Tina Konyot & Calecto V (photo from Calecto's FB page)
Earlier this month, we reported that a prominent European sport horse breeder, John Byrialson, was accused of gross neglect at two enormous breeding operations in both Poland and Denmark. In short, over 300 horses in Poland and a yet unreleased amount of horses in Denmark were found in extremely neglected situations, some starved to the point of death and others not as lucky as those. The case was originally brought to public awareness due to the bravery of one employee who took a video of the horses and their current lives and released it onto the internet.
Now, after seeing the plight of these animals, three American dressage riders are attempting to take the rescue into their own hands and save these horses from Mr. Byrialson. Tina Konyot, who rode in the 2012 Olympic Games on a horse that is technically still partially owned by Mr Byrialson (although Tina no longer has a professional relationship with him and he has not funded the horse in any way for many years) has decided that she would like to save these horses. Tina, Shawna Harding & Karen Lipp are attempting to purchase all of the horses from the breeding operations and deliver them to owners in Europe that will appreciate and care for them in the way that they deserve.
From H&H:
After seeing the video the 3 women were determined to do something to prevent any further suffering to the horses. “I was horrified by what I saw on the video,” Karen Lipp told H&H. “We want to buy all the horses and then distribute them to owners in Europe who will be able to take care of them properly,”
In an interview on a Danish local TV station earlier this month (16 August) Byrialsen admitted that he had fallen on hard times. “There is no excuse. It’s my own fault. I should have stayed there. I should have spent more time there,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of work to make ends meet. “Times have been hard for the past 4 years.”
Byrialsen claimed that he had not visited the farm in Poland for 3 months. However, the video footage released on YouTube was taken more than 3 months ago.
Thus far, Byrialson has ignored all attempts by the three riders to contact him on the matter. They are considering a rescue attempt through the Polish government, as Byrialson will not face a trial until January of 2014 at the earliest, and the vast majority of his horses will not receive assistance until that is resolved.
