information acquired from the Billings Gazette
Crow Indians may sell horses at auction
Horse owner James Leachman in Billings courtroom January/2011
Two more misdemeanor counts of animal abuse have been filed against a Billings man who authorities say left some 700 horses without food at a ranch east of Billings, while on another front plans to round up the horses and sell them are moving forward.
Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito filed the charges Wednesday against James H. Leachman following the death of two more horses at the ranch earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs on Friday published a legal notice in the Billings Gazette saying it intended to impound the horses as early as Wednesday. The land on which the horses had been roaming in search of food has mixed ownership, some of it belonging to the Crow Indian Reservation.
“The Rocky Mountain Region (of the BIA) and the Crow Agency are formulating a plan now,” Nedra Darling, spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., told the newspaper.
Leachman was supposed to remove the horses last July when his business, Leachman Cattle Co., lost the ranch at a federal foreclosure sale. He ran a horse breeding business called Hairpin Cavvy.
Hay has been donated for the horses and the first air lift took place on Jan. 27. The next day, Leachman pleaded not guilty to 10 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. A jury trial is scheduled for June 3.
With the publication of the legal notice to impound the horses, Leachman has five days to gather them before they can be impounded, though Leachman last year testified in his personal bankruptcy case that he was broke.
Money is also an obstacle for the BIA’s plan to round up the horses. No bids were awarded last month when the agency tried to hire a livestock outfit to roundup the horse, Darling said.
While all that is going on, the Northern International Livestock Exposition has been helping feed the horses. The group’s executive director, Justin Mills, said the bids to roundup the horses were more than the BIA anticipated.
“The BIA has $25,000 to spend and all the bids came in way higher, so we’re in the process of working out an agreement with the Crow Tribe and the BIA,” Mills said. “The BIA has only so much money. That’s a given.”
Mills’ group has so far provided about 75 tons of hay and spent another $15,000 caring for the horses, using donations of more than $55,000 that came in following news reports of the starving horses.
In related action, the Montana Department of Revenue on Feb. 24 published a legal notice in the newspaper of its intention to collect $179,098 in delinquent taxes from Leachman by going after his personal property.
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
How long did Leachman own this ranch? Why were the horses not a problem with the Crow until this hit the news. Why are they not cooperating with the people bringing hay in? These horses are getting slapped in the face on every front. Guilty of being a horse–apparently it is a death sentence offense.
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Its my understanding that the Crow reservation leased this land to Leachman, and that they have no ownership of any of the horses.
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to answer your question, when the place sold, that ment that the lease agreement was now broken and volid. the lease went into the new owners name and his name was removed!! from the lease. He still owes money to the Crow Indians for the lease up to that point. and because they are owed they will get their momey.
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James Leachman doesn’t look like he’s starving!
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LMAO, Margaret! Had exactly the SAME thought when I saw the pic and read the article! Great minds DO run together! Blessed Be!
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Are these horses Mustangs?
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They are not wild horses. He was breeding and raising them. The people who bought and now own the ranch is who called and said the horses were starving. Someone had to do something. You can’t let domestic horses just fend for themselves in the winter. Why are people breeding and raising horses if they can’t afford them?
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That’s right, take all his fancy smancy materialistic thing’s he bought to adorn his house…From what I heard his wife and himself had it done up quite elegantly, Persian Rugs and so on. SELL IT AND FEED THOSE HORSES FOR HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THEY CAN GO…..They had some nerve buying so lavishly when there were animals starving, SELL IT ALL…….THOSE HORSES BETTER NOT suffer anymore because of selfishness. This is just sickening
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Are you sure he is not related to Sue Wallis?
If I didn’t know any better I would swear he was her brother!!
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if they go ahead and round them up, in the current horse market, you know where they will go. Is there any other options for these horses?
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What a mess! How sad for the horses.
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Here is the article in the Billings Gazette: article link Note the photo with the article taken one day after the hay drop was started to rescue these starving horses. The photo shows six of the starving horses heading towards freshly dropped hay.
If you know anyone near Montana with room for a green horse they should watch for this auction. No doubt a large portion of these horses will go to slaughter. Though I doubt you will get papers, these are good quality stock horses.
