The Salt Marsh Horses of The Salt Marsh Horses of Windsor, Nova Scotia Windsor, Nova Scotia

40 years ago a man rescued some horses from being slaughtered. He received permission from the Canadian Gypsum Company (now

owned by the United States Gypsum Company) to graze them on an unused tract of

land on the salt marsh dykes near Windsor, Nova Scotia.

A very small herd of horses lived peacefully on the salt marsh dyke next to Canadian Gypsum Company land for forty years. Back in the day, the gypsum company welcomed the horses and

felt they were a benefit to the land. The horses became an icon in the community. People from far and near would park their cars on the sides of the highway to gaze up the river at the beautiful

herd of horses grazing on the salt marsh dyke.

For all of those years during the winter months, their owner (Mr. Ralph Morash) faithfully took hay to them week after week in rain, shine or storm - until spring arrived once again.

The horses took shelter in the forest on unused CGC/USG land during the rain, wind and snow. Way back when Mr. Morash was first given permission to graze the horses here, he built fences and he kept an access road open so he would be able to take his tractor in to feed the horses in the sheltered area during winter months. This land has not been mined for over 100 years. This

was home to this beautiful small herd of horses home for 40 years.

A few years ago Mr. Morash became ill. He was so stricken with his illness that he could not

even bend over to put on a pair of socks without using coat hangers. Though it took him all day, with help to get into his tractor, he still went to feed his beloved herd all winter long. It was during this time a couple of young horses wandered over to neighboring properties. Some complaints

were made by a couple of people.

Then the unthinkable happened... A man that lived next to where the horses lived (and also a municipal councilor) went on to

CGC/USG land and shot and killed one of the horses, another horse sustained a gunshot wound to it's stomach. He lied and said he had a permit. He didn't. The Nova Scotia government does

not issue permits to shoot citizens horses. He is currently under investigation by many government agencies. The same man arranged a secret meeting with the CGC/USG lawyer and

they decided together to kill the rest of Mr. Morash's beautiful horses. They made up lies and excuses for the slaughter they were about to carry out. They did not invite the horses owner, Mr. Morash to their secret meeting where the fate of these horses was sealed by CGC/USG and a

couple of others. They said the horses were sick and unhealthy.... they lied.

The following photos were taken on January 2, 2014 LESS THAN one month after the secret meeting – where CGC/USG said they were going to kill Mr. Morash's horses with the excuse that they were sick and unhealthy... they

made up whatever excuse they could to try to justify what they were about to do. Do these beautiful animals look sick or neglected to you?

Or these ones?

How about these ones?

These animals were in beautiful condition

They were well cared for and they have never harmed or threatened anyone

They are friendly and kind natured

There were two pregnant mares and two baby horses that were to be killed

CGC/USG secretly hired someone to shoot all of Mr. Morash's beautiful

horses

There were fourteen beautiful healthy horses including two pregnant mares and two six month old baby horses. They were going to shoot all of them.

Mr. Morash received a letter from CGC saying they were going to dispose of the horses. He had been trying to get the horses to follow him off of CGC land.

His land was less than half a mile away through the woods. But, the horses called this land home for all of their lives and were afraid to leave and wouldn't

follow. He begged for more time to move them to safety but he received no answers.....

Then the community found out...

Hants County, Nova Scotia – where the USG/CGC plant is, is a rich and vibrant farming community. There are an abundance of very experienced horse and farm people. It is also home to the oldest agricultural fair in Canada. The community was outraged and in shock when they found out what USG/CGC was planning to do to the community's iconic herd. They were not going to let this happen. Thousands of people from near and far stood up to support the horses...

Then the community found out....

Local residents and horse owners met with CGC/USG and plans were made to help Mr. Morash move the horses... they had a plan...

From the Chronicle Herald Newspaper – January 3, 2014

“That plan sounds good to Fundy Gypsum’s parent company, USG Corp. of Chicago.”

USG spokesman Bob Williams said.

USG/CGC turned the matter over to the volunteers.

They got to work...

With Mr. Morash's approval and guidance consulting with Department of Agriculture, veterinarians from across the province and expert horse handlers on the safest way to move the horses. They wanted to explore all options on the safest way to move the horses and to have the males in the herd castrated. When the consulting was done they held a meeting where the volunteers involved had a chance to all sit down together and hear what Mr. Morash had decided.

