Crundwell's horses spread across the country

DIXON – Nearly two-thirds of Rita A. Crundwell’s quarter horses are in Dixon.

This week, the FBI released the names of all her horses. They include Invited to the Party, Jewels By Tiffany, Good Girls Only, I’m Money Too and Have Faith in Money.

According to the records, 204 of Crundwell’s 311 horses were at her Dixon properties – her ranch at 1556 Red Brick Road and at 1679 U.S. Route 52, where her company, RC Quarter Horses, is based.

Forty-seven are at the Meri-J Ranch in Beloit, Wis., where her longtime boyfriend, Jim McKillips, is manager.

Nineteen are in Collinsville, Texas, but Sauk Valley Media hasn’t determined exactly where.

Other horses are in Ohio, North Dakota, Missouri, Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida, Connecticut and Iowa.

Crundwell, the former Dixon comptroller who is accused of misappropriating $53 million in city money, is barred from selling her horses while her case is pending.

In the meantime, the U.S. Marshal’s office is expected to hire a contractor to care for the horses. The agency hasn’t clarified how it will handle the animals in the far-flung places.

Crundwell, the nation’s leading quarter horse owner for the last 8 years, sent her horses to other ranches so that trainers could work with them. Industry representatives have credited her with improving the quarter horse economy by hiring so many trainers.

David Greenshield, a horse trainer in Payson, Ariz., said the number of Crundwell’s horses surprised him, adding that he thought even 100 was a lot.

Owners who bred their mares with Crundwell’s stallions now may have trouble registering their foals with the American Quarter Horse Association, Greenshield said.

That’s because they’ll need Crundwell’s signature, which may be hard to get because her ownership is in question, he said.

“I think the AQHA will have to do something to register these horses,” said Greenshield, who’s also the executive producer of Halter Horse TV.

Diane Hall, a quarter horse owner in Montpelier, Ind., said many people in the industry believe the association should revoke Crundwell’s titles.

The association has declined to answer questions on such issues.

Hall questioned whether people such as Crundwell, classified as an amateur, should be considered professional.

Under AQHA rules, amateurs are those who don’t train other people’s quarter horses for money.

“She [Crundwell] doesn’t seem amateurish in my mind when she has so many world titles,” Hall said. “She brings in a herd at shows. And you wonder, ‘Where does she get all this money?’ I was told it was through family, that her family was rich. I had no clue she had 311 horses.

“The quarter horse industry has been incredibly flat the last 6 years. And here you had Rita’s empire thriving,” she said.

She said the association needs to review its rules defining amateurs.

Johne Dobbs of Champaign, the first vice president of the association, said the group shouldn’t take a hit because of the Crundwell publicity.

“It’s one person. She just happened to be in the quarter horse business.”

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