A Massive, Prized Show Horse Was Murdered and Butchered for Its Meat

As any endeavoring farrier can inform you, the clandestine world of dressage is a viperous one, filled with many a pitfall and unseen adversary. However, things just took a serious turn for the horrific in the seer-suckered world of afternoon mint juleps and theater binoculars. And it all sadly started with the dismembered head of a chestnut-coated jumping horse.

That's right, equestranauts. This is truly an awful story.

A Florida-based veteran show rider awoke last Sunday morning to discover that her prized jumping horse—the nearly 1,300-pound Phedras de Blondel—was horrifically slaughtered and butchered for its meat sometime during the night. Only its head and neck were left behind, intact near his stall.

Debbie Stephens owns a 27-acre ranch in Palmetto, Florida, and holds the women's high jump record of seven feet, eight inches. Her husband co-designed the show jumping courses for the 2008 Olympic Games in China. These people clearly love horses, and have been around them for much of their lives.

Stephens would not disclose what she paid for the horse, but did say this: "What they did to this horse had nothing to do with his value. It's one of the cruelest things that could happen to any horse. This just turned my life around."

Officials are speculating that the horse was probably targeted because of its size. "It could be the suspects scoped out this ranch," said Dave Bristow, a spokesman from the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. Stephens fears for the other 50 horses that live on her property and says she's reinforcing her ranch to protect them.

"This can happen to anyone's horse," Stephens added.

Florida is known as a state that is home to many show horses—and Stephens' horses is not the first to be targeted. In July, a show horse named "Smart Amanda Whiz" was slaughtered for its meat in Hialeah, near Miami.

In 2010, Florida passed legislation that strengthened the state's restrictions on the sale of horse meat for human consumption. There are no slaughterhouses that process horse meat in the state, but earlier this month, officials in ritzy Palm Beach County raided three slaughterhouses accused of illegally selling horse meat.

Although eating horse meat is not favored in the US, it is not uncommon in some other countries, including the Caribbean and parts of Europe. Nick Atwood, a spokesman for the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, told Fox News that some people living in the US are willing to pay top dollar for horse meat.

"The horses are slaughtered horribly," Atwood said. "There's no illusion of humane slaughter."

Stephens speculates that her horse went willingly to the killers, as it was quite friendly. She said the horse was probably still alive when the killers began to butcher him.

Stephens has raised $18,000 so far for a reward to lead to the arrest of the criminals who killed her horse. She hopes to raise more. The local sheriff's office believes that with help from the public, they will be able to crack this very disturbing case.