Robert Dimmitt, the trainer accused of mutilating a trio of racing Quarter Horses, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

In July, an agent for the three horses’ owner contacted Dimmitt, and Dimmitt told the agent that one of the horses had died. Investigators from the Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, Sheriff’s Office later learned that another of the horses had allegedly died on Dimmitt’s property. Further, Sheriff Ron Lockhart said the third horse was allegedly mutilated when Dimmitt removed the frog from the animal’s hooves.

Dimmitt was later arrested and charged with three counts of animal cruelty.

On Aug. 20, he appeared in Sequoyah County Court and pleaded not guilty