SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

COUNTY OF NEW YORK

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,
by ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN, Attorney General
of the State of New York,
Plaintiffs,
- against-
JOHN C. MOORE, ROBERT HINKLE, MICHAEL
LAKOW, DIANA PIKULSKI, HAYWARD R.
PRESSMAN, LESLIE PRIGGEN, JOHN S.
RAINEY, MARGARET SANTULLI, AND
THOROUGHBRED RETIREMENT
FOUNDATION, INC.,
Defendants.
Index No. 401004-12
AFFIDAVIT OF ANNE LEAR
AFFIDAVIT OF
ANNE LEAR
STATE OF VIRGINIA )
) ss.:
COUNTY OF CLARKE)
ANNE LEAR, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
1. I am the Fann Manager of Shaffer Place Fann, owned by Edwin (Butch) Eastham
II, located in Front Royal, Virginia. I have been employed by the Thoroughbred Retirement
Foundation, Inc. ("TRF") in this capacity since March 4, 2002. I submit this affidavit to set
forth, for the benefit of the Court, TRF's woefully inadequate care of horses on other TRF fanns
and the persistent disregard for the welfare of the horses in its care that I have seen on the part of
TRF over the past 5 years.
2. I reside in White Post, Virginia.
3. I have an Associate degree from Shenandoah University and am a licensed
respiratory therapist. I worked in two different hospitals as a respiratory therapist for a period
totaling six years.
4. I have worked with horses in a professional capacity since 1980. I have
experience training horses, teaching riders, and managing barns. From 1985 to 1992, I was
employed as an exercise rider and groom for Thoroughbreds at Bonita Fann in Darlington,
Maryland. I have also ridden freelance at Bowie Training Track, a training center for
Thoroughbred racehorses in Maryland, and Middleburg Training Track in northern Virginia. I
have also managed and ridden for the now deceased Master of the Piedmont Foxhunt in Virginia.
5. Based on my training and experience, I am knowledgeable about the care and

maintenance of horses, including Thoroughbred horses.

6. Since becoming employed by TRF, I have had an agreement with TRF that
requires TRF to pay my salary as the Farm Manager of Shaffer Place Farm. My current salary is
$34,000 per year.
7. Since May 2010, 1usually have worked seven days a week at Shaffer Place
Farm, and since I began working for TRF in 2002, I have curtailed my allowed vacati(;m time
and have worked most holidays due to lack of coverage. In my capacity as Farm Manager, 1am
responsible for the complete care of the herd. This includes ensuring that each horse has:
Proper and routine medical care includes providing necessary medications,
routine vaccinations and dewormer, which controls internal parasites and
eliminates worms and should be done at least two times per year, and assessing
emergency situations which would require veterinary services.
Farrier care, which includes shoeing and trimming of horses' hooves. It is
important to trim each hoof so it retains its proper orientation to the ground so that
the horse can maintain proper balance and soundness. Unattended hooves can
cause stress on a horses's ligaments and tension in its leg, resulting in lameness.
Routine farrier work is necessary to maintain a healthy hoof to prevent splits,
cracks, flares, and overgrowth in the hoofwalls, any of which can produce pain
and impact a horse's mobility. ~ n a herd situation, farrier care should be provided,
at the very least, four times per year.
Dental care, which is recommended annually, is essential for proper digestion.
If a horse's teeth do not have a flat surface, the horse cannot properly chew
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food, which can result in poor absorption of nutrients and dramatic weight loss.
Additionally, a horse's teeth might become so uneven that razor sharp edges fonn
and cut the inside of the horse's mouth. Horse's teeth rarely, ifever, grind down
during nonnal chewing to create a flat surface, which is why it is crucial that
horses have their teeth filed down, or "floated," every 12 months. Floating
involves a veterinarian or certified dental technician wearing down the surface of
the teeth, usually to remove sharp points. Floating a horse's teeth is a basic part
of routine care for a horse.
