BRATTLEBORO — Embattled and controversial horse breeder Robert Labrie claimed Wednesday in court that he was a victim of overreach by state officials, who confiscated 20 of his pedigreed Friesian horses last September amid continuing allegations of serious neglect.
It was the third such confiscation at his Townshend horse farm since 2023 where dozens of horses have been taken away from Labrie, who ran Friesians of Majesty for more than 20 years. A total of 35 horses have been removed from the farm and Wednesday's forfeiture hearing dealt with the last group of 20 taken away.
There was a day-long series of hearings Wednesday on both the criminal case and the forfeiture case, including a protracted exchange with Judge John Treadwell on why Labrie didn't show up Wednesday morning on time for the forfeiture hearing. Labrie repeatedly painted himself as a victim and said that his horses were in fine health.
Labrie claimed he was late getting to court Wednesday because he was saving one of his horses, who had colicked, which is a very serious condition and potentially fatal for horses.
Labrie claimed he didn't have time to call the court to say he would be late, and that he "never hit his bed" Tuesday night or Wednesday morning because he was treating the horse. Once he and his wife got to Brattleboro, he said he had a hard time finding a parking place for his Mack truck.
His wife Dolores contradicted parts of his story when she took the stand, saying she woke her husband up where he was sleeping on the couch in their home. And she said that the extreme medical procedure he had performed on the horse took place Monday, not during the early morning hours of Wednesday.
At times, the judge acted as a legal guide for the Labries during the re-convened forfeiture hearing, which had originally concluded Wednesday morning without Labrie present but after three veterinarians testified that the confiscated horses were in need of immediate medical care last September.
But in the end, Treadwell allowed Labrie to explain his absence, and to present his reasons he was fighting the forfeiture.
Earlier in the day, with Labrie absent and an arrest warrant pending against him, a group of veterinarians who had examined the 20 horses last September said they were in need of immediate medical care and showed signs of neglect.
But at the end of the day, Labrie called a witness in his defense, a former employee Christina Henrich of Jamaica, who is now working with a California Indian tribe and casino to establish a Friesian horse breeding facility north of San Diego.
Henrich said she saw no signs of serious neglect when she was there about three weeks before the Sept. 10 search by state officials.
Henrich said she was there as a consultant to the Pala Indigenous People's Tribe to buy a Friesian stallion for their 600-acre equine farm.
Labrie's wife Dolores testified earlier the horse had been sold a few weeks before the state raid in September to the Pala tribe for $250,000, and that the Labries had received a $20,000 deposit on the stallion, named Krist. The Labries have received a total of $60,000 from the Pala tribe, she testified.
Ironically, Krist, who was described as the Labrie's most valuable animal, was confiscated by state officials in the September raid because of medical problems and neglect. Krist is now being cared for at an out-of-state animal facility, said Jen Straub of Dorset Equine Rescue after the day-long hearing. Straub has taken in and found care for the Labrie horses either at Dorset Equine Rescue or other similar facilities.
Photos posted on the Dorset Equine Rescue website show dramatic 'before and after" photographs of the horses.
Treadwell took the forfeiture case under advisement and said he would issue a ruling in the future. Treadwell had ruled in the 2023 case, which resulted in the forfeiture of 13 animals.
The Labries testified that they still had 75 horses, that Robert Labrie cares for by himself since Dolores Labrie refuses to hire help because she doesn't trust them. Labrie said that he sometimes feeds the horses between midnight and 1 a.m.
Under cross-examination by Windham County State's Attorney Steve Brown, Dolores Labrie admitted that finances were strained at the farm, particularly since the state got involved and the "ongoing defamation" started.
She said that the horses "always had hay," and she estimated the farm's monthly hay bill at between $4,000 and $6,000, depending on the time of year and weather.
"We always had money for grain," Dolores Labrie said, and then corrected herself, "for hay."
Brown suggested the Labries' financial difficulties resulted in them not calling in either a farrier for the horses' hooves care, or a veterinarian, or a horse dentist to take care of the horses' teeth - all issues mentioned by the state veterinarians.
"We tried to do the best we could," Dolores said. "We probably didn't have them as often," she told Brown, admitting, "I'm not the horse person." Her role in the farm is to handle the paperwork, she said.
Both the Labries, under questioning by Brown, downplayed the medical problems the Friesians had, in particular something that was described as "scratches" on their legs and hooves. The "scratches" are infections, and something Friesians are prone to.
Robert Labrie compared the "scratches" to "pimples on a teenager."
Henrich, who said she was a horse trainer and had worked for the Labries off and on since 2000, said she was being paid by the Pala tribe officials to help find breeding stock, in particular a stallion. She said she was very interested in Krist, since she had known him since he was a colt, and had helped train him, and another of the Labries' Friesian stallions. Henrich, under questioning by Brown, said she saw nothing at the Labries' farm that alarmed her, although she said the horses needed "grooming."
Earlier in the day, Brown said that the criminal case against Robert Labrie was ready for trial, and that he expects the trial to take three days.
Labrie told the judge that he had spoken with more than 50 attorneys to represent him in the forfeiture case, but was forced to represent himself. "Nobody wants to go against the state," he said.
The state investigators "used the same lies over and over, because it works," Labrie said, claiming his horses were seized illegally.
Brown called Detective Sgt. David Taddei of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, which handled the investigation into the Labries' farm, to the stand, and he refused claims made by Robert Labrie.
