Family feels unsafe due to trespassers killing their horse

RIGBY, Idaho (KIFI) — The home is the place where people are meant to feel the safest, but a family in Rigby is feeling scared after people trespassing at night and even shooting one of their beloved animals.

In fall 2024, the Webster family lost their horse, Doc.

"We looked for two days for [Doc], trying to figure out where he was. [We] found him in the ditch," said Jared Webster.

The 27-year-old horse was shot in the middle of the night by trespassers. The bullet went directly through Doc's head and out the other end of his body. The Webster's say it was clearly deliberate.

"It was saddening," said Jared's wife, Brittany. "It's like, why would somebody do this on purpose?"

Doc belonged to Jared and Brittany's nephew, who was so devastated about Doc being killed, he didn't go to school for a while.

A few days later, the Webster's game cameras caught a picture of a person in their corn field. The person was wearing a ghillie suit, night vision goggles, and carrying a rifle.

"He was using a weapon in the middle of the night," said Jared's brother, George Harned. "It was about 11:30 at night. They took off running once I came out."

Then in March 2025, the Webster's were in their living room around 10 p.m. when they saw two people with headlamps running through the trees behind their house. They called the sheriff, but the trespassers had already gotten away.

Between trespassers and their horse being shot, the Webster family is feeling scared, especially because they have two young children.

"He could have completely missed and shot the house or hit somebody here, hit another animal, one of [the] dogs," Harned said.

"We don't feel safe. I feel violated," said Brittany. "We can't even put our horses back out in the field because of this. Ever since that happened, we've taken our horses out of the field. Same with the cows."

The Websters hope someone with information will come forward and help bring these trespassers to justice.

If you have any information on who shot the Webster's horse and who is trespassing on their property, please contact the Rigby Police Department.