“Note to Self” my (so far happy) experience buying (a yearling! 🤦🏻‍♀️) from Bowie Livestock

[Jumpingranch]

Speaking of the issue of the tb’s winding up at “kill pens”, while I’ve heard the jockey club has rules against selling horses directly to slaughter essentially none of the “kill pen” horses you see online are ever at risk of actually going to slaughter, so that may be a moot point.
The new cycle is horse trader/flipper picks up a cheap horse, posts it online saying it’s “at risk”, if a private individual doesnt buy they send it to another horse trader/flipper, who does a new post of the “at risk” horse, still with no background info but now in worse condition. Continue the cycle of constant shipping to auctions/stockyards/traders barns until a private buyer buys it, one of the big “mass bailing” rescues buys it and it disappears or it succumbs to its increasingly poor condition.

At least when they actually DID ship horses to slaughter, the poor things had an end in site, even if unthinkable. Now who knows what they’re going through being passed back and forth. Facebook page Kill Pen fairytales has info on it, and it’s alarming the number of rescues claiming to buy 20+ horses from an auction every 2 weeks and only ever updating donators on 2 or 3.

[OverandOnward]

@gradytb

Banjo also has no sense of personal space! He just wants to be leaning on you or cuddling in your chest.

Flashback memories of my OTTB, shortly after track.

Apparently training for ground manners was not a big thing where he was from. Manners were present, but minimal.

The horses were on high-energy rations and the horse was expecting to gallop. So they tended to be forward while being led. Apparently the handlers speed-regulated the horse’s lively walk in-hand by leaning back against their chest-shoulders, while walking. Horse expected this.

He was also a horizon-gazer while being led, paying no attention to me or where he was going. If something nearby abruptly startled him, he expected to be saved by jumping into my arms. 16.2h, 1200 lbs. At least he’s always liked people.

He now has great manners and teaches the new non-horsey barn help how to halter and lead a horse. They all love him for his patience while they figure out how a halter is supposed to go on a horse.

[Bearx2]

@chestnutmarebeware

That floaty daisy cutter trot!

It can excuse a lot of shenanigans…

I was thinking that the same thing! She definitely wears her emotions on her sleeve

[OverandOnward]

This is a personal take from my own experience with horse rescue.

True ‘rescues’ do not buy from ‘kill pens’, as the so-called kill pens are actually catalogs for horses for sale. As said, they ‘ship’ unsold horses to another sales outlet, not to slaughter.

Most ‘true rescues’ do not buy at all. Any horse buys are extremely rare and in circumstances so unusual that I don’t even know what they are.

A few ‘true rescues’ focus on a particular breed (e.g. Arabian, Haflinger) and will buy from auction or kill pen only horses visibly of that breed, if the horse is selling for meat price. The rescue has a max price they will pay. If the price bids up past meat price, the rescue drops out as the horse is not going to slaughter.

The logic for breed-specific rescues is that (for example) Arabians or Haflingers aren’t often seen in most ‘kill pens’ or meat auctions, although occasionally they turn up. Someone has to alert the rescue that a horse is there that they may be interested in.

Having the name ‘rescue’ and a 501(c )3 status in no way makes an organization one that focuses only on horses in critical need. Anyone who fills out the paperwork and follows the regulations (easy) can be a 501(c )3.

So, sadly, there are unscrupolous rescues that provide those running them with a nice chunk of extra personal cash that was given by a donor to rescue a horse. To really bring in rescue funds, it helps to have a constant ‘new urgent save’ and/or a ‘new needy intake horse’, much like the kill pen model.

So, kill pens are providing the constant supply of horses that are cheap and sometimes (even better) rather beat-up looking. And the imperative outcry of ‘ships soon!’. There is an almost symbiotic relationship between some less reputable ‘rescues’ and some kill pens.

And fwiw, the problem with somewhat shady kill-pen-buying rescues is that the rescue can quickly end up with an over-supply of horses. They have room for only so many. What happens afterward to the horses they ‘rescue’? That is a critical question for any ‘rescue’ to answer.

[OverandOnward]

More info on ‘shipping to slaughter’ that might clear up the roll of ‘kill pen’ sales …

The slaughter plants in Mexico buy loads of horses on contract from certain shippers. The contracts with particular shippers are for certain weights / loads delivered during a short date range. It is a business always on a deadline.