The community and public got involved

This small horse herd had become an icon in this community and meant a lot to a lot of people. Fundraisers were held. Between various groups money was raised to help cover the costs of moving the horses and for gelding them. Mr. Morash's property was also going to need a lot more fencing and some shelters when the herd arrived. It was the dead of winter when frigid temperatures can drop as low as -30 Celsius / -22 Fahrenheit

The decision

A meeting was held at Mr. Morash's neighbor's home. Everyone in attendance identified themselves as volunteers. Mr. Morash decided that the best way to move the horses was to let a long time friend of his attempt to move them with horse trailers. He had moved horses for Mr. Morash before and Mr. Morash believed he could do it. Anyone else that was to help, was to do so only with him there. Everyone left the meeting and went to see the horses.

First week of February 2014

February 2014

February 2014

January 2014

February 2014

One by one the horses were caught and loaded into trailers. Nine were taken to a volunteer's farm and three were taken to Mr. Morash's property. Mr. Morash continued to supply all of the feed for his horses just as he always had. A veterinarian castrated all of the horses at the volunteer's farm. Mr. Morash was on hand to make sure his boys were ok.

All of the boys had their operations

A wonderful veterinarian performed the castrations on the male horses. Not one single horse tried to kick or bite

anyone during the procedures.

The horse with the gunshot wound to his stomach started to heal and feel better.

Only two horses remained on CGC/USG land. They were both pregnant and the decision was made to leave them

alone until they had their babies. It would be to risky to load them in trailers when they were so close to giving birth.

The mares had their babies

More upsetting news...It was around this time that the volunteers found out one of their own team

members wasn't really a volunteer. One of the “volunteers” that had attended the meeting at Mr. Morash's neighbors had gone and secretly signed a deal with CGC/USG after the meeting and claimed he was in charge of moving the horses. He wasn't. He did not have permission from Mr. Morash and the volunteer team had no idea. He was paid a substantial amount of money. CGC signed this deal with a an individual that had absolutely no horse experience and had never handled a horse in his life. They did not even check with Mr. Morash to advise him of this. He was being paid by CGC/USG while the horse moving expenses were being paid with publicly donated money and the horses were moved and being cared for by the others. One man reaped the rewards of all of the volunteer work being done, as he secretly aliased a paid CGC/USG contractor. It was later disclosed that this very same man has been involved with the plans to shoot all of the horses. The volunteer team contacted CGC's lawyer but he wouldn't reply and would not provide any information. But that isn't all he did..... he ignored critical information that he was provided with regarding the conduct and inexperience of the so called contractor, and the results were devastating. The CGC/USG contractor killed a horse.

WORSE

People found out the man that posed as a volunteer then secretly signed a deal with CGC/USG was one of the same men that tried to obtain a permit to shoot all of the horses.

This mare was killed by the CGC contractor and then he abandoned her baby in someones barn.

CGC contractor stole a baby horse...

The volunteer team got a call saying one of the baby horses was missing from the salt marsh... It turns out that the newly identified CGC contractor took a six week old baby horse from its mother, removed it from the property and had no plans to return it. When the team and Mr. Morash found out they were horrified. A baby horse cannot survive without it's mother. He was instructed to quickly get the baby back to his mother. He was warned repetitively that this could never happen again. That he was not to attempt to move any of Mr. Morash's horses. CGC/USG was notified of the situation and warned not to let this man handle the horses. They ignored the warnings from experts.

One of the volunteers wrote to the CGC managers and lawyer....“As you know, the two mares that are still at the CGC site were expecting foals. One was born six weeks ago, the

other this past Saturday. Yesterday afternoon it was reported to me by many members of the public that keep a close eye on the salt marsh that one of the newborn foals was missing. I received about 20 messages with in an hour to report it had disappeared and that the mares were running around on the marsh in distress. This was announced all over the internet. I immediately proceeded to the site to find out that *** had taken one of the foals over towards his house on foot after separating it from its mother. It is common knowledge that a foal cannot survive without its mother until at least 3-4 months old and should generally not be taken from it's mother until 6-12 months old. One of the foals is barely six weeks old and the other is only four days old, when this occurred.

Now if ever a time you needed to be worried about those horses leaving that property this would be the time. A distressed mare looking for her newborn and missing foal would certainly be a major concern for her leaving the property to the road or elsewhere. If you wish you can confirm this with any veterinarian. **** had previously been advised that it was inappropriate to separate a foal from its mother at this age, yet he did so anyway without any of the team involved in moving and caring for the horses knowledge, or Mr. Morash who certainly would have said to never do this, and who was as shocked as the rest of us to find out he did this. Luckily I was able to intervene before anything bad happened and the baby horse was returned to it's mother.

Today I am finding myself bombarded with the public demanding that I disclose what happened to the foal to include a reporter from CBC news, as to why it was missing and then later was returned, who did it and what happened and why would anyone do such a thing. The public has taken a very keen interest in these horses. I hardly feel comfortable being put in this position to have to answer these questions, over a reckless action by another individual who not only endangered the life of that baby horse but also created a dangerous situation where those last two horses may have caused problems. It takes away all credibility of the work that has been done to date.

