Teloga Valley Farm

12/01/2021

Your love is killing America’s horses. Literally.

It’s time we talked about “Kill Pens”. It’s time to take the gloves off and share some painful truths with you all.

You can call them “kill pens” if you want… or you can call them brokers. It’s the same thing. The one thing you CAN’T call them is RESCUE, and here’s the many reasons why-

1. Buying a “kill pen” horse doesn’t save horses. True kill buyers hold a contract with a slaughterhouse which demands how many horses they must provide. A kill buyer with a contract for 40 horses will ship 40 horses, every time. You buying that horse does not mean he will ship 39. He will just ship one you didn’t see.

2. Most kill buyers don’t sell their slaughter horses. Most get their slaughter horses USDA export tagged at the sale and ship out quickly. The longer they hold the horse, the more it costs them in food and housing. Holding a group of horses for any amount of time significantly multiplies the chances that the horse will get sick or get injured and will fail EU inspection.

3. No reputable, ethical, honest rescue or “rescuer” is acting on behalf of the kill pen to try to save horses. This is not altruism, it is capitalism. If anyone claims that they are advertising kill pen horses to save the horses or from the bottom of their heart…. Think three times about that and then think once more. These “rescuers” are often hired people working on behalf of the kill pen to make them huge profits selling B grade horses who have no other profitable market.

4. “Kill pen” horses are often grossly misrepresented. There is no accountability for the description or condition of the horse. A kill buyer is not dealing in honesty and the value of their good name. They are dealing in a world of a-sucker-born-every-minute and huge profits with no repercussions. If they tell you the horse is 10, dead broke, and sound then it is more likely 25, dead lame, and an ex-bronc rodeo horse. Use some common sense- if the horse WAS 10, sound, and dead broke why wouldn’t they sell it themselves for $5,000? Because that is what a horse like that would be worth. It’s certainly not because they have gentle hearts, it’s because they are LYING.

5. The “kill pen” horses you see online are often not even slated for slaughter. They are the cast-offs of the auctions which sell dirt cheap. They sell even cheaper than the slaughter horses. These are the lame horses, the thin horses, the old horses. They are purchased for this intent specifically- to be sold at huge profits sight-unseen online under threat of slaughter. It’s an emotional manipulation that pays huge dividends.

6. Despite the literally MILLIONS of dollars well meaning people have spent “bailing” these kill pen horses; slaughter rates are largely unaffected. The same number of horses get slaughtered, you just don’t see those horses online.

7. Kill pens are stupidity at its finest. The concept that buying kill pen horses will end slaughter is like saying PURCHASING ALL THE PUPPIES WOULD CLOSE THE PUPPY MILL!!!! No it WON’T!!!! All it does it train these guys to do this more and make more money!

8. Horse slaughter is not really all that profitable right now, and your support of “kill pens” is keeping these guys in business.

And it’s killing our horses. Literally.

People aren’t adopting. The adrenaline rush of making offers to meet fake deadlines all the while with a cheering social media crowd adding to the frenzy and excitement is almost an addictive high. It’s not thrilling to make an appointment, visit a rescue, test ride a horse or two or three, have the one you like vet checked, fill out an application, and have your farm visited, and sign a contract to adopt. I mean…. That’s RESPONSIBLE. And responsible stuff is BORING.

And a second trend has started that is even worse. Well-meaning horse lovers are crowdfunding the “bail” of horses on behalf of strangers they don’t know who openly say they CAN’T AFFORD THE HORSE!!!! Why on god’s green earth would you want to BUY a horse for someone who admits they can’t AFFORD a horse?? What happens once it arrives? What happens when it needs a vet? What happens when it needs training? What if it is pregnant and now there are two? What happens when the “gelding” is actually a cryptorchid stallion and needs a $1200 surgery?

This is how hoarding happens. This is how some lunatic yahoo ends up with 180 horses on their 40 acre farm that they can’t feed. This is how horses end up starved and dead.

So please…. If you love horses STOP supporting kill pens.

Supporting kill pens is giving money to the devil. Support your reputable rescues who outbid in the auction ring and won’t give a $1 of your money to a kill buyer.

Let’s put these guys out of business.

02/19/2021

Enjoying one of our nicer days here in the middle of February! Always good when the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing... please ignore the fence...that's one of the last ones that is on the list to replace this year!

11/26/2020

Are you worried about feeding beet pulp to your horse because you heard it may expand in the horse's stomach and cause colic?

