Attack cripples filly in Clinton

CLINTON -- Giovanni Ortiz does not understand why anyone would hurt his 2-year-old quarter horse filly.

The injury is so severe to Nightmare Illusion, who was scheduled to race in Idaho in May, that the horse will "never race," said Ortiz, a 17-year-old Davis High School senior.

Ortiz had just left his carpentry class Wednesday when the horse's trainer called him.

"She was standing right here, shaking, and she couldn't walk," the teen said as pointed to the stall at the far end of the stable near 2400 W. 1300 North in Clinton.

He and his father, Hector Ortiz, rent the stable for 12 of their horses.

The attack occurred between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Police are seeking information to find Nightmare's assailant.

"Someone just beat the crap out of this horse," said Clinton Police Lt. Dave Valentine.

Davis County Sheriff's Office Animal Control Division is also investigating the beating.

"This is the most egregious cruelty case I've seen with a horse," said Tracy Cross, the cruelty animal investigator. "This was deliberate and intentional. They didn't want her to run again."

Clinton Police Detective Matt Fawbush said the motive is unclear.

What is clear is that whoever did it knew damaging Nightmare's right front leg would stop her from racing -- ever.

Nightmare's knee is swollen. The tendons in her right hoof have been torn.

And her face is torn where she ran into the concrete walls of her stall as she tried to get away from what was happening to her, police said.

"There's hair and blood on the concrete," Fawbush said.

Police confiscated a 4-foot-long garden tool that had a hook missing; the one hook remaining on it was bloody. It has been sent to the crime lab for analysis, Fawbush said.

"The mystery is why her, and also the time of day," Fawbush said.

It seems someone knew when people would be at the stables, he said.

The suspect possibly either jumped the locked gate or pulled the chain link apart where there had been a hole, Fawbush said. That hole has since been repaired.

Also, the suspect targeted the one horse that had been at the stables for only a week and was scheduled to begin racing in May.

Officers are questioning everyone they can.

"We do have persons of interest, but no suspects," Fawbush said.

Nightmare's condition was discovered by her trainer shortly after 10:30 a.m., Giovanni said. The horse was fine when two men who were hired by the Ortizes came to feed the other horses around 8:30 a.m.

Giovanni and police have requested that the current location of Nightmare not be released, to keep her safe as she recovers.

"She's really gentle and calm," Giovanni said as Nightmare put her nose on his shoulder. "Some horses, you walk in their stall and they try to bite you. She's not like that at all."

Giovanni said his father paid $3,000 for the quarter horse when she was 6 months old.

Giovanni worked with her until it was time to hand her over to a trainer and a jockey.

On Tuesday, they took Nightmare to Golden Spike Arena to exercise her. She raced with 20 other horses.

"She did perfect," Giovanni said.

He has never ridden Nightmare because he's too heavy, he said. Only jockeys weighing 120 pounds or less have ridden her, but now even those days are gone.

Nightmare had a good chance of doing well in her first season of racing, Giovanni said. And if she won the race in Idaho, it would have increased her value substantially.

Now, once her leg is healed, she will become a broodmare.

"I just want to find who did this," Giovanni said.

Want to help?

Anyone with information concerning the beating of Nightmare Illusion is asked to call Clinton police at (801) 614-0800, Davis County Animal Control at (801) 444-2200 or Davis County Sheriff's Dispatch at (801) 451-4151.