BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
DEBORD — A horse died early Sunday morning after a vehicle hit it on New Route 3 near Debord, prompting renewed concerns from Martin County Sheriff John Kirk about the danger of free-roaming horses along county roadways.
The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. No one in the vehicle received injuries.
“There were 11 of them in the grass on the shoulder, and this one suddenly ran out in front of the truck,” Kirk said. “Billy Patrick came up and helped me herd the other 10 back up Airport Road.”
The scene was graphic, with the horse bleeding on the asphalt as traffic continued to pass.
“Just think of how many folks saw this as they drove by,” Kirk said. “One lady pulled to the side of the road and was crying.”
Later Sunday, Kirk addressed the incident in a social media post, warning that more serious consequences are inevitable without intervention.
“It shows you exactly what I’ve been telling everyone that is going to happen,” he wrote. “Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Thousands of dollars of damage to this truck, but it can be fixed. A life can’t be given back.”
Kirk said the problem requires coordinated action and resources beyond what his office alone can provide.
“It’s time we get serious about this problem. I’m only one man who is stretched very thin. But with the proper help we can get these horses a safe place to live. It’s too late to correct the problem after someone is killed,” he wrote.
The sheriff compared the situation to a previous roadway hazard that officials addressed only after a fatal accident.
“A few years ago, water was running across the county road at Big Lick onto Rockcastle Creek Road. We contacted the county to pull the ditch line and install a pipe. They never done anything. But the next day, after a woman hit the ice and left the roadway, striking a tree and killing her, the county came and fixed the problem,” Kirk wrote.
“That is exactly what is going to happen here… Folks need to get involved.”
Kirk also noted that the horse collision was the second accident he responded to on New Route 3 over the weekend.
“The other involved alcohol and a crash. I was on my way to intercept a reckless driver, but seconds before I made contact with him, he hit a Jeep in the rear totaling both vehicles.”
One person commented, “Need to get rid of them by any means necessary. Make some phone calls, get someone in here to get them or put them down. A human life is way more important than a horse.”
Kirk explained that there is a legal process for takingup the horses.
“We have to advertise in the local paper for two weeks that if these are your horses you must come forward. After two weeks, we can take them up. We have to get a vet to do a coffin test on each of them and check for tattoos to see if they may have owners. We then have to keep them for 60 days, if I’m not mistaken. After that, if no one comes forward as the owner, we can adopt them out or keep them. Most counties don’t want to spend this kind of resources on the horses.”
Kirk said he would like to see a sanctuary for the horses so people can continue taking pictures of them.
“The problem boils down to money,” he said.
Another person said they came upon the accident on the way to Paintsville.
“When I saw this, there were at least seven other horses standing in the middle of the road with the dead horse,” they commented. “It was a sad sight.”
Last month, the sheriff urged the Martin County Fiscal Court to begin the necessary process. Kirk said he could not act without formal authorization.