THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030470
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER MCMENAMIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KITTY HAWK LENGTH: 100 lines
Barbara Ritz was bringing a riding hat to a friend when she saw something that made her sick to her stomach: Cheryl McMahon's horseback riding facility on Poor Ridge Road.
``The horses were extremely thin. There was no food. There was no visible source of water. And I feel like I know something about the care of these animals,'' said Ritz, a Kitty Hawk resident who owns a 23-acre horse breeding farm in Currituck County.
Ritz was among more than 30 residents who attended Monday night's Town Council meeting because they were concerned about the horseback-riding facility.
At the meeting, councilmen unanimously supported a town lawsuit against McMahon's commercial riding facility. The trial is scheduled to be heard in court July 19.
Council members also unanimously asked the town attorney to take a second look at Kitty Hawk's horse ordinance, which prohibits horses from crossing the U.S. 158 bypass between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and requires that riders travel in groups of four or less.
Zoning ordinances prohibit ``commercialized horse activities and/or use of the town roads and right-of-way land and public beaches by non-resident horse persons.''
But most audience members - many of whom were young riders wearing T-shirts bearing horse illustrations and slogans - were not there to protest the ordinance violations.
``I'm here because I live on the same road she does and I have a horse,'' said 17-year-old Courtney Scarborough. ``And I'm disturbed at her treatment of the animals.''
But McMahon said Tuesday that the 12 mares, one pony and one yearling stallion that live on her 3 1/2-acre property are in fine condition.
``Each one is paddocked with a partner with plenty of room to run in each paddock,'' she said. ``Each paddock stays dry - except when it rains, which is the case with every paddock in Kitty Hawk.
``It's just sad that they don't want the tourists to enjoy once a year what they enjoy every day,'' said McMahon, walking toward her feeding rooms - a red van and silver trailer loaded with grain and hay. ``That's what I think is selfish.''
Among the concerns Scarborough and others at the meeting expressed were the facility's tension wire fencing, flooded paddocks, ponies tied to fencing outside of confined areas, debris in the confined areas and inadequate shelter from sun and rain.
Robin Hartleben, who has lived on Poor Ridge Road for more than 10 years, described the conditions as ``deplorable.''
``No person, no child, no animal should be expected to live in less than tolerable conditions. And they're (McMahon's horses) being subjected to that without any choice,'' Hartleben said. ``They're defenseless. And that's what those of us at the meeting were trying to do.''
Both Hartleben and Bonnie Scarborough, Courtney's mother, said their purpose is not a malicious one.
``It's just a circle,'' Bonnie Scarborough said. ``We can't help care for the animals without harming her business.''State laws say animal owners and keepers must provide sustenance and conditions that are not detrimental to the animals' health and safety.
Dare County Animal Control officers documented 21 cases of neglect at McMahon's facility over a two-year period, animal control officer Lauri Betts told the councilmen. She cited unsanitary conditions, a lack of proper vetting, unsafe confinement in sand paddocks that flood and insecure fencing.
The wire fencing is unsafe, Betts said in an interview Tuesday, because ``horses are long-legged animals that can easily get their legs entwined in the wire.''
The animal control officer also characterized the paddock areas as dangerous, explaining that the cinder blocks, balled-up fencing, telephone poles, dead trees and lumber strewn throughout the confined area ``creates an obstacle course for these horses to move around.''
McMahon said her horses are very smart and know not to fall at the sight of a log.
``If you checked with the vet, you'd see that every horse in Dare County has been to the vet in the last year except mine,'' she said. ``Why is that? I know what to do to protect a horse.''
That protection includes feeding areas constructed of wooden poles and plastic sheeting, stalls made of plastic sheeting sandwiched between two pieces of mesh wire and a 35-foot by 4 1/2-foot paddock for a young horse, Daisy, who needed fattening up.
Daisy - who was taken from the facility by the Dare County Animal Control - cut her leg on the fencing when she started kicking at the stallion, who had escaped his paddock.
Ward McCreedy, president of the Kitty Hawk Citizens Association, also presented to the council a petition - signed by 301 residents - supporting the town's efforts and asking McMahon to cease immediately all illegal commercialized horseback riding.
McMahon stopped charging customers last week at the recommendation of her attorney. But she did not cease her teaching.
Amy Peele, a 14-year-old from Virginia Beach, rode for free Tuesday afternoon. ``The only way I can ride with that little girl is for free on my property,'' McMahon said, as Peele unpacked a horse. ``I'd rather do that than break her heart.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by DREW C. WILSON, The Virginian-Pilot
Owner, neighbors dispute care of horses
The horses at Cheryl McMahon's Kitty Hawk riding facility are
housed, above, in stalls made of plastic stretched over wire mesh.
McMahon, at right, is in a dispute with the town and her neighbors
over the conditions and care of horses at the facility. by CNB