Three horses have been rescued from neglectful conditions at a De Leon Springs property, the Volusia Sheriff's Office announced on Friday. The resident of the property, identified as 57-year-old Twila Guzman, has been arrested on multiple charges related to the conditions in which the horses were found.
According to their report on the matter, the VSO has been investigating the property at 6190 Winning Wood Trail in De Leon Springs since December 2024. At that stage, deputies responded after receiving a call about a particularly thin horse.
In this most recent visit, deputies confiscated three horses: a brown horse named Kash, a white horse named Marshmallow, and a white pony named Candy. A VSO deputy interviewed Guzman about a visibly ill Kash, and was reportedly told that arrangements were made to bring medical care. This ultimately would not come to pass.
The VSO states that an appointment was made for January 16th of this year to bring Kash to an equine dentist. That appointment was canceled the day prior, and Guzman reportedly told deputies she decided against having Kash looked at in his poor condition.
The deputy who spoke to Guzman followed up on the matter and next spoke with Guzman on January 29th. The following day, the VSO Agriculture Crimes Unit responded to another location in Seville where Kash and Candy were said to have been relocated to. Both horses were taken by the VSO. The third horse, Marshmallow, turned up at another location in Pierson.
A veterinarian was able to then conduct an assessment on each of the three horses. The results showed a series of serious health problems for all three.
Kash reportedly had his spine, hip, and rib bones visible through the skin with hooves that were significantly overgrown and untrimmed. Furthermore, the vet identified evidence of a bacterial infection in a horse's hoof known as thrush. He had multiple abscesses through his hooves. Sadly, the vet stated that Kash's chances of living much longer were not good.
When Candy was examined, she was also shown to have visible bones despite being particularly furry. The vet detected a particularly slow heart rate and abnormal breathing, and Candy was observed laying down on the ground several times with no immediately obvious explanation. Lastly, Marshmallow was said to also have overgrown hooves and an abnormal breathing pattern.
On February 7th, deputies again spoke to Guzman and were told that she did not intend to surrender the horses to law enforcement custody. Not only was she not able to get the horses, she was charged with two counts of felony animal cruelty plus three counts of unlawful confinement or abandonment of animals. She was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on Thursday, and released on Friday after posting her $13,000 bond.
