A volunteer holds Henry, one of the Misty Manor horses that was rescued and rehabilitated by Days End Farm Horse Rescue, and who has been adopted.
The operator of a long-troubled trail riding and lesson facility in Maryland could get jail time for the starvation deaths of horses in her care.
Nichole Reinke, of Sykesville, who ran Misty Manor Riding Stable, was arrested in October and charged with 64 counts of animal cruelty including 11 felony charges of torture.
Charging documents filed in Carroll County Circuit Court allege that horses at Reinke’s property were intentionally tortured, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun.
Reinke could face up to three years behind bars and/or fines of as much as $5,000 on each count.
Reinke also is charged with depriving horses of food and veterinary care, court documents said. Each charge is a misdemeanor carrying a maximum jail term of 90 days, and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
A trial date had not yet been set at the time of publication deadline.
Nineteen horses were seized from the 64-acre Marriottsville farm in December 2020 after a year-long investigation. Four of the 17 horses taken in by Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Woodbine had to be euthanized because of their extreme health conditions, the rescue said.
At the time of the seizure there were more than 120 horses on the property and the remains of dead horses were found in manure piles, according to court documents.
G. Michael Keiner, senior animal control officer with the Humane Society of Carroll County, declined to comment on the pending case, but he said in a court statement that he had responded to complaints about the treatment of horses at the stable numerous times over the years, the Sun reported.
Reinke’s attorney, Kirk Seaman, declined through a law office staff member to comment on the case.
Misty Manor, which had been in operation for at least 20 years, was known to many in the Baltimore region for renting out horses for trail rides.
“It was a hack stable,” said Christine Hajek, founder and director of Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue and Rehabilitation in Mt. Airy, who grew up in the area. “There was no supervision. Horses were always thin. They were always for sale.”
Shelby Piovoso, the head trainer at Gentle Giants, said an incident 18 years ago at Misty Manor helped motivate her to get into horse rescue.
Piovoso, who was nine at the time, and her father visited Misty Manor to shop for her first horse. He saw a horse that day that was “a rack of bones,” she recalled.
“He recognized how bad the horses were. It was my first experience seeing a horse in bad condition,” Piovoso said. “My dad was traumatized, and we left.”
The 13 surviving horses at Days End have completed the months-long rehabilitation process, said DeEtte Hillman, equine programs director. Eight horses have found permanent homes and as of November five remained available for adoption.
Hillman, who helped evaluate the horses at the scene and determine which ones needed to be removed, said given the pending court case, she could not speak to the specific issues of each horse, but that horses received at their impoundment facility suffer from starvation and various degrees of emaciation, hoof and skin diseases and dental neglect. “Horses left out in the elements have compromised immune systems,” she said.
Fortunately, Hillman said, Reinke relinquished ownership of the horses, allowing them to be adopted.
She said the horses ranged in age from about 12 and up and were of various breeds, including gaited horses, Arabians, quarter horses and draft crosses.
Hillman said there were an estimated 80 more horses still on the property a year ago.
Days End, which operates largely on private donations, spent $55,000 on the horses in the first three months of their care, Hillman said.
She said the case is a good reminder for the public that if they see something, say something. “Sometimes it takes a while for there to be intervention,” Hillman said. “But it’s important to reach out to local law enforcement.”