I am requesting that he be instructed not to take any action with those last two mares and their babies unless another member of the team to include Mr. Morash, ,myself or ****, is on site and have a solid plan in place to move the two remaining mares and their babies. I feel his lack of experience or knowledge could potentially create a very bad situation which would be a terrible shame after the great success we have had in safely removing all other horses. If I had not found out that baby horse had been taken from it's mother there is a very good chance that it would have died overnight and that alone would have been an absolute media circus. These actions cause me to have concern for completing this project successfully, and safely and I feel his actions are putting himself and the horses in danger” BUT CGC didn't listen...

CGC ignored the written warnings from the experts

CGC decided to ignore the written warnings and requests by the people that had insured that all of the other horses has been safely moved.

As a result the CGC contractor killed a mother horse leaving her baby orphaned.

Without Mr. Morash or any of the team knowing, the CGC contractor secretly went and tied one of the horses to a tree and took her baby from her a second time. This was after he was told many times how dangerous and wrong this was. This was after the volunteers involved pleaded with CGC to not allow this man to attempt anything with these horses, pleas that were ignored. This mare had never been trained or tied in her entire life. The CGC contractor tied her legs together and put a slip noose around her neck, tied her every which way he could to many trees and took her baby from her. He left her scared, panicked and terrified, tied in the woods. She struggled to her death trying to follow after the CGC contractor as he ran off with her baby which he put it in a tent in his backyard. Note the multiple ropes to the trees and how intact the plants on the ground

are in the photo. WARNING some Graphic Images to follow...

The CGC contractor strangled the mother horse to death....Note the rope burns on all of the trees and how all of the ground is disturbed from her

terrifying death struggle. THIS HORSE DID NOT DIE QUICKLY OR EASILY. The CGC contractor would have heard her thrashing to death as he made his

way through the woods with her baby who she was struggling to follow.

The CGC contractor strangled the mother horse to death when he took her baby from her and she fought to go after him. Note the deep

laceration in her neck from the rope.

Note how hard she struggled to follow her baby by the marks on the trees. The CGC contractor would have heard her squealing and

struggling as he made off with her baby.

Rope burns from where the USG/CGC contractor tied her legs together

This horses insides prolapsed (started to come out) from struggling so hard

to follow her baby

This photo was too graphic to include

The CGC contractor put the baby horse in a tent in his backyard

The CGC/USG contractor put the baby horse in a tent in his back yard and secretly kept him there for almost 20 hours before he abandoned it in Mr. Morash's neighbors barn. He did not call a veterinarian or tell Mr. Morash he killed the horse. The baby horse could have died too. The baby was traumatized and had lots of scratches. He needed special care.

The investigations

Both the matter of the horse being strangled to death by the CGC

contractor and the shooting of other horses are still under investigation.

But that isn't all....

One mare and her baby are still on the salt marsh / CGC/USG property

CGC/USG is holding these horses hostage

CGC is not allowing Mr. Morash's team to safely remove the single mare and her baby from the CGC property. One of the volunteers has provided the CGC lawyer with commercial liability insurance coverage to move the mare, approval of the plans to move the mare by the attending veterinarian and the Department of Agriculture and under Mr. Morash's direction. But.... CGC's lawyer is HOLDING THE HORSES HOSTAGE.

WINTER IS COMING

CGC/USG is refusing to allow the team to move the mare and her baby unless Mr. Morash signs a paper saying he does not hold CGC responsible for anything that has happened to his horses. CGC/USG is basically blackmailing Mr. Morash (an elderly man in our community) and holding these horses as ransom.

TAKE NOTE! CGC IS ENDANDGERING THE LIVES OF THIS HORSE AND HER BABY by not allowing the team to move her to safety. CGC/USG has BLOCKED ALL ACCESS ROADS SO THAT Mr. Morash CANNOT EVEN FEED HER.

Please help us help this horse and her baby

If you are a CGC/USG director or employee - Our community has been horrified by all that has happened to these poor animals. Please give the team (who have provided the CGC lawyer with proof of commercial liability insurance) access to the CGC property so they can take this mare and her baby to safety. By not allowing them to do so, CGC/USG is endangering their lives. Mr. Morash has no way to get in to feed them. It is wrong for a company to blackmail an elderly man in our community and use innocent horses to do so.

Please let us help Mr. Morash get his horse and her baby to safety. Thank you.

USG/CGC can contact the volunteer team at 902-877-9356 or by

email – ecodevelopments@hotmail.com