VENTURA : Shelter Seizes 2 Horses Used in City Classes

Two horses used in riding classes sponsored by the city of Ventura were seized by county officials Tuesday after a county veterinarian determined the horses were starving.

“The horses were emaciated,” said Jolene Hoffman, animal shelter director for the Humane Society of Ventura County. “When we found them they were so hungry they were eating manure.”

Officials from the Ventura Recreation and Parks Department said they were alarmed to learn that horses used in the city’s class were being mistreated.

“We had no idea that there was a problem,” said Judy Devine, the city’s recreation coordinator. “We would never want to be involved with something where horses are being harmed.”

City officials canceled the riding class Tuesday, offering a full refund to the students. About 20 children were enrolled in the once-a-week class that began this month.

Devine said Somis resident Renae Ferguson is the owner of the horses. Ferguson, who could not be reached for comment, called the city offering to teach a class earlier this year, Devine said.

“It was something we hadn’t offered in a while, and after we interviewed her we thought it would be a good program,” Devine said.

On July 12, the Humane Society received a complaint that two of eight horses at Ferguson’s Somis stables were starving, Hoffman said.

According to Hoffman, Ferguson insisted the horses appeared lean because they were old, not because they were being mistreated. “She told us she didn’t think they looked bad,” Hoffman said.

But after three visits to the horses’ Somis stable, Humane Society officials brought a veterinarian to examine the horses and two horses were taken to the Humane Society’s shelter in Ojai.

Of the remaining horses, Hoffman said that two more were “very lean” and would be monitored. The others were healthy, she said.

Hoffman said the mistreatment of the animals was not a unique case. The Humane Society has seized 22 horses under similar circumstances this year.