of there…this whole ordeal was nothing short of being orchestrated by a person hell bent on making animals suffer….never forget this jerks name or have anything to do with anyone supporting him…THAT WOULD BE TRUE JUSTICE, for the over 100 horses laying out there in the hills…..
Never forget that what Vicki did took an absolutely amazing amount of just pure guts…I would hate like hell to ever get her mad…lol…vengeance belongs to God and Vicki…..lol
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OK Jim, I’m not THAT bad! And vengence is still God’s, but I did have a wonderful Pastor friend tell Don years ago, “Vic is like a momma grizzly bear; leave her alone, you’ll be fine; mess with her cubs….” HA HA. Anyway, thanks for the compliments, but it was truly EVERYONE involved that got these horses saved. And people like R.T. and his wife, Terry; that have such a heart for the horses; they will never be forgotten, and the battle continues until there is no longer a war.
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To Laura Houston, I looked at the bones, not realizing there were no bullet holes. If any one thing sealed Meduna’s fate, it was when Jean Rhodes had him on the stand, questioning him how he ‘ put those horses down? Did it take 1 bullet?’ Meduna said, ‘In a humane way.” ” By shooting in the head? 9mm? Head or temple?’ She was like a hungry lion going after the kill and we were sure she had him at that point. He said, “Whatever it took”! AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT TOOK!!!
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I never saw a skull with any bullet holes either…even the colts that died in the barn less than 100 ft. from medunas bedroom had no holes in them…I probably saw more of the skeletons and dead horses up close than anyone involved in this( other than the deputies)..simply because I was asked by jerry to find a lady’s missing horse that had a white spot on it’s right side at the ribs…I never found the horse…what I did witness was at least a hundred carcasses, and skeletons…horses had been dying on that place for 3 years….
I rode that ranch for 2 days on my 4-wheeler trying to get horses in…so I was all over it…the carcasses in the south lake were drug out on the ice…the idiot thought the coyotes and the spring thaw would make those carcasses dissapear….unfortunately the water where the carcasses lay was less than 3 ft.deep…so the ribs stuck above the water,,, this jerk spent more time dragging dead horses with his tractor and pickup than he spent time feeding…the only hay he had receipts for was 8 ton…300 horses would go through 9000 lbs per day…think on that,,,
After 24 days on the fairgrounds…214 horses averaged over 57 lbs of hay per day…granted there was a lot of wasted feed…but…only really hungry horses would go through that much feed, no matter the waste…we never experienced any colic…we never lost a horse we took as evidence…we lost a still born colt at the fairgrounds and an animal that was removed prior to the evidence registration passed away after a long attempt to get it back to health…
There were 149 animals taken as evidence either as fresh carcasses or severely emaciated animals that showed extreme malnourishment and neglect…the County Attorney got 145 cases of abuse and neglect out of those 149 submitted,,,think about the chances of getting that many approved as fact…Jean Rhodes beat 3 high dollar lawyers from back east…she outclassed…out evidenced and just plain beat these goons on fact…
The thing that stands out best to me during the trial was the closing arguements…..Jean Rhodes proved this fiend was no cowboy…even the judge had a comment on the guys lack of ability…the idiots own lawyer made a statement to the jury…he said and I quote….Jason Meduna may have done a lot of stupid things…Jason Meduna may be arrogant…you cannot convict him on being stupid and arrogant….Well…LA DEE DAH?….DUH!..
Jason Meduna was convicted because he was stupid and arrogant enough to starve to death a bunch of horses…he is guilty…12 people sent him to prison on the facts submitted…
A bunch of people won this case….
Vicki, Amanda, Steve, Mrs. Heidorne, Perry from the BLM, Veterianrians (5) of them, Range specialist, and a slew of witnesses outclassed…told the truth and put jason meduna away…215 horses walk today in absolute safety that were from that hell hole…the number may be bigger than that…there have been colts born from the mothers who survived…
This was an absolute miracle and Vicki Started this…when no one else would listen Vicki kept speaking…Vicki kept speaking, because the horses kept screaming to her….
Thank God she was listening….
God Bless ya Vicki…..
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