American dressage riders act to save John Byrialsen’s neglected horses
Karen Lipp, Shawna Harding, Tina Konyot want to rescue and rehome the neglected horses which were discovered on the John Byrialsen’s farm in Poland
A trio of American dressage riders have formed a group to rescue severely neglected horses from John Byrialsen’s European breeding operation.
The extent of the neglect by the Danish breeder was discovered after a video (above) was posted anonymously on YouTube. The distressing footage showed multiple neglected horses on a farm that John Byrialsen reportedly rents in Posadowo, Poland.
Byrialsen also owns more than 500 horses in Denmark who appear to have been kept in a better condition. Poilice and welfare officers only found 15 horses which were “below the required welfare standard”.
Karen Lipp, Shawna Harding, and 2012 Olympian Tina Konyot, have all previously had business relationships with the breeder — Byrialsen is still technically a co-owner of Tina’s Olympic ride Calecto V.
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,”
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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.
So far Byrialsen has ignored all attempts by the American trio to contact him.
“I don’t know what to do next. We might have to try to through the Polish government,” said Karen. “The problem is that his trial is not until January and by then these horses may be dead.”
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Sophia Heath joined Horse & Hound in July 2013 having previously worked for the Daily Telegraph's Olympics website, CNN International and Omnisport. A Durham graduate with a Masters in journalism from City University, Sophia has evented, showjumped and hunted. Sophia left Horse & Hound in early 2015 to join an international boating website.