8. My duties also include keeping records on the horses in the herd, which is
important for easy monitoring of the condition of the herd and keeping track of when routine
care is needed. Because (as I discuss below) so many TRF horses come to me without proper
records, it is my responsibility to attempt to identify the horses by figuring out their name, age,
and racing history. I then give each horse an individual file complete with a photograph
identifying the horse and reports recording any services or treatments that it has received.
Conditions at Shaffer Place Farm
9. Shaffer Place Farm, which I manage, sits on approximately 600 acres ofland in
Front Royal, Virginia. Currently, Shaffer Place Fann boards a total of 88 TRF horses. An
additional 15 TRF horses are boarded at a neighboring farm which I also !Uanage. A total of 103
horses that I am responsible for overseeing are retired Thoroughbreds entrusted to the care of
TRF. Most of the horses stay on pasture, though shelter is available in barns during severe
weather as well as for horses with special needs.
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10. Since 2004, Mr. Eastham, the owner of Shaffer Place Farm, has provided
the use of his farm as well as field maintenance to the retired racehorses from TRF. Mr.
Eastham is responsible for s providing hay, field management, and fencing on the farm. TRF
pays Shaffer Place a daily fee per horse intended to cover basic necessities, including boarding,
hay and field care. Any additional costs for feed, such as for grain, are not covered by the daily
fee and are separately invoiced to TRF. Since I have been at Shaffer Place Farm, beginning in
2002, this per diem has remained constant at three dollars ($3.00) per horse. All dental, farrier,
feed, and veterinary services provided to TRF horses are separately invoiced to TRF.
II. Due to the ample and verdant pasture available at Shaffer Place Farm, and
the supplemental grass and clover hay Mr. Eastham provides free of charge, the horses at Shaffer
Place Farm are well fed and adequately nourished. I am deeply committed to the horses under
my supervision, and I believe that all the horses at Shaffer Place Farm, including those sent here
by TRF, receive excellent over-all care.
TRF's Care of Horses at Other Farms
12. From personal experience and my own direct observation, I know that the
TRF fails to provide adequate care for horses at certain other farms. I base this conclusion on
my experience both as an employee ofTRF and as manager of the Shaffer Place Farm, where I
receive horses from other TRF facilities that have been transferred to Shaffer Place Farm at the
direction ofTRF.
13. In the past ten months, Shaffer Place Farm received three separate
shipments ofTRF horses from other TRF facilities. Two of these three transfers came from a
TRF farm in Kentucky known as the "Detweiler Farm" and one shipment came from the
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Wallkill Correctional facility in New York. Most of these horses showed obvious signs of
malnourishment. They were seriously underweight and underfed.
14. The first of these shipments of horses arrived on June 6, 2011. On that
date, seven horses were transferred to Shaffer Place Farm from the Detweiler Farm in Kentucky.
The horses arrived in the middle of the night, which I specifically requested not happen because
it is difficult to properly assess the horses in the dark. Despite the darkness, as I was unloading
these horses from their trailer, I could see how thin they were. Many of the horses had their ribs
showing. It was clear that basic maintenance and care was severely lacking at the Detweiler
Farm. From the condition of their teeth, it was apparent that the majority of these horses had not
been floated in quite some time, even though I was told by TRF's Herd Manager, Sara
Davenport, that the horses' teeth had been recently floated. Some of the horses had teeth that
had been neglected and one had teeth so sharp, it caused severe periodontal disease requiring his
gums to be packed with antibiotics.
15. As is my practice every time I receive horses, I took photographs of the
TRF horses I received from the Detweiler Farm the morning after they arrived on June 7, 2011.
Those photographs are attached hereto as Exhibit I. Each photograph is a true and accurate
representation of the appearance ofthe horses within hours of their unloading at Shaffer Place
Farm.
16. The second shipment came on December 14,2011. On that date, I
received six TRF horses from Wallkill Correctional Facility in Ulster County, New York and
two from James River Correctional Center in Goochland County, Virginia. The first six horses
represented the third shipment ofTRFhorses I had received from Wallkill in the past five years.
5
The majority of the horses that J had received over time were underweight or otherwise not in
good condition. However, this group of six was the worst J had ever seen coming from Wallkill.
