Deputies Arrest Sallisaw Trainer After Horses Found Dead

An Oklahoma horse trainer could face charges of animal cruelty after horses left in his care were found dead on his ranch near Sallisaw, according to the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Ron Lockhart told KFSM, the CBS affiliate in Fort Smith, Robert Howard Dimitt, 57, was arrested Monday after Charlotte Northam tipped off them off. 

Northam said she was coming to pick up the horses for a break from race training July 9 and on the way to the ranch she got a call saying one of the horses had died that morning.

“They asked us to come out here to check on this horse, and it had been dead for a couple of weeks,” Lockhart said.

Northam said she could not believe what she found when she arrived at the ranch.

She said one horse had to be put down because of its injuries and the other, named Gold Digging Ashley, is fighting for its life. 

Robert Dimitt was booked into the Sequoyah County Jail and bonded out the same day.  A check of court records show charges have not been filed in the case.