Sounds like a dirtball who was too lazy to be operating a farm (or ranch). In my opinion.
Not sure what the weather was in rural New York on Feb. 25th, but for most of the Northeast corridor we all had deeps snow and brutal cold...like -17F during Feb. day after day after week.
I had one farm sitter have the water lines in the barn freeze and she had to lug water from the house to the barn several times a day to keep the horses properly hydrated.
Second, ‘free range’ in the brutal weather we had going on? That sounds odd to me as most animals were kept indoors except for 15-30 minutes or exercise depending on temps. But that does mean stables and barns we’re a poopy/pee mess and demanded high efforts to keep them clean. If his barns are dirt floors that makes for a very sloppy situation and pretty much unavoidable all weather matters concerned.
Trumped up charges? Maybe, maybe not. Lazy...hard to say. I know what at least one farm sitter went through for at least one week in Feb. and it was far, far from normal circumstances.
Really? That’s what you get from this?