Muskogee Man's Horses Malnourished, Covered In Sores, Officials Say

Three horses are recovering after the Muskogee County sheriff said they were pent up without food or water, with deep, life-threatening wounds.

There's now a warrant out for the owner's arrest, as one of the horses is fighting to survive.

Muskogee County Sheriff, Charles Pearson said the owner tied up the horse with a rope, and kept the animal yards away from hay bales just up the hill.

The wounds were hard to look at.

"Several of the wounds had maggots in them,” Pearson said. “The wounds had been there for a while."

Pearson said the three young horses were probably hurt while trying to reach the hay just beyond barbed wire.

"If they don't have hay, if they don't have grass to eat, they're going to push through a fence; they're going to jump through a fence," Pearson said.

Deputies found the horses cut, with skin hanging off their bodies, on land in west Muskogee County.

There was no food or water, and one of the horses was tied up.

"They can't hardly defend themselves when they're tied up with a short rope," said Pearson.

The horses' owner, Richard Clark, is charged with cruelty to animals.

The horses are now seeing veterinarians and the horse tied to the pen needs a second surgery.

"All three of them were very, very poor, but this one was just about, it was real bad as far as nourishment," said Pearson.

He said what's sad is they are beautiful gentle horses, tortured by one man.

"It's just pure laziness and disregard for these animals,” Pearson said.

The sheriff said he is now looking for good, safe homes for the three horses.