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I hope someone steps up and saves these horses. They don’t deserve this like all the other horses haven’t deserved what some of them have got. THey need some more fund raising to get them to several rescues and for feeding them until rescues can be found and transported to the rescues. Blue Sky Rescue in Oregon saves horses. I am getting two from them this spring. I don’t know if he could take any but anything is worth a try to save these animals. Let’s all say prayers that we can save them.
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It looks like Leachman’s never missed a meal. Typical of this type personality; their animals starve while they enjoy plenty of food in the comfort of their homes.
And while this is disgusting, the pathetic individuals who use opportunities like this to promote their “this-wouldn’t-happen-if-we-had-US slaughterhouses” agenda are maybe even worse. (Seriously, how the f*** do they make that leap?)
Utterly and completely revolted by Mr Leachman and the slaughter-apologists.
Ugh.
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I would just hate to learn that any of these horses went to auction, only to be trucked to Mexico and Canada for the horrors of the slaughter house! I know it is 700 needy horses, but…!!
Here in Ohio when a veterinarian died unexpectedly, leaving over 50 horses, they were placed within 4 days, so as to avoid the Sugarcreek Horse Auction, that the POS son was planning on taking them to. Just maybe all the horse rescues throughout the United States and all the horse owners, can collectively step up.
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These horses can’t be saved from auction because the IRS is owed money. The only way to save them is to buy them from the auction.
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and you can bet your sweet feed that the IRS cares NOTHING about the horses….they’ll do whatever they want to get their money.
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Did anyone take a look at the starving horses one day after feeding started?
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I just did a little research, and is this James Leachmen still affiliated with Leachman Cattle of Colorado?? Not that it matters, but maybe there are some financial connections here, and he could be forced to step up.
See Leachman website: http://www.leachman.com/htmlpages/history.htm#nogo
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If he isn’t the epitome of a ‘good ol’ boy’? Interesting how Stovall (land buyer) has burrowed underground after the dust storm that he fenced off horses from food and water. What a bunch of cowards. Poor excuses for men period. If Leachman is broke, can the gov’t not mandate he sell his belongings to pay for the horses upkeep? He’s got property and holdings in South America, he’s not starving and maybe he’ll leave the U.S. for good.
That’s really too bad the horses will have to go to auction, as it was my understanding they were good quality quarter horses. Too bad the QH Assn. are slaughter proponents. They could probably do more for their reputation by trying to get these horses placed/sold to homes than plated.
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The Quarter Horse Association are slaughter proponents? And here I thought nothing else could shock me after the mustang debacle. What on Earth is going through their heads? Is it all just a number in registry to them?
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Yessir! Just like the AKC, they get top dollar for each foal registered with them. Whatever happens after that is just…you fill in the blank.
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There must be 700 prospective horse buyers in Montana. They can’t ALL be slaughter buyers. The market is down, but there are still people that want a good horse.
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Excuse me for my ignorance, maybe I don’t know all the details but…. if this guy Leachman has any property, bank accts., living quarters, shouldn’t THESE assets be “impounded/confiscated/frozen” and sold so that the horses are fed and cared for. That’s what should happen. He looks like he can survive on his body fat longer than the horses. But this is real life & that sort of thing doesn’t happen even thought they say “all is fair in love & war”, well to me this is WAR. The fight is for the horses.
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He claimed bankruptcy I believe, so they can’t take his house, but I’d sure think they can attach to his assets….unless he put them in his wife or kids names.
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I question why the landbuyer feels only responsible for the land that he has purchased at a discount. He had to have known the horses were there especially if he is a local. Why would the auction not auction off the horses as well or include them in the package. Isn’t possession 9/10th’s of the law? I don’t care that he bought the land that was already a tax burden to the state and also belongs to the Crow Indians? How can you own something that belongs to someone else? The horses are Leachmans and the land is Leachmans so wouldn’t the new “owner” be reponsible for all of it? They were once very pricey and advertised as premium horses if you look on Leachmans old magazine info. This new “owner” wants to put cows on the land he could feed the horses. Oh and then there are the Indians..and Leachman …what a mess. Where is the Supreme Court here?
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These are well-bred quarter horses. Where are the quarter horse people/breeders/industry? Oh yeah…I forgot, they slaughter their unwanted horses.
Regarding the thoroughbreds that were saved-The thorougbred industry/breeders immediately stepped up to the plate and took those horses to safety. At least there is a no slaughter movement in the thoroughbred industry.