The plants are a producing plant business like any other, and they need the right amount of raw material supply at the right time. They don’t want more than they can handle (especially something they must feed), and they don’t want to run short, with workers and machines costing money by the hour.

The shippers have the same wants – just enough, just in time. Shippers are not randomly tossing horses on trucks. The supply of slaughter horses needs to be very certain and available at the right time.

For that reason, shipper horses in true kill pens like Kaufmans are not offered for sale to the public. They are on hold, as it were, for the next truckload. You won’t get a chance to buy a shipper horse.

Kaufman sells some and ships some. The shipper horses are not on view to the public.

Some shippers make use of true kill pens like Kaufman on I-20 east of Dallas, near I-35 to Mexico, who will buy, pen and feed hay until the shipper is ready to load and go.

Some shippers have their own pens where they will collect horses and feed hay to gain weight, until the load is ready to go by a certain time. But that is more work, buying, collecting and keeping the horses until time to ship, so a very different side to the business.

(There is a whole USDA process as well that I won’t get into.)

Mike Kaufman has his own science of selecting which horses will do best in a public sale, and which are destined for the shippers. Yes, some of Kaufman’s that don’t find a public buyer can end up in the shipper pens, unlike other horse sale businesses that don’t collect for shipment.

My understanding is that Bowie and Elkhart do not collect for shipment to slaughter. They pass unsold horses around the various sales outlets.

But, if a particular horse has not found a buyer after a few tries through various sales outlets, there is a chance that it could end up in Kaufman’s or another shipper pen. If it meets the size, weight and health criteria.

But … (another reason a horse will not go to slaughter) … not all horses are candidates for shipment to slaughter. There are legal plant criteria for slaughter horses, plus shippers want well-fleshed horses healthy for the trip. Horses must be a certain size (no ponies or foals), must be a good weight for the space they take up in the truck, can’t be significantly lame, must be reasonably healthy. Remembering that these horses are destined for food products, they can’t bring in too much contamination.

The horses that some people think would be selected for slaughter – what some people think of as the expendables, aged, infirm, lame, sick – are rarely eligible for slaughter. They don’t meet the health and/or weight criteria.

Last note – before the pandemic, a full shipper load would bring $12,000 to $15,000 on delivery to a plant in Mexico. Delivered by a deadline, and with a certain minimum usable weight after slaughter.

Another way of pointing out that shippers are very serious about their load and not anxious to sell off horses already designated for the trip.

For what it’s worth. The slaughter pipeline has been well-studied with published articles, at least before the pandemic. Some searching can find some soul-wrenching stories of some of this research. It was not welcomed by those in the shipper/slaughter industry. But it has had an impact on public education.

Also fwiw, the names/businesses referred to in this post are in Texas, the area I know more, and also the last stop before the border. The horse slaughter shipper business is also running in rural areas throughout the country. Every state has its own laws regarding shipping to horse slaughter. But even where not allowed, there is poor reporting and enforcement, and a great many states have a collecting pen or two operating under the radar, somewhere. Horses sold cheap to get them off someone’s property are the ones that can most easily end up on a truck to Mexico. Younger, healthy and in good weight are ideal candidates for a profitable load.

[gradytb]

He’ll get there! He’s smart and already paying more attention than yesterday. There’s a lot to process at the moment! He has latched on to me and my neighbor as his saviors. Tonight he wanted to come into the small paddock from the larger pasture but there was a doe freaking out and blowing because she was by the alley entrance and her fawn was on my side of the fence and scrambling around. Banjo got scared and was afraid to come thru the alley again into the paddock. Bounce was barreling at full speed down there, the fawn was running the fenceline. Bounce came to rest next to the paddock fence and a small pile of hay and finally Banjo came back to the alley. I was talking to him and he then flew up the little alley, around the shed corner and did a reining horse sliding stop then took two leaps over to me at the fence. Blew in my nose, got a couple kisses and then was able to exhale and join Bounce by the fence. Don’t know where the fawn hid but mama doe was sure to jump the fence after I left and get him! Big time drama at the It’ll-be-OK corral.

[OverandOnward]

@gradytb

It’ll-be-OK corral.

I love this. Am stealing.

[gradytb]

This is helpful to know. I wasn’t at all clear on how they work. It was a little clearer before they closed the 2 meat plants in Dallas years ago. Well, I’m just glad I found Banjo and got him because his colic episode had probably started before I got there and he would have suffered a lot more.

[OverandOnward]

@gradytb

It was a little clearer before they closed the 2 meat plants in Dallas years ago.

