SAN JOSE — The manager of a popular South Bay horse ranch was charged with animal cruelty after a horse died from malnutrition and heat stroke under her care, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Jennifer Bryant, 25, the manager of Chaparral Ranch, faces a misdemeanor count of failing to provide an animal with proper care after a horse named Honey was found emaciated, unable to stand and infested with intestinal worms, prosecutors said. She could face up to a year in jail if convicted.
“Honey the horse didn’t have to die like this – emaciated and malnourished on a hot day in July,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release. “Proper care in line with a veterinarian’s recommendations could have prevented this outcome, but Honey wasn’t given that chance. All animals deserve a life free of abuse and neglect.”
Officers from Santa Clara County Animal Control responded to reports of abused horses at Chaparral Ranch’s Bear Creek Stables in Los Gatos in March 2024, prosecutors said. In inspecting the property, the officers found a sickly Honey infested with lice. The next day, a veterinarian inspected Honey and gave medical advice, including that the horse should be given a diet of alfalfa hay. The vet also recommended a follow-up appointment.
Prosecutors said they found no evidence that Bryant scheduled a follow-up appointment with a veterinarian. Bryant also allegedly did not provide Honey with the special hay and instead relocated the horse to a “distant” pasture at a different location, they added.
Animal control received a report July 12 of a downed horse at Chaparral Ranch’s Milpitas location, where officers found Honey unable to stand and “very thin,” prosecutors said. Bryant told authorities that the horse’s condition was because of allergies, and that she had noticed Honey’s weight loss two weeks prior.
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Due to the horse’s condition, Honey was euthanized that day, prosecutors said.
Chaparral Ranch owns hundreds of horses at multiple stable locations across the Bay Area, where it offers horseback riding lessons, prosecutors said. Chaparral previously managed Bear Creek Stables until they officially left in January.
Bryant’s arraignment is scheduled to appear in court for her arraignment Monday at 9 a.m. The delay in the charges being filed was due to an “extensive follow-up investigation,” prosecutors added.
Staff Writer Nollyanne Delacruz contributed to this report.