LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — International horse trainer and rider Britt Harley is speaking out more than three months after three of her horses were shot this past New Year's Eve. Two of those horses, Zazou and Charlie, died from their wounds.
For Harley, horses mean the world to her.
"I was on the back of a horse probably at the time I was two. I started showing at four and I was pro by the time I was about 15," Harley said. "They're magical animals. To be able to communicate and control an animal that has their own mind that actually want to try for you, it's one of the most amazing feelings in the world."
She's still reeling from the shooting incident on New Year's Eve.
"We were out to dinner. It was maybe 10:30 [p.m.] by the time we got home. I had earplugs on all the horses that night because in that area, they light off the huge fireworks. So every year, we turn on the big sound system in the barn and we plug their ears with cotton so that the noise doesn't bother them as much," Harley said. "My employee lives there full-time so he has his RV there. We got home. We were hanging out and then he called me and he was like I heard gunshots and I was like [are you] sure it wasn't fireworks? He was like no. I heard gunshots."
Harley rushed to her training facility and found a nightmare in the stalls.
Her premiere race horse, 18-year-old Zazou, had collapsed and was bleeding.
Harley said she's had Zazou since she was six years old and together, they won multiple equestrian awards.
"I just saw her down," Harley said. "I ran in and I felt sure she wasn't breathing."
Harley said she was frantic and started searching the other stalls.
"Charlie, my other horse, was next to her. Once we took off his blanket, because it was winter, he had one bullet wound going through his abdomen," Harley said. "Then the horse next to Charlie had like blood on his neck."
Her third horse survived and is still recovering.
She said detectives from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department took down a police report but haven't been able to make an arrest yet.
"[The detective's] like do you have any enemies? I'm like somebody that would do this? No," Harley said.
"I mean, are people jealous in our industry? More so here than anywhere I've ever lived. Yes. But somebody's doing this type of violence to animals like that didn't really come across as anything significant."
Harley said surveillance footage showing the possible car involved looked like an 80s, four-door car, a Toyota or Honda that's a dark color with a square body.
Police told Channel 13 an open criminal investigation is underway.
"These aren't just backyard horses. I mean these are the top, top, top show horses that go for millions of dollars. I'm not saying it's all about the money but it's just a matter of these animals don't have a voice," Harley said.
Harley is offering a $25,000 reward for anyone able to help identify a suspect.