Yes, it definitely was. Plus anyone could trailer their horse to the plant, pick up a check and drop the horse off to eat hay until the moment. When I was a kid I knew people who did that, it was part of life, at the time I had no context or understanding for it.

Hate to say it, but when those two plants were running, in comparison with now, those were the good ole days. The horses had a short trip to the plant. It wasn’t nearly as stressful and took a small fraction of the time of the whole process now.

When Congress passed the bill outlawing horse slaughter but NOT the bill outlawing shipping to other countries, it was a horrendous mistake that many anti-slaughter advocates deeply regret. Some have said they wouldn’t have pushed for the anti-slaughter had they known that horses would be shipping south to Mexico instead. Remembering the old plants in east Texas, I 100% agree.

[pk1027]

Ive had great luck with : Silver Honey Rapid Wound Repair Antimicrobial Horse Ointment

[2DogsFarm]

@OverandOnward

Apparently training for ground manners was not a big thing where he was from. Manners were present, but minimal.

{nodding in agreement}
My TB ponied for the Trainers after failing his 2yo Speed Test (never tattooed)
I coulda been a Contender!

Ponying at the Arlington Million:

He was mouthy as long as I I had him (20yrs) , but we came to an agreement:
Teeth could connect with anything except human flesh. Stall walls got the brunt
But Track Manners result from Expedience.
Horses are handled in a businesslike manner for the most part, not like pets.
Trainers who sold him to me invited me to a Derby party.
One guest arrived late, proudly showing off a bandaged hand.
Filly she had in training bit her & she was happy about it:
“She has Sprit!”

[2bayboys]

Baby lessons!

Nosey got her feet trimmed this morning! She was a good girl, with behavior not unexpected for a yearling. A little wiggly and impatient, but no naughtiness. She had some flaring on the outside wall of both fronts, so she is standing a lot straighter now.

She has gotten a little sassy during leading to and from her pasture, so I wrapped the noseband of her halter with a heavy cord to give it a little more texture. Just that small change made quite a difference in her respect for the process.

[Tha_Ridge]

@2bayboys

She has gotten a little sassy during leading to and from her pasture, so I wrapped the noseband of her halter with a heavy cord to give it a little more texture. Just that small change made quite a difference in her respect for the process.

This alone tells me that she was “someone” and likely had the requisite baby TB prep that happens before one goes through a sale.

[OverandOnward]

Feeling encouraged to post yet another entry into the sweepstakes question: How on earth did this horse end up at Bowie ???

No idea where he came from. Bought from Bowie for $2k in Sept. 2023 (not by me), sound gelding in good weight, seems to be in middle years, vet guessing a broad age range based on a collection of factors that make him difficult to age.

Has clearly had a good start and good riding and manners in the past. Clearly also learned a few bad habits, because he was probably ridden by children, because he is so kind and gentle. Although he’s a big children’s horse at 16h. Likely a draft cross.

Currently working as a lesson horse and it seems to be an ideal career for him. Gets along well in mixed group pasture.

Can guess so many things about his past – all guesses – except why someone dumped him off at Bowie.

[shamrock]

Oh I love this so much!! Out with the big girls! That’s so good she’s unfazed by witchy pony.

[FitzE]

Not to be…nosey (see what I did there? ) but any side-by-side first day/now updates?

Or are we not yet at 3 weeks and I have zero patience and only a nodding acquaintance with simple math?

[2bayboys]

Three weeks tomorrow! I’ll try to get a photo with some help from my little rider.

[2bayboys]

Three week glow up! The skin funk is gone, her coat is shed out, and Nosey’s outlook on life appears significantly improved. Although the ribs are still prominent, her weight gain can be seen mostly in her haunch and shoulder.

She now looks like a healthy yearling on the thin side. She’s eating well, she’s turned out with two other mares, and she gets daily lessons in leading, being tied, and hoof handling. She’s currently on a course of ulcergard, she’s off the antibiotics she was prescribed for her lung sounds and instead has been switched to Zyrtec as of Tuesday to see if allergies are the culprit.

I’m sending in her DNA kit today to the Jockey Club although I don’t have much hope in identifying her. Oh well.

At the auction on or about April 9:

In quarantine:

First day home May 2:

May 23:

[luvmyhackney]

She’s definitely in a growth spurt. Can’t wait to see her in 6 months.

[MHM]

Omg. Unbelievable difference in such a short time!!