New Suffolk Woman Still Searching for Alleged Horse Abuser

On the morning of Feb. 25, an animal caretaker at a large property in New Suffolk on New Suffolk Road was shocked to see three fully grown horses tied by the bridle to the walls of a stable, traumatized and unable to move their heads for hours.

Horse owner Joni Friedman reported to last week that sometime between 10:15 p.m. on Feb. 24 and 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 25, someone had allowed her three horses out of their stalls, had bound two of them together by the head with a short lead to their bridles and had bound the third horse around its bridle so tightly to a stable wall hook that the animal could not move, police said.

Friedman said that her caretaker “found three horses, back to back like that in a small space,” she said. “Their coats were lathered up — they were obviously stomping around, trying to get somebody’s attention.”

Though it’s been two weeks, Friedman, a New York City transplant who owns ummassage in Greenport, said she still has no idea who could have — or could have wanted to — tie up her horses like this.

“It’s absolutely mind-boggling,” she said. “Anyone who knows horses or has any feeling for horses — they would never tie them up together so tight. They could have easily injured themselves.”

 Friedman said that her horses — 14-year-old quarter horse Joe, 14-year-old Arab mix C.J. and 26-year-old Appaloosa Goh-Goh — are all docile animals, rescued from less-than ideal situations. She got C.J. and Goh-Goh around seven years ago, about the same time she moved into the house, and she acquired Joe from a stable in the city about three years ago.

Friedman said that the property, located across from , hadn’t been used as a horse stable for decades but she saw such potential for that when she moved in. Alongside the three horses, Friedman has two dogs, four indoor cats and five barn cats.

“I’ve always loved horses, but I never had horses until these guys,” she said.

Southold Town Police investigated the scene on the Saturday following the incident. Police Capt. Martin Flatley said on Monday that there has not been any movement as far as coming up with any names of potential suspects and said that he’s not seen anything like this kind of incident in his experience.

“Usually, if there were young kids involved, they would just let the horses out,” he said. “But to tie the animals up on a short lead — that means someone knows about horses and knows that they will freak out if you do that.”

Police reported that they did not gather any more information on the case after interviewing Friedman’s closest neighbors. With little to go on, Friedman has requested extra patrols.

“It’s just crazy how they managed to hold these horses and tie them down like this,” she said. “We were just so lucky that they didn’t get hurt — that they didn’t hurt themselves or each other.”

Please E-mail Joni Friedman at pedrogft@yahoo.com with any information.