Teenage barrel racing competitor accused of stabbing horses at Las Vegas event

Detectives with the animal cruelty division identified a teenage girl who had access to the barn as a possible suspect. The 17-year-old, whom police did not identify, was booked on 12 counts related to animal maiming and torture and three counts of malicious destruction of private property, according to police and South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa.

The horses received medical treatment for the injuries, which were not life-threatening, from the on-site event veterinarian and were expected to recover completely but no longer be able to compete in the immediate future.

The stabbings happened at a barrel racing event held by the National Barrel Horse Association in which top riders took home large cash prices. Barrel racing is a timed equestrian event in which riders navigate their horse around barrels arranged in a cloverleaf pattern. The National Barrel Horse Association confirmed the teenager was competing in the Las Vegas event.

“The safety and well-being of all guests, participants and equine athletes on property is our highest priority, and we are thankful that all the horses involved are safe,” the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa said in a statement to The Associated Press. “In over 20 years of having over 35 equestrian events each year, no horses have ever been purposely injured by a contestant at the South Point Arena.”

In social media posts, three competitors described finding their horses with multiple stab wounds.

Arielle Phillips said in a Facebook post that she had seen the suspect hanging around the barn where her horse, Detail, was boarded, just after midnight. Phillips said she left and returned to the barn minutes later to find the girl hosing off her horse’s bloody wounds.

A vet confirmed Detail was stabbed multiple times, she said.

“She is traumatized,” Phillips wrote of her horse. “Everytime she runs away from the approach of my hand, I burst into tears.”

Hailey Krahenbuhl’s horse, Saaul Good, known as “Sully,” also had multiple stab wounds, she said in a Facebook post. They were a dominant duo in U.S. barrel racing and won first place in their division Friday, hours before the attack, according to the National Barrel Horse Association. Krahenbuhl took home $1,805 for the win, the organization's scoreboard said.

A third horse, Rocket, was stabbed three times, according to the owner.

Associated Press journalist Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.