COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A horse broker and a trainer say the owner of 14 horses found dead in a barn in Colorado spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy prize-winning horses.

Sherri Brunzell’s remaining horses were seized Monday, and she has been cited with misdemeanor animal cruelty. The dead horses were found in Black Forest, near Colorado Springs.

Brunzell allegedly told investigators the animals died during the winter from colic, and that she and her husband didn’t hire a veterinarian because it would have been too expensive.

Horse broker Pete Bowling tells KRDO-TV (http://bit.ly/1stkBxQ ) he helped Brunzell buy a stallion named Dual Peppy — a runner-up in an equestrian world championship — for $650,000.

Horse trainer Carrie Terroux-Barrett estimates the dead horses were worth $2 million. She says the least expensive horse in the barn cost about $25,000.

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