I have mentioned Moose many times before, but now I'll finally tell his story. Moose's story is the last of the Twist of Fate animal's personal tales that I have to share, but I'll get back to that later.
Moose is a 6 year old Friesian black gelding. Friesians originated in the Netherlands and were primarily used for Medieval war horses and work horses but are now used for riding and driving because they're considered to be "willing (ick), active, and energetic but also gentle and docile". (Yikes, hopefully no one ever uses or abuses me for anything based on my energy levels or how I carry myself). He was originally saved by Ashley DiFelice in November of 2018 from a facility in Texas who had starved him (I'm not sure if this was at a farm, kill pen, private home, etc). He was saved with another horse friend at the same time whose name I have been unable to identify.
Moose was very young at the time and had been born with a condition called 'campylorrhinus lateralis', more commonly known as 'wry nose'. Wry nose is a congenital deviation of the rostral maxilla, meaning that the upper jaw and nose are deviated to one side. This usually causes the nasal septum (the cartilage plate that separates the right and left nasal passageways) to be deviated as well, resulting in obstruction of the airway and possible breathing difficulties.
After Ashley initially picked up Moose and the other horse they were taken to a hospital to be evaluated. Here is a quote from Ashley's November 8, 2018 Patreon post regarding Moose: "They took x-rays of his face and his lower jaw is fine. Upper jaw on the one side may have issues once his adult teeth come in as he might end up biting on his tongue a little. He will likely need routine dental work more often which honestly isn't a big deal. He may also have trouble breathing later on down the line which can be corrected by a common surgery if needed. The doctor thinks it's worth giving him a chance. He sees no reason that he should he euthanized now. He is eating great and appears to have not seen food in quite some time."
Based on the same Patreon post, it sounds like Moose's friend may have had to be euthanized. Here is a quote from the post regarding his condition: "The other colt with the dropped fetlocks he thinks is actually a 3 year old Friesian dwarf. There are 2 options. Euthanasia or fuse his legs. He said he is in a a fair amount of pain at the moment. There's a lot of arthritis in his legs already. This is an extremely tough call as there is no guarantee with that type of surgery. It would cost around $25,000. We are still discussing it". The next update posted was on 11/16/18 and only included Moose, mentioning that he was on his way from Texas to quarantine, and then 2 weeks later would go to Twist of Fate.
After he arrived at his new home he was gelded (neutered) and got some dental work done to make sure that all of his teeth were wearing property. He was eventually moved to the new TOF property in New Jersey in November of 2019 along with all of the other animals. A post from May of 2020 states that Ashley was working on a series of books about some of the sanctuary residents and that Moose was going to be one of them. Mini horse Pumpkin*, if you'll remember, had a book written about her. A Google search for a book about Moose didn't turn up any results.
Moose was the animal in the last post that Ashley shared to the old Twist of Fate Patreon on July 6, 2022. The post was about the special diet that Moose gets because of his wry nose - soaked hay pellets with the occasional munch of hay. Her cruelty had already been going on for months, but she was purposely posting on social media to make it look like everything was still going well and that all the animals were happy and healthy, just to continue to collect donations from her followers. It makes me sick that she used Moose’s handsome face as a front, an absolute lie.
Moose was found just 18 days later along with the other hundred plus animals at the Twist of Fate "sanctuary", neglected, scared, confused, and alone. He had a decent body score because of the field that he was in, but many of his friends were not so fortunate and were walked off the property with body scores of 1, 0, or less. Despite everything that he endured and witnessed, Moose was very sweet and very protective over the other horses with him. Because his was the last post shared, his is the last story told.
He was taken in by Caitlin (@boochaces) and Len (@hispees) of Rancho Relaxo (@ranchorelaxoteam) along with his friend Tommy*. Tommy and Moose were the last horses remaining in their field, and when Caitlin and Len approached Moose charged them. He was trying to protect his last remaining friend who always needed a little extra care because he was blind. Tommy also suffered from Cushing's disease and was incredibly malnourished at the time of his rescue. Moose took care of Tommy when no one else would, sharing whatever little food that they had and making sure that he could find water to drink. Not wanting to separate them, Caitlin and Len took them both home. Moose (and Tommy) have both fully physically recovered from Ashley's neglect. Moose is so loving and sweet, he basically instantly becomes best friends with every horse he meets and he is the "big brother" to his younger herd. Just like his previous family, he is very protective over his new sanctuary family as well.
The image above is from September 2019 (his fuzzy ears!!), but to see Moose all grown up and to follow along with him at his new home please give Rancho Relaxo a follow on Instagram and/or Facebook! Also, if you would like to donate towards his care you can do so via their website, PayPal (boochaces@aol.com), or Venmo (@boochaces). Rancho is currently hosting a hay fundraiser on Instagram and they're only about $360 away from goal - let's help them them meet it! They also have an Amazon Wishlist, a GoFundMe, and adorable merch like tees, sweatshirts, totes and more on Bonfire! You can also make a monthly donation in any amount by joining their Patreon, and you can also join the Rancho Relaxo Takeover Patreon (formerly the Twist of Fate Patreon but now solely under the control of Rancho Relaxo) - this money goes towards the care of all of the animals that they took in from the cruelty case as well as additional expenses that they were forced to take on as a result, like the mortgage of the property. Even $1-5 per month goes a long way! Plus by joining the Takeover Patreon you're among the very first to know updates about the case.