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These are not well bred QH. that is what a lot of you are not getting. he has been suspened and Red Flaged by the QHA for wrong DNA on his foals. they are NOT out of the stallions or mares that he says they are!!!!
and with TB they are being so many babys born every year then thrown away!
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The Crow Tribe will definitely sell them for greedy reasons, to make as much money off these poor horses as they can. It is egregious that Yellowstone County solicited PUBLIC DONATIONS, all for it to go to seeing these horses slaughtered in Canada. You know it. I know it, and I wish I had never donated that $100 to the county. What good was it for anyway? For slaughter? That’s crazy. The County should have returned ALL the donations to them, if all they were going to do is send them to their deaths. This is TOTALLY disgusting. Don’t rescue if you’re not going to repossess & find homes for these horses nationwide. Don’t do it. Don’t ‘use’ the public, ok?
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Here is an auction in Seattle Washington on the internet herd disposal sale for the NORDSTROM family. Very sad….
Please network and forward this information to anyone who can save a donkey or horses life!
Phone: 314-863-7711
Email: danr@schneiderind.com
LIVE ON-SITE WITH INTERNET BIDDING! No Minimums-No Reserves! Selling 83 Equine: (10) Arabian Mares; (2) Arabian Stallions;(1) Male Baudet du Poitou Donkey (Mammoth French Donkey); (7) Female Baudet du Poitou Donkeys (Mammoth French Donkey); (40) Stallion Miniature Stallion/Mare Horses Including Brewer’s Orion Replica; (23) Miniature Male/Female Donkeys Buyers are responsible for arranging transportation of their animals from Meadow Wood Farms. If you need transportation for your animals, we have been approached by Thunderbird Trucking, a well qualified and prepared carrier to handle the transportation of these animals. In no way are Boyko Inc or Schneider Industries Inc affiliated with Thunderbird trucking. http://www.thunderbirdtrucking.com/
http://www.meadowwoodfarmsauction.com
Do you want to see the pictures of these gorgeous well taken care of equine up for auction this weekend? http://www.donkeywhisperer.com
GOD bless you and your family two and four legs!
Melody
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Update on the Leachman horses. They’re now Crow horses, and will be auctioned off on March 31st, or possibly April 2nd/3rd.
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_47804af9-1fe5-59fb-8654-141e8f08e32d.html?mode=story
The last few paragraphs of the article read:
“The Northern International Livestock Exposition in Billings collected about 500 tons of donated hay and more than $55,000 in cash donations and has been feeding the horses for two months with the help of the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office.
“The BIA is paying the tribe $45,000 to round up the horses and feed them until a March 31 sale that could be moved to April 2 and 3.
“Memories of the roundup will stay with Jason Shigley, who was shooting video for the Crow Tribe to document the day.
“‘This is a historic event,” he said. “The Crow people are horse people. Everything that has to do with the horse is in our makeup.'”
A comment reads, in part: “There will be seven slaughter buyers there according to the people we have talked to.”
People from Montana and all over the country donated to SAVE these horses, not see them go to slaughter, presumably in Canada. I hope this opportunity to buy good horses (some possibly registerable with the AQHA) will be widely circulated in Montana and the surrounding states. I don’t know if there are any SFtHH readers who could attend the auction and report what happen,but I sure would like to know.
Hopefully, all the horses will either go directly to good homes or back to the Crow for training, which should bring a much higher price than killer buyers will offer. The slaughter price to Mexico is about .31/# as of last week. I don’t know how much the average mature QH weighs, but I’m sure many of the mares are in foal, and would weight more. If killer buyers purchase mare/foal pairs, the foals will be torn from their mammas so the mares can be shipped. Probably the foals will either be killed or die.
Please pray for a good outcome for these horses, who, through no fault of their own, face an uncertain fate.
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Seems things are still confused about what’s going on, and when. The auction isn’t on the Event Calendar yet, maybe because of the “hosting” issue referred to by Billings Livestock.
http://www.tsln.com/article/20110320/TSLN03/110319876/1031&ParentProfile=1001
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I just want to weep knowing these horses seem doomed to auction, which means they will go to slaughter-just awful! Is there not something some one can do to get them into rescue? Just so sad!!!
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