All six horses were severely underweight and none had complete vaccinations, dental care, or
dewormer. In addition, one had open wounds on his hindquarters, apparently because he was so
weak or undernourished that he had to lean on the trailer for support in order to stand.
17. I took photographs of the TRF horses Jreceived from Wallkill
Correctional Facility on December 15,20II, the day after they arrived at Shaffer Place Farm.
Those photographs are attached here as Exhibit 2. Each photograph is a true and accurate
representation of the appearance of the horses as they arrived at Shaffer Place Farm.
18. These photographs clearly show that these TRF horses had been neglected
and had not received proper care, as evidenced by their mangy coats, their visibly protruding
ribs, and their untreated sores.
19. On or about February 24, 2012, I was informed by TRF's Herd Manager,
Sara Davenport, that all the TRF horses at the Detweiler Farm would be moved to Shaffer Place
Farm over a period of 10 days, in four separate shipments.
20. On Thursday, March 1, 2012, I received an e-mail from Sara Davenport, detailing
the schedule and identifying the horses for each of the four shipments. The e-mail is attached as
Exhibit 3 and is a true and accurate representation of the e-mail] received from Ms. Davenport.
In that e-mail, Ms. Davenport highlighted the dire condition of the second load of Detweiler
horses to be shipped to me and the urgency of removing the horses from the Detweiler Farm.
She wrote, "the second load has now been standing in a flooded round pin since Tuesday
evening with ~ limited food due to the refusal to accept shipment." Additionally, her e-mail
6
acknowledges TRF's inadequate record-keeping with respect to the identity and location of its
horses. Ms. Davenport wrote, "I have found errors in the inventory (as I have within all the
herds) but this is the list we have. I believe there are 3-5 horses [out of 25] in this group that do
not match any of the descriptions."
21. On February 28, 2012, I received the first shipment of horses from the Detweiler
Farm. In that shipment, seven TRF horses arrived in the middle of the night, even though I had
repeatedly insisted that TRF not deliver any horses at night because of the difficulty in assessing
and tending to the horses in the dark. All seven of these horses were in poor condition. To date,
the horses from that shipment were in the worst condition of any TRF horse I have ever received.
All seven horses had evidence of severe rain rot, with patches of hair missing; they all had sores
that had been untreated, protruding ribs, and hooves that had not been trimmed in a long time.
One horse had an abscess on his foot that had been untreated for so long that when I unloaded
him from the trailer, he fell because the abscess prevented him from being able to put weight on
that leg.
22. Attached as Exhibit 4 are photographs I took of the seven horses I received from
the Detweiler Farm on February 29, 2012, the morning after they arrived at Shaffer Place Farm.
Each photograph is a true and accurate representation of the appearance of the horses as they
arrived at Shaffer Place Farm.
23. On March 1,2012 I contacted Shannon Donoho, DVM, the local and regular
veterinarian for Shaffer Place Farm, and asked her to examine the horses I had received from the
Detweiler Farm and to assess their condition and make recommendations for their care.
24. On March 8, 2012, Dr. Shannon Donoho and a fellow veterinarian, Alexis Theiss,
7
D.V.M., from Piedmont Equine Practice, came to Shaffer Place Farm to evaluate the 19 horses
that had come in three separate shipments from the Detweiler Farm. Dr. Donoho evaluated each
Detweiler horse using the Henneke Scoring System, an objective method employed by many
equine veterinarians to determine a horse's body condition based on a standardized scale. The
scale includes numerical values based on the amount of fat gathered in specific areas of the
horse, ranging from 1 (Extremely Poor) to 9 (Extremely Fat). A horse with a Body Condition
Score ("BCS") below 3 is considered malnourished.
25. Attached as Exhibit 5 is a true and accurate copy of the report Dr. Donoho
produced after her evaluation of the Detweiler horses that came to Shaffer Place Farm.
