This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A 5th District Court judge has sentenced an Iron County rancher to probation and a fine after he and his father castrated a neighbor's horses in 2013.
Colby Elias Hunt, 41, pleaded guilty in February to class B misdemeanor wanton destruction of livestock.
On Tuesday, Hunt was sentenced to a year's probation, which includes paying a $700 fine, paying $1,500 restitution to the neighbor and writing a letter of apology, according to Iron County Attorney Scott Garrett.
Hunt's father, 80-year-old Marvin Jay Hunt, was found guilty by a jury last summer of class A misdemeanor count of wanton destruction of livestock for his role in gelding the animals — including a prized stallion. The elder Hunt was sentenced to 18 months of probation, which included writing a letter of apology and paying a $793 fine and $1,500 restitution.
The Hunts were initially charged with second-degree felony wanton destruction of livestock.
What the Hunts' neighbor Allen Bailey described as an "Old West range war," originated when Bailey's 25 horses grazed on a 10,000-acre plot of grassland north of Beryl, alongside cattle, llamas and about 20 horses owned by the Hunts.
In about 2009, the Hunts told Bailey they didn't want to breed their horses with his anymore, so for a time Bailey moved his Missouri Foxtrotter registered stallion, Confetti Magic, to a friend's spread about 100 miles away, he said. After discovering his mares had mated with stud horses in the Hunts' herd, he brought back Confetti Magic.
Bailey's stallion dominated the herd, he said, but the Hunts preferred chestnut and bay quarter horses to Confetti Magic's pinto genes.
Both owners refused to remove their stud horses, and "that started the feud," Bailey said.
Bailey's horses then began to appear in the Hunts' corral, according to court documents. In 2012, Bailey noticed his mares did not foal on their usual schedule and they produced a generation of bays — with no pintos.
In April 2013, Bailey reported to deputies that his horses were penned in the Hunts' corral, charges state. The horses were released later that day, but Bailey found that at least four of the males had been gelded — including Confetti Magic.
A local horse trainer had performed the gelding at the Hunt's request on the day that Bailey reported the horses had been taken, deputies wrote, adding that the gelder stated he thought the horses belonged to the Hunts.
Bailey said Confetti Magic's value decreased by several thousand dollars from its original value of more than $10,000, plus the loss of future offspring, but in 2013, Marvin Hunt called the allegation a "trumped-up charge."
In 2015, the Hunts filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming their civil rights had been violated when authorities arrested them before trying to establish ownership of the horses, which they said were grazing unbranded on the open range with their own horses and drinking from their watering facilities.
On April 27, 2016, the federal judge granted a motion to stay proceedings in the federal court until the state court matters were resolved.
Twitter: @mnoblenews