GRAYSON CO., TX - The woman who had over 20 horses seized from her Fannin County property back in August appeared in civil court in Grayson County Thursday afternoon. The hearing was so a judge could determine whether two of those animals were treated cruelly when they were moved to property in Bells. And as Maddie Garrett reports, the ruling came as a surprise to many.

Last August the Fannin County Sheriff's Office and Habitat for Horses seized several dozen sick and emaciated horses from Kim Dotson's property. She was left six healthy horses to care for.

"They were healthy back in August, had all their teeth, no reason that they should lose lots of weight unless they just weren't fed. And the same was true in February, the horses were fundamentally still in good condition except for they lost massive amounts of weight and were beginning to starve," said Dr. Amanda Avery, equine veterinarian.

But at the beginning of February, Habitat for Horses found two of those horses on Dotson's property in Bells in poor condition. She claimed she moved them to that property in January.

"I did not mistreat my horses, it's unfortunate these things can happen sometimes, diseases, illnesses, bad weather, etcetera,” said Dotson.

The prosecution brought forth pictures showing the deterioration of the two horses since August, along with witnesses from both Bells Police, who seized the horses in February, and Avery, the veterinarian on the case

The turning point in the hearing was when Dotson took the stand and said that those two horses had not been under her direct care from September to January. She said they had been living on a friend's property in Fannin County.

"The owner did not want Habitat for Horses on his property any longer; in order to keep them off the property we lost our lease, so a friend of mine agreed to put them on his property. And so we put them out there and I brought the food and he fed them when he fed his horses,” said Dotson.

Nancy Gracey of Habitat for Horses has been on the case since August, and said Dotson should still answer for the health of her horses.

"It was said that she took food out to where the horses were every week, if this is true, she watched those horses deteriorate every week."

When Judge James Harris ruled the two horses in Bells were not mistreated by Dotson, there were mixed emotions in the courtroom.

"I'm glad I'm getting my horses, and honestly if I were a bad person I would wish the direction would go the other way,” said Dotson.

But Habitat for Horses and Gracey who’s been taking care of the two seized horses were not happy.

"Extremely disappointed and very scared," said Gracey. "It's going to tear me up knowing that I've got to send them back to where they came from, knowing that they're going to be just as bad off if not worse.”

Both parties arranged to return the horses to Dotson's property in Bells Thursday night. As far as the initial seizure in Fannin County, the Sheriff's Office says they have issued a warrant for her arrest on separate animal cruelty charges in their county.