Senior Belgian Draft Mare

Stella and Oliver had already been through at least two other sales before we found them at the Lumberton auction in North Carolina. After doing some digging, we learned that they had previously been bought and sold at auction in Ohio and again in New Holland, PA. By the time they reached us, they had become little more than commodities, repeatedly passed from one person to the next in the hopes of making a quick dollar.

Both are senior horses and severely underweight. Rather than being given the nutrition, attention, and veterinary care they needed, they continued to be bought and sold and they continued to deteriorate.

Stella arrived with one shoe still on, and a hole in the top of her hoof with a nail sticking out. These aren't the kinds of conditions that develop overnight, and they are a reflection of just how long these horses have gone without the care they needed.

Tennessee Ship Pen and North Carolina Kill Lot were there buying up the unwanted horses. We knew there was a very real possibility that these two senior horses would continue being flipped at auctions or end up in the slaughter pipeline.

So, to put an end to the cycle of being bought and sold for someone else's financial gain, and to ensure they never fall into the hands of those looking to send them to slaughter, we brought Stella and Oliver home.