Beware of
western star horse hauling
joe soulka & jenny soulka
They held my horse hostage for more money and stole my tack/electric fence charger.
I hired Western Star to relocate my two horses from Mesa, AZ to Bethlehem, Conn to my Aunts home. The first quote was $1500.00, but after I agreed to hire them the price changed to $2200.00 due to the increase in gas prices. Joe said he would take my tack and saddle at no extra charge, even thou he normally would charge $50.00.
On the day he arrived (4/15/03) to pick up the horses he stated he wanted money to send the tack because it was more than 1 box, so I gave him $60.00 cash. One of the horses would not load so after six hours we renegotiated on the price to take one horse (Kade). The new price was $1650.00 and we agreed. During the course of trying to load Joe made comments like I really like this horse maybe I wont deliver him and this is nice tack maybe some of it might come up missing.in hind site that should have been a red flag but I trusted him. He complained he did not make any money on the way to pick up my horses because he was doing a favor for a friend by moving two horses from CA. To TX. Joe often complains about being lonely and asked one of the other owners of the horses if she would go with him for a drink and patted her on the buttocks.
On 5/1/03 the night before Joe was do to arrive (he has had Kade for 17 days already) I called him to see if he was on schedule, since he tends to run behind Im slow but Im good is what Joe told me about always running behind schedule.
I left a message on his cell phone and he called my Aunt and spoke to her. Joe said, We need to talk money He wanted the original $2200.00 or he would not deliver Kade and said he was in North Carolina. Joe refused to speak with me after I told him I would notify the Police if he didnt deliver Kade to Conn. Joe told my Aunt he would not deliver Kade unless she wired him the money first. My Aunt told Joe she would not send him any money, so he threatened to take Kade to Tennessee. My Aunt told Joe she was on her way to p/u Kade. She left immediately for N. Carolina. While driving to N.C. She feel asleep at the wheel and hit the guardrail, damaging her brand-new truck and trailer. She was exhausted from working all day and drove straight through. We didnt know if we would ever see Kade again. We did get Kade back; he had lost weight but was ok.
My Aunt questioned how many boxes of tack there should be and Joe told her there is what there is. Joe picked through the tack and kept what he wanted.
After doing some checking around we found there was a Horse Expo (N.C. Classis Horse Expo) and the Asheville Horse Auction going on that same weekend. That might explain what he was doing in N.C. Im the type of person that still believes your word and a handshake is still valued. I will never trust anyone to transport my horse again and hope this letter helps prevent someone else from becoming a victim of Joe Soulka and Western Star Horse Hauling.
If anyone else has had a similar experience with Joe or his company please contact me. Joe drives a late model Dodge extended cab p/u dark blue, Colorado plate _ 90 DIG. He has a 4 horse white Sooner trailer, no advertising on the vehicles.
STOLEN TACK $525.00
Parmak Solar charger (model DF-SP-LI) 1 Roll of Electric fence tape
2 Brown Leather Halters 1 New snaffle bit 6 Rolls of Vet Wrap (Bright Colors) 1 Brown/White Crop
1 Green Lung Rope (rubber handle) 2 New Hoof Picks
2 Red Elec. Gate Handles 1 Elec. Fence Tester
AFFILIATIONS
Speed Horses http://www.speedhorses.net/
Rocky Mountain Builders
Bear claw Ranch
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