We're so happy that Moose found such a wonderful forever home, where he will finally be safe and loved.
I just want to take another minute to personally thank you all for reading these stories. I know that they could at times be very hard to read as they were upsetting, sad, or made you angry, just like at times they were upsetting, sad, and angering for me to write them. Some were harder to write than others and for a variety of reasons - for some of them I had almost no information, for others I had too much to wade through. I broke down while researching or writing several of them and would often have to take some time away or step back. But I always felt that they were so important to tell - the animals that survived are healing, and reading about how they were rescued and have recovered is healing for us. For the animals that didn't make it, it honors them by remembering them by name and gives them a bit of dignity and respect when she gave them absolutely none. The stories are the voices of the survivors, as well as the voices of the animals that Ashley DiFelice killed.
The stories are educational, because they shine a light on the cruelties of the dairy industry, the horse racing and riding industries, and animal agriculture as a whole. They have been educational on veganism.
To clarify: veganism is not a diet. It is to be against animal use, abuse, cruelty, commodification and exploitation in any and all forms and to then live your life according to your own beliefs. It definitely effects what you eat (no flesh, dairy, eggs, or honey), but it also effects the products that you use and buy (nothing containing animal products or that has been tested on animals), what you wear (no fur, leather, suede, silk, cashmere, wool, mohair, angora, down, or feathers), and what you do for entertainment (no zoos, circuses, aquariums, rodeos, and no riding animals either). Animals are not objects or things, and you don't look at them to see what they can do for you or what they can give you. The stories have hopefully opened a few eyes as to how necessary, loving, and easy it is to adapt your life to one of kindness (aka veganism) and to stop using and exploiting animals. If I can give you one piece of advice? It's much easier than you think. Don't be overwhelmed, and even if you are - just do it. You can find a list of resources here, and I'm currently working on my own list too. If you'd like even more tips and words of advice, please feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @ispellithaley. Remember, animals are here WITH us, not for us.
I have one more story about the animals that I'll be sharing this week (and if I ever find horse Sky I'll share her story too!), and then most likely you'll only be hearing from me for court appearances and other developments in the case.
*Pumpkin the mini horse passed away sometime in 2020, but you can read all about her and her mama Thea here. Regarding the book about Pumpkin, even after Ashley's neglect was discovered she was still making money off of the book and the façade that Pumpkin and Thea were still alive and doing well, when that could not have been further off from the truth because Ashley severely abused and neglected Thea. Allison from Red Feather Equine Sanctuary contacted The Dodo to enlighten them about what happened and to urge them to end their partnership with Ashley, take down the videos of Twist of Fate and to stop selling the book. The Dodo refused, so Allison started a petition and after 2,000+ signatures they finally relented and agreed.
*You can read Tommy's full story here.
To find out how you can help ALL horses, please click here to sign The Safe Act. You can also sign a petition that was created to save the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park here.
Animals should not be used, abused, exploited or commodified in any way. None of should look at an animal and wonder what they can do for us or what they can provide for us, whether that is food, clothing, recreation or entertainment. To learn more about how riding horses or any animal is exploitative and cruel (whether or not you identify as a vegan), please click here and here.
Also, a note about horse riding: I have had several people argue with me recently about how riding horses is not cruel or exploitative, how they know horses that "love to be ridden", that it's "great exercise" for them, how there are cruelty-free ways to train and ride horses, etc. Please stop. It is incredibly disrespectful to the numerous horses that I have shared in these stories from Twist of Fate that were saved from these very industries to then argue in favor of this abuse. As a side point, it is also incredibly disrespectful to me, who is pouring so much time and personal resources into researching, writing, and telling their stories to just have people then turn around and argue against being kind to animals and in favor of using and exploiting them, all while thanking me for sharing their stories. This is quite contradictory, just like the notion of "kind riding" or hey, even "humane slaughter". You are not riding a horse or any other animal for THEIR benefit - you are doing it for your own. The dictionary.com definition of 'exploiting' is: 1. the act of utilizing something, especially for profit, 2. the act of using a person or thing selfishly to one's own ends, and 3. using a person or thing selfishly or for profit.
And as a follow-up, it doesn't matter what they say or claim, any sanctuary or rescue that calls themselves a "vegan sanctuary" that offers, supports, or endorses riding any animals is NOT vegan by definition of veganism. I don't follow or donate to any sanctuaries that aren't vegan or that allow their horses to be ridden or adopt out their horses (or any animals) for riding. If you have any questions or ideas to the contrary, please read or re-read the articles on riding linked above.
Ashley DiFelice's next court date is Thursday, February 22nd, & I will be sharing a post about it afterwards. Please continue to share the petition in the meantime! Thank you.