MOORPARK, NEWBURY PARK : Some College Horses Already Sold, Moved

More than half of 40 horses owned by the defunct Moorpark College Equine Program have been sold and transported out of state, a college official said Thursday.

The news surprised at least one member of the Ventura County Community College District board of trustees, which was told last week by college President James Walker that all of the horses were still at the Rancho Sierra Vista facility in Newbury Park.

“I found out two days (after the June 21 board meeting) that a number of the horses were gone,” said Trustee Karen Boone, who was assured by Walker at the meeting that he never gave the equine program administrator permission to sell the horses.

“I think we need to get to the bottom of it and find out exactly what’s going on,” Boone said. “I understand the records are being looked at.”

Neither Walker nor Don Anderson, the retired equine instructor, were available for comment Thursday. But Darlene Pacheco, Moorpark College vice president, said more than 20 horses were sold and moved weeks ago.

“Those horses had already been moved,” she said Thursday. “They had already been sent to Landon Farms in Utah.”

Although the horses are public property, Anderson told trustees that he was worried the horses would end up with people who sell horseflesh to dog food or other companies.

Pacheco said plans to close the equine program were approved by the college last year. “Dr. Anderson was proceeding in the manner that we agreed he would proceed,” she said. “So they’re gone.”

Meanwhile, an independent appraiser has agreed to determine the value of 17 horses that remain at the facility, which closed its doors after Saturday’s final commencement ceremony.

Officials plan to hold a sealed bid auction that will accept bids until July 15.