At Dallas' City-owned Horse Park, a Dead Pony Was Found Rotting in a Pasture

It's been four months since last we checked in on the lawsuit pitting Dallas City Hall against one of its own tenants down at the Texas Horse Park in the Great Trinity Forest. That's because until now there has been no news of note: River Ranch Educational Charities, accused of violating its contract with Dallas, is still camped out on city-owned property, refusing to git. City attorneys maintain River Ranch is trespassing on land you and I own.But at the end of last week, we got confirmation of a long-standing rumor that a horse died at the horse park last month, in a pasture controlled by River Ranch. Remember that River Ranch's founder and president Wayne Kirk came to Dallas from McKinney chased by animal-abuse allegations he has long denied. What I've spent weeks trying to verify is tucked away at the bottom of a note senior assistant city attorney Kathleen Fones sent to state District Judge Bonnie Lee Goldstein Friday:"The City has no additional updates at this time regarding the dead horse that was found on the premises by City staff on July 26, 2019, or other potential issues relating to animal health and welfare."The horse was a Shetland pony — a former rescue animal around 23 years of age, short of the breed's life expectancy of 30 years. Don Flanary, River Ranch's attorney, told me the horse's age and breed when we spoke Monday, and made it sound like no big deal. City officials agree to disagree — at least as much as they're willing to talk about it, seeing as how there's a pending lawsuit.  Continue reading...