Polo Pony Status and Basic Information Concerning Polo Pony Retirement Foundation Horse Seizure
as of Sept. 8, 2009 at 9:00 pm EST

Site for more info. about this http://poloponyrescue.weebly.com

20 dead horses…all in different stages of decomposition. That is what Joanie Millward found one day in early August when she was asked by Nancy Sorrell Mackall (of Mine Run, VA) to go water her horses. But these weren’t just her horses, they were retired polo ponies that had been donated to her over the past several years after she created the Polo Pony Retirement Foundation. Mackall’s 70 acre farm was covered with the dead bodies of horses, many we presume were donated to her from polo players all over the country including Joe Muldoon, a collegiate polo program and Cissie Snow. In addition there were 10 horses locked into 12’ by 20’ pipe corrals that ranged from a 1 to a 3 on the body condition scale (5 is the correct weight and 9 is obese)… walking skeletons that were just waiting to die, unable to escape the odor of death the surrounded them. And oddly, 10 other ponies were doing well. After discovering this horrible scene, Joanie made the decision to call Orange County Animal Control. The next morning, Officer Patricia Dahl saw the full extent of the situation. Some of these horses weighed half of what they should and one had to be lifted by several men into the trailer as she was unable to move on her own. Another stallion that Mackall owned had been locked in a gooseneck trailer for at least a month. It seemed that the more Officer Dahl saw, the worse it got. This all happened at least a month ago. She is charged with 10 counts of animal cruelty and 20 counts of failure to bury or cremate dead animal (this includes 3 dogs that were removed from her custody).

Although it got some press in the local area, after a week or so, the topic became past tense and it was all but forgotten… until I found out. That was 7 days ago and I have spent much of my time since finding out the facts of what transpired in Orange County, VA. I now have learned that 20 horses were dead, 10 horses were in such bad condition that they were seized by Animal Control (and are now in foster homes to recover) and 10 were given or sold (not sure which) to a local horse farmer through Mackall’s attorney (who also happens to be her uncle). I have been trying, along with several other people, to identify the polo ponies that are still alive ever since. When I “broke” the story on Facebook, I had dozens of comments from polo players that had donated their ponies to her in good faith and had no idea that they had either been seized from her or had died. As you can imagine, they were horrified. Since posting, we have matched up 3 ponies that are in New York (Mackall had sold them), 2 that are at the local horse farm and 1 that was seized by Orange County. We have not been able to identify or connect any of the dead horses to any of their prior owners. The living horses that were taken from Nancy that we have left to identify are:

1. Age: 20ish
Sex: Mare
Color: Dark bay
Markings: Stripe down face, sock on left front and anklet on left hind

2. Age: 5
Sex: Mare
Color: Dark brown
Markings: None
Height: ?
Note: Probably not a donated polo pony as she is too young, was told her dam is
the mare described in #1

3. Age: Upper 20’s
Sex: Mare
Color: Liver chestnut
Markings: Small smear of white on forehead tilting toward her left ear and anklet on
left hind
Height: ?
Note: Blind in left eye

4. Age: ?
Sex: ?
Color: Blood bay (very stocky, built like a Quarter Horse)
Markings: Blaze that widens over right nostril and anklet on left hind
Height: ?

5. Age: ?
Sex: Mare
Color: Chestnut
Markings: Equal size stripe down face, 2 socks on both hind legs and stocking on
right front
Note: Approximately 16 hh

6. Age: Mid-20’s
Sex: Mare
Color: Bay
Markings: Blaze from just above eyes to about halfway down face
Height: 14.3 hh
Note: High withered and has JC tattoo, but number is illegible

7. Age: 9
Sex: Stallion
Color: Buckskin
Markings: Four stockings
Height: 15.2 hh
Note: Not a polo pony

8. Age: 10

Sex: Stallion
Color: Light chestnut
Markings: Blaze in center of forehead, spot between nostrils, stockings on left front
and right hind and a sock on left hind
Height: ?
Note: Not a polo pony

9. Age: Yearling
Sex: Colt
Color: Bay
Markings: Blaze and spot, socks on front legs and stockings on hind
Height: 13.2 hh
Note: Not a polo pony and was born on the farm according to Mackall

10. Age: 30’s
Sex: Mare
Color: Bay
Markings: Very thin faded stripe that whitens as it nears the nostrils and left hind
sock
Height: ?
Note: Is currently in the care of Traveller’s Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary and known as
“Mona”. For photos go to:
http://equineelders.blogspot.com/2009/08/do-you-know-this-horse.html

11. Age: Late teens
Sex: Mare
Color: Chestnut
Markings: Stripe and star, stocking on right hind, sock on left hind and right front
Height: 15 hh
Note: Severe deformity to the left front carpus

12. Age: 4
Sex: Mare
Color: Bay
Markings: Star
Height: 14.2 hh
Note: We believe she is too young to belong to anyone that donated horses

13. Age: ?
Sex: Mare
Color: Paint
Height: ?
Note: Not a polo pony

14. Age: ?
Sex: Stallion
Color: Paint
Height: ?
Note: Not a polo pony

We haven’t even begun to figure out who the dead ponies are and who they were donated by. I’d like to ask anyone who has ever donated horses to Nancy Sorrell Mackall to contact me… if you are concerned with being affiliated with this situation, I promise to keep your information private, but all of us affiliated with this would just like to know who these horses are.

In addition, if anyone has ever bought or been given horses by Nancy Sorrel Mackall, please contact me as they could easily have been donated to her through the Polo Pony Retirement Foundation. We will not be attempting to take these horses away from their current owners (assuming they are in good homes and well cared for), but would like to put their past owners’ minds at peace that they are okay and are not one of the horses that starved to death on Mackall’s farm.

Because some of the horses were sold or given away by Nancy Mackall and the some of the prior owners are financially unable to repurchase them, we are setting up a fund (The Polo Pony Rescue Fund) to buy back and/or help support any rescued polo ponies. Any amount of money donated would be greatly appreciated… At this moment, we are in the process of setting up an account, The Polo Pony Rescue Fund, at US Bank and applying for 501(c)3 status (so any money donated will also be tax deductible). Check the website (www.poloponyrescue.weebly.com) regularly for updates and for instructions on how to donate to the fund.

Finally, I would like to ask anyone who may have contacts with local, regional or national television news programs, newspapers or magazines to get in touch with them and try as hard as possible to get this story publicized. Mackall is scheduled for another court appearance in October and we fear that she will not be given an appropriate sentence (mostly we are afraid that she will be allowed to own horses again, which she should never EVER be allowed to do)… the only way we can ensure that justice is served is if the court knows that the country is watching. Let’s make sure that this will never ever happens again!

I will be posting all of the information as it becomes available at www.poloponyrescue.weebly.com. There is more information that I feel is too graphic to share with the general public, but will share it privately either over the phone or by email if need be. Please check the website regularly as I will continuously be adding new descriptions, photos, and, hopefully, some happy endings. My contact info is:

Lindsey Hays
lindsey@nantuafarm.com
(859) 779-0228

Thank you in advance for helping in this tragic situation. Hopefully you will be able to assist in righting some of these wrongs.

Sincerely,
Lindsey

Site for more info. about this http://poloponyrescue.weebly.com