In shades of last year's incident where a Wyoming resident named Cody Roberts ran down a juvenile wolf with a snowmobile, another resident of the state has been accused of running down a horse with an ATV.
According to the Laramie Boomerang, Stuart Schmidt has been charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals resulting in death or euthanasia for an incident that occurred this August when he was taken into custody. Appearing in court on September 29th, Schmidt has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
But there are a lot of murky details that have come out since Schmidt's arrest, including changing timetables, changing narratives, and a video purportedly showing the incident itself. Again, there's similarities between this case and the Cody Roberts wolf case, and after increasing fines for animal cruelty, this is sure to possibly reignite the debate about running animals down.
The incident drew investigators' attention and, after Schmidt's arrest, the Albany County Sheriff's Office's released the following statement.
"On August 18, 2025, at approximately 9:00 a.m., the Albany County Sheriff’s Office received a report of alleged animal cruelty at the Wild Horse Ranch. According to the initial report, an individual allegedly used a four-wheeler to intentionally run down a horse. After the horse managed to stand again, the suspect reportedly struck it a second time. Due to the severity of the horse’s injuries and the extreme suffering it endured, the owner of the Wild Horse Herd made the difficult decision to humanely put the animal down. Deputies responded immediately after the report was filed and Stuart Schmidt was taken into custody in connection with this incident. Schmidt was charged with Felony cruelty to animals (W.S.S. 6-3-1005), a crime punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years, a fine of not more than $5,000, or both. Schmidt was arraigned in Circuit Court on August 20th and was released on a $1,000 signature bond with the condition that he shall not have contact with the owner(s) of the horse. Today, August 26th, Schmidt waived his right to a preliminary hearing and this case has now been bound over to District Court."
As for Schmidt's account of the event, Laramie Boomerang reported that while "Schmidt initially claimed he went to check on a sick horse, traveling only two miles an hour to observe the horse’s legs and hooves. He reported he tried calling Sas-Jaworsky three times but received no answer. But, cell phone records reviewed during the investigation shows the calls were made at 5:09 p.m. while the incident was said to occur at 4:53 p.m. Meaning Schmidt may have already returned to home after chasing the horse before attempting to contact Sas-Jaworsky."
Likewise, Deputy Ryder Seely spoke with a witness to the event, who apparently recorded what occurred, with the witness turning over video evidence to the deputy. Again, according to the paper's reporting, the video depicts the ATV chasing a black horse until it fell to the ground. The horse then tries to stand again, and begins running off, only for the ATV to speed after it. But while that's a lot, according to the outlet, "However, the video allegedly does not show the ATV striking the horse, but chasing after it."
Schmidt is currently free on bond, and the jury trial is set for March 2nd of next year. And while Schmidt is innocent until proven guilty, here's a reminder that no matter what, you shouldn't run animals down to exhaustion or death with a powersport machine. It gives everyone involved a bad name, and the fact that there's still legal gray area in the practice is ridiculous.
