Unexpected guests often drop in over the holidays, but what if your drop-ins were an entire herd of Quarter Horses?

That’s what happened to Falmouth, Ky., equine rescue facility Speak Up For Horses, when 48 mares, stallions, and foals were signed over to them by Breckenridge County Judge Executive Ray Powers, upon culmination of a local animal cruelty case and the recent foreclosure of the farm where they lived.

The breeder, Glenda A. Wright, was charged last February with 17 counts of cruelty to animals and one count of improper disposal. Broadbent Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) staff veterinarian Michael O’Bryan, DVM, accompanied Breckenridge County Sheriff Todd Pate in February to investigate the situation.

“We discovered eight or nine horses dead, and four more that were probably Grade 2 on the Henneke Body Scale,” said O’Bryan. He reported that three additional horses died within a week of their visit