Complaint Review: Mountain Dew Farms - Oneida Tennessee

We bought a pony, Chucky, last October from the Moody's at Mountain Dew Farms. We bought him over the internet from pictures they posted of him. Well, when we went to pick him up there was no one there. We didn't really like what we saw there, but we didn't see any dead animals. The place was a mess with horses just running loose. There were too many things just lying around for horses to step on and get hurt.

There were a lot of horses there and some of them looked skinny, but a lot of them looked pretty good. (We were told later that some were rescue horses). There were millions of flies on all of them and I really didn't like that. (When I see a fly on one of my horses, I run for the fly spray). We left without getting Chucky. We finally got back in touch with them and they said they had gone to California to deliver some horses, but a hired hand was there taking care of the animals. (We didn't see anyone). They agreed to meet us half way and deliver Chucky to us. We met at the welcome center at the Tennessee/Georgia line. We got Chucky and brought him home.

The next day we had our Vet come out and give him his shots. (They told us his shots were up to date but they didn't give us a health certificate and we didn't take any chances). Chucky had millions of fly bites on his entire body. He had rain rot everywhere and was very wormy and skinny. I felt so sorry for him, I didn't have the heart to send him back and demand a refund. I didn't ever want him to go back there.

When we first got him he seemed okay and let the kids ride him and was very gentle. About two months ago he started acting spooky and runs from every thing. You can see his muscles trembling, he's so afraid. We finally had to rope him so we could brush him to get the dirt from his coat.

They lied about him being so gentle and loves kids. Right now he doesn't like anyone. We don't dare let our three year old granddaughter ride him the way he is now. We feel that he has been abused in the past and is afraid we are going to hurt him too. It's taking a long time to get him to trust us. He's healthy now because we worm and get hoof trims regularly. After reading more about Mountain Dew Farms, we have decided to get a coggins test done. They gave us paperwork showing a coggins test was done by the previous owner but now I'm not so sure. I'll feel better if my vet does one.

One things for sure, we'll never buy from them again and we will not recommend them to anyone. They should be prosecuted for what they've done. If they can't afford to take care of the horses, they should give them away to someone who can.

Bobby and Peggy S

UPDATE:

My vet saw Chucky shortly after we got him and Chucky was very wormy and even had bot eggs on his coat. Chucky's entire body was covered with fly bites and he WAS skinny. MY VET SAW THIS. When we went to the farm, the horses we saw had flies covering their entire bodies, you couldn't even see the faces of some of them, there were so many flies. We didn't like what we saw but was willing to give Donnie and Val the benefit of the doubt because hard times hit everyone sooner or later, besides, we had already paid our money and took their word that he was kid broke and child safe. We knew we could take care of the skin problems and worms.

Chucky seemed to be fine for about two months, we even led my granddaughter around on him and took pictures. She hasn't rode him since then. After we fattened him up and took care of the worms, he seemed to be doing fine. And we were pleased with him. I sent photos and told the Moody's this. But in late December something happened to trigger his memory of being mistreated and he's been freaked out since then. We, and others who know about mistreated horses, believe the rope and stick we use to train our other horses (the ones like Clinton Anderson uses), is what triggered Chucky's scared behavior. We use these items as a training aid, not to beat our horses. We have never hit any of our horses and we've owned horses for over 40 years. Chucky has NEVER been hit by us. Like I said in my post, we don't mistreat our animals and never have. Again, I have a vet to prove this.

The Moody's had to know about Chucky's skin problems and worms when they sold him to us (they have since told us he was fine when he left there). It was very visible and the first thing my vet noticed. The Moody's only had Chucky about a month and a half before they sold him to us. Maybe the previous owners knew about the abuse in his past, I don't know.

The bottom line is this: the Moody's sold us a kid broke, child safe pony and he is so afraid of people he just trembles. There is no way a child could get on this pony the way he is now. I don't know if they knew about his past or not, but I do know this. We're stuck with a pony my granddaughter can't ride and we can't touch without roping him. It will probably take years to get him to trust people again, if that's even possible.

Peggy

Columbus, Georgia
U.S.A.