26. As is evident from Dr. Donoho's report, all but one of the horses she evaluated
had a less than ideal Body Condition Score. Of the 19 horses she examined, one was determined
to be a 2, eight had a BCS of 3, nine had a BCS of 4, and only one horse had a BCS of 5, which
is at the low end ofthe 5-7 range that TRF itself requires in its farm contracts, including its
contract with Shaffer Place Farm. At least five of the horses were recommended for immediate
farrier work because of their severely overgrown hooves. Dr. Donoho found that approximately
a quarter of the horses had severe rain rot or severe scratches on their legs due to bacterial and
fungal infections.
27. Two horses arrived with such dire health conditions that Dr. Donoho and Dr.
Theiss recommended that they both be humanely euthanized. One of these horses, which I
determined to be about seven years old (TRF did not properly identify many of the horses it
shipped from the Detweiler Farm so I was unable to immediately determine their ages) was
so severely lame that it was apparent that his lameness was a chronic injury. A horse in that
8
condition should never have been shipped such a distance and made to stand for over seven
hours in trailer.
28. The last two shipments of horses from the Detweiler facility came not from the
field managed by Sam Detweiler but from a different field managed by Sam Detweiler's son.
The condition of the horses in this final shipment were not as thin or in as bad shape as those in
the previous shipments I received from Sam Detweiler's farm. However, several of these horses
did need teeth and hoof work.
29. Dr. David Johnson, a veterinarian specializing in equine dentistry, came to
Shaffer Place Farm to inspect and service the horses from the Detweiler Farm. Dr. Johnson
examined the mouth and teeth of a horse identified by TRF as Omega and told me that this was
the worst mouth he had ever seen. Omega's top teeth were so long that they had grown into the
bottom jaw line, preventing him from being able to grind food.
30. TRF was aware of problems at the Detweiler Farm dating back to at least June
of2011 when I received the first shipment of Detweiler horses; yet TRF did not take action to
guarantee their removal before the onset of harsh winter weather. Rather, TRF waited eight
months before addressing the remaining horses at the Detweiler Farm and removing them at the
end of February 2012.
31. In addition to the poor condition of the horses transferred to my care by TRF, the
means of their transportation were highly irregular and violated accepted industry custom. It is
customary for horses to be accompanied by records, such as identification papers, health card
or history report. And it is improper and against the law for any horse to travel across state
lines without a Coggins Test, the paperwork showing that the horse has been tested, usually
9
within the last 12 months, for Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA). None of the horses sent to me
in June, December, or February had the customary paperwork identifying history of dewonning,
vaccinations or dental work. Although the December shipment from Wallkill was accompanied
with files containing identification only, the other shipments from the Detweiler Fann did not
have complete and accurate identification, making it very difficult for me to identify the horses
and detennine their age.
32. It is clear to me that horses under TRF's care at certain other facilities are not
being adequately nourished or properly cared for. It appears evident that when the condition
of certain horses at other TRF fanns becomes dire, TRF transfers them to my fann, which I am
proud to say is where their condition can be improved and they can be well taken care of.
33. . This is not a new situation; TRF horses have received inadequate care at other
facilities since my tenure with TRF and the situation seems to have only gotten worse.
TRF's Financial Problems Adversely Meed Even Shaffer Place Farm
34. The poor condition of the TRF horses transferred to my care has strained the
financial resources available for the maintenance of the horses at Shaffer Place Fann, which
bears the costs associated with trying to improve the health of the malnourished horses. Horses
that are in poor health and underweight need, among other things, supplemental feed, which
includes additional daily grain and additional hay.
35. With the additional horses from the Detweiler Fann, the number ofTRF horses
currently at Shaffer Place Fann, and the neighboring fann I also manage, is 109. The increase
in our herd size (nearly 30%) places an added burden on me, as the sole full-time employee at
Shaffer Place Fann, as well as on the fann facility and pasture. I am increasingly concerned
10
about field care and maintenance.
36. TRF's repeated and continuing failures to meet its financial obligations to
Shaffer Place Fann, and to the local vendors providing services to TRF horses, has threatened
our ability to provide proper care to the horses. TRF is chronically late in making per diem
payments to Shaffer Place Fann.
