On November 11, at the instruction of Cyndi Constance, I took my 4 1/2 year old APHA mare 'Jasmine' to 30519 Beyette Rd in Magnolia Texas. It was at this address that Jasmine was to be picked up by Tonya Pruitt/de la Cruz and transported to a place in Caldwell Texas called Turtle Creek Ranch, where Jasmine was to begin training. Tonya Pruitt and Santiago de la Cruz are listed as trainers for Tim and Cyndi Consatnce on ranchpony.com. They are advertised to be very competent trainers and very knowledgable about horses. I paid for 2 months training in advance. I gave Tonya my cell # and email address, and Cyndi Constance already had the same.
I had been promised by both Cyndi Constance and Tonya Pruitt that weekly updates on Jasmine's training would be made available to me in the form of videos, and it was promised that I would be kept abreast of all developments pertaining to Jasmine. As a matter of fact, Cyndi Constance had bragged several times prior to this day about how 'good OUR trainers are', and that they always kept owners updated on progress, and emailed videos of the horse's training in progress.
A week went by and I had heard nothing from Tonya or Cyndi. Two weeks went by and still I had heard nothing. I called Cyndi Constance on November 28. There was no answer. I left a voicemail, but got no response. On December 2 I sent Cyndi an email requesting her to give my number to Tonya and have her call, as I was needing assurance that Jasmine was okay, and in good health, and no problems. I was trying not to worry, as I kept telling myself that these people professed to know a lot about horses, advertised that they had been training horses for decades, and Jasmine should therefore be in competent hands.
Tonya finally called me on the morning of December 2 (the same morning I sent the email to Cyndi) and stated that she had been doing groundwork with Jasmine, and that they had not started her under saddle yet. Tonya stated that they were having 'problems uploading' videos, but that she would work on getting some to me. I found it odd later that they were NOT having problems uploading videos of horses that they had for sale before, during, and after the time that they had Jasmine in their possession. Were their phone and email sevices also giving them trouble? As they never voluntarily offered any of the weekly updates on Jasmines progress by those means either. The one and only time I was given contact with Tonya was after I had repeatedly initiated contact with both her and Cyndi.
The next time I heard from Tonya was on the morning of December 17 when she called to tell me that Jasmine had 'killed herself'. I will have to leave the details of what I was told happened that morning out of this report at this time, as I am taking legal action against all parties. I can say that I have spoken with other professional trainers and have been told, as I already knew, that if things happened the way they state that they did, then the incident was avoidable, and their behavior was negligent.
The truth is though, I really do not know what happened to my Jasmine. Tonya Pruitt told me she had Jasmine BURIED immediately after the 'incident' happened. I was not asked if she could bury her. I did NOT give her permission to bury Jasmine. I did NOT know she was going to bury her. Tonya did not call any Law enforcement, Veterinarian, no autopsy was done, no pictures were taken. All I have is the word of someone who has repeatedly lied to me already. I have been asked by numerous people... How do you know she is even dead? How do you know they didn't sell her and are just telling you she is dead? How do you know if any of the events they describe even occured at all? I delivered a beautiful, sweet, healthy APHA mare, who meant the world to me, to ranchpony and not 5 weeks later she is gone? By these people's own actions, they took my Jasmine, stripped me off all rights to her, converted her to their property and then disposed of her.By whatever means. Decisions concerning Jasmine... Were they mine or theirs?
Tim nor Cyndi Constance have never even said that they are sorry for what 'happened'. No offer of any compensation for the loss of my Jasmine either. They act like she meant nothing and was worth nothing. No refund of any training fees, both used and UNUSED due to her untimely 'death' have been offered by any parties. Tonya stated to me on December 17 that I 'still had almost a months worth of training paid and unused'... So I 'could put another horse in there to use it up'.??? Really tonya??? My GOD.
I would not have taken a million dollars for Jasmine, however, I bring the above up to show what kind of character these people apparently have. I am only stating facts. You be the judge.
This company and their 'trainers' do not adhere to what they advertise or promise to consumers. Had I known that in advance, I would have NEVER turned my beloved Jasmine over to them for any reason. It is my duty to warn others to be vary aware, and wary, when dealing with this 'company'.
It might also be worth noting that ranchpony has a link on their website about 'Chris Cox Horsemanship'. This link makes it appear as though Chris Cox endorses ranchpony. I haven spoken to a represetative for Chris Cox, and he states that they do NOT endorse ranchpony in any way, and have demanded several times that ranchpony remove their name from their website. As of yesterday ranchpony has yet to comply.
Not a day goes by that I do not think of Jasmine. I will live with the knowledge that I turned her over to these people every day. I look out into my pasture and I can still see her... She's bobbing her head at the other horses to keep them in line... Just as her mother 'Gypsy' always did. Jasmine's red coat is shining in the sun. I can still see her. But she is not there.
Gypsys Little Jasmine
Foaled June 2&Taken from us on December 17
My Precious Jasmine... Forever Running Free.
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