No need to fear. Beet pulp's excellent digestibility actually makes it a useful addition to the diet of many types of horses — especially "hard keepers" that need to gain weight, horses with dental problems, convalescing horses, and geriatric horses who have trouble chewing or digesting other types of forage. Because beet pulp is really a fiber supplement, not a grain, you can safely feed as much as you like; just be sure to start with a small quantity and GRADUALLY INCREASE the amount you’re feeding.

Read more about feeding beet pulp on our website at https://aaep.org/horsehealth/feeding-beet-pulp. As always, consult your veterinarian for more information and to determine if beet pulp is a good choice for your horse!

10/22/2020

We see a lot of information on trailer loading but judging by how the parents were pulling in to the parking lot for a 4H clinic I was teaching, I got to wondering if there shouldn’t be a discussion on how to haul? The dust was flying, trailers were rattling and you could hear horses scrambling as they pulled up. Clearly, this called for drastic measures!

Despite reading and being told, there’s nothing like “learning to do by doing” – and pulling a trailer is no exception.

Before getting underway, I suggested they all tie their horses someplace safe before climbing in my trailer for a free ride. The arena was on a quiet country road and the locale made it possible for us to have a short, albeit illegal, journey. I asked the parents to stand in the slant haul without hanging on, just bracing themselves to take whatever came their way. Easy, right?

When we pulled back into the yard, they were horrified! First, the trailer, while a good make and recent model, was dusty on the gravel when the windows were open; it was also surprisingly noisy. They could hardly talk amongst each other, let alone think. When I accelerated, they were thrown backwards. Braking had them hitting the front dividers. Then, I purposefully braked while negotiating a curve. Chaos – and all the while, I’d not exceeded 50 kilometres (or 30 miles) per hour!

Back at the arena, I had the parents climb into one of their own stock trailers. This was worse, because it was windy, rattly and a bit rank, as it hadn’t been cleaned out in eons. The fumes of the built up manure gave them watery eyes. In the roomy stock trailer, whenever they lost their balance, they staggered in a pile on top of themselves. Clearly, there was more to this hauling than they’d bargained on.

We agreed the miracle is that so many horses load willingly when their owners have so little regard for what hauling entails.

So, where to begin? First, make sure the tail isn’t wagging the dog. Being able to accelerate with a full load doesn’t mean that your truck will be able to stop! Reckoning the weight of the trailer must also include the maximum number of horses, along with all that you’ve got in your tack room.

Do you know where to put your horses for the safest hauling? When asked, few drivers seem aware that the load goes at the front of the trailer, not balanced over the axles or behind them. By putting the weight on the towing vehicle, it greatly reduces a trailer's tendency to fish-tail, even in high winds. The lighter horses will be loaded after the heavier ones to stabilize the load.

With so many highways allowing speeds in excess of 110 kilometres (about 70 miles) per hour, you'll need to keep a lot of room in front to stay out of trouble. Are your mirrors adequate to see around your vehicle with a minimum of blind spots? Do you even know where your blind spots are? Have you adjusted your trailer brakes to help stop your load?

Do you perform a visual inspection of running lights, brake lights, turning signals and emergency flashers before you hit the highway? Have you made sure your trailer is towing level from front to back? When was your trailer last booked in for maintenance of the wiring, floorboards, tire wear and bearings?

Do you clean out your trailer after every single haul?

Now, practice pulling the unit with a handful of change thrown on the truck dash. You should be able to accelerate, turn and slow down to a stop without the coins sliding around. Deceleration is made smoother with the truck engine helping to brake the load, either with the transmission set to tow/haul, or by manually shifting (yes, even an automatic) down to reduce the forward momentum. This takes practice and knowing your vehicle.

Slow down before and not during turns; wait until your trailer has made the turn before smoothly speeding up. If your horses are scrambling, if you feel them moving around back there, you’re being too abrupt. Letting the greater pressure off the brake pedal a snick after you’ve stopped will absorb much of the force of stopping.

Learn how to back your trailer!

When I was a teenager, so keen to haul myself to shows, my father forbade me to go on my own until I could prove that I could handle it. This meant being able to back into any place that I could pull into (and yes, you can back into a lot of places you can’t make a forward turn). It always surprises me, the number of people hauling to weekend shows who need help parking their trailers.

Looking back, I’ve never had a horse that was hard to load. I’ve bought a few that came that way but with love and rules, along with good riding, they very quickly got better. I like to think that keeping my trailer clean and my driving mindful have had a lot to do with this.

Here’s to a long, safe summer for all of us... with only nice, smooth trips!

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03/13/2020

11/18/2019