37. The agreement between TRF and Mr. Eastham provides for payment within 30 to
60 days of invoicing. To my knowledge, TRF has never made a payment to Mr. Eastham within
30 days and is always at least 60 days behind in its payments. Approximately two years ago,
TRF was as much as six months in arrears to Mr. Eastham for these fees.
38. In addition, TRF is frequently delinquent in paying veterinary and farrier bills for
services rendered to horses at Shaffer Place Fann. On two occasions in the past years, Piedmont
Equine Practice, the veterinary group which regularly tends to Shaffer Place Fann's horses
has refused to provide needed services due to excessively delayed payments from TRF. At one
point, TRF was six months behind with respect to a $12,000 bill to Piedmont Equine Practice
and I was infonned that they would only service my horses on an emergency basis. Similarly,
our regular farrier and feed supplier have refused to do business with Shaffer Place Fann because
of late payments from TRF for services rendered.
39. TRF's failure to provide routine and preventative health care to its horses is not
only callous, but also it is wasteful, and inefficient. To take just one example, it is customary
industry practice to provide an individual evaluation to every racehorse upon retirement, to check
for latent injuries and detennine whether the horse needs special treatment. TRF, however,
has never had a policy requiring that the horses placed in its custody receive such individual
11
evaluations. As a result, if a horse placed with TRF has, for instance, a hidden foot injury, the
satellite fann manager will be unaware that any special foot care is necessary, and the problem
may go undetected for some time. Not surprisingly, the longer an injured horse goes without
proper care, the more expensive it becomes to cure the problem when it manifests itself. In
sum, TRF's pattern of ignoring preemptive measures to ensure the wellbeing of its horses has
squandered the organization's Iimited resources.
40. Not only does TRF's lack of adequate financial resources put a strain on our
farm, it also can produce tragic and thoroughly unacceptable consequences. An example of this
occurred late last year. One of the horses that had been transferred from Wallkill Correctional
Facility in December 2011 arrived at Shaffer Place Fann and subsequently required colic surgery
due to an intestinal obstruction.
41. The horse, which Mr. Eastham transported at his own expense to the Piedmont
Equine Practice, required surgery that would cost between $6,000 and $10,000. After 24 hours
of veterinary care, on Christmas Eve I called TRF's offices for the second time to relay this
information but was unable to reach anyone.
42. Soon thereafter, this horse's condition deteriorated to the point that the only
humane option was to euthanize him. Unable to reach anyone at the TRF office, I made the
humane decision to have the horse euthanized to spare the horse undue suffering and pain.
43. On January 13,2012, I received a call from the new President ofTRF, Michael
Lakow, who informed me that he had received a $3,800 bill for euthanasia and that TRF was not
going to pay it. Even when I negotiated the bill down to $2,700, Mr. Lakow was reluctant to pay
it and insisted on speaking directly to the head of the Piedmont Equine Practice.
12
44. In the past, lack of money has caused the TRF credit card, issued in my name
for TRF expenses, to be cut off. This has forced me to personally pay for horse feed, supplies,
and gas for the TRF truck which is used to check on the horses. On January 16, 2012 I was
told by Mr. Lakow that the card would not be usable for at least four days and that no payment
on the outstanding bill would be paid by TRF until January 20, 2012. I personally paid for the
necessary feed and have since been reimbursed by TRF. This occurred most recently on March
20,2012, when I attempted to purchase feed, but was informed that the TRF credit card had once
again been cut off.
Conclusion
45. Providing the truth about the negligent care that TRF provides to horses at certain
other facilities and its irresponsible management is painful for me to do; and because I am still a
TRF employee, is done at considerable personal risk. Nevertheless, I cannot remain silent about
TRF's conduct and the lack of oversight that the TRF has over its herd to ensure the proper and
adequate care of the retired racehorses in its custody.
3\-c.\-e 0 \. \j /\ ; 'i
Co
Sworn to before me this
27
th
day of April, 2012
..-eE:;::::> <"
NOTARY PUBLIC
My commission expires
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ANNE LEAR