Dear Readers,

I received the following distressing email this weekend and was very disturbed to see this. We do not know which farm or farms sent these Icelandic horses to slaughter but it was definitely not our farm. These horses are currently located in Toppenish, near Yakima–not a far drive at all to save a life! Please be careful who you sell your horses to and help us rescue these wonderful animals!

Thank you,
Karen Hood

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You may have been reading about the herd of Icelandic ponies that were dumped at the feedlot in Toppenish over the weekend and are available for adoption this week.  There were 60 originally, and there are about 40 left.  The slaughter buyer from Canada is coming on Sunday Nov 21 to pick up the ones that aren’t adopted.  If you are interested in saving one of these ponies’ lives or know anyone else that might be, call Sam at (509) 952-3866. Sam is trying to convince the feedlot to give her another week to find owners, so let’s hope. They are selling them for $475 for the smaller ones, and $575 for the larger ones.  They looked to be mostly 12-14hh, and very stout.  I’ve heard different versions of how they got there, and haven’t confirmed any yet.  Sam said they are from an Icelandic breeder, and they are 2-14 years old, and should be halter broke at least.  Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.  Because there were so many, and they were moving in a herd, I couldn’t really single any out to examine them, but they seemed healthy and strong as far as I could tell.  As with any horse adopted from the feedlot, they would have to be quarantined for a few weeks in case of illness they might have picked up at the feedlot.  If anyone adopts one and doesn’t have a place to quarantine, you can put it in my round pen with mine, as long as you provide the hay. The mares have been exposed to stallions, so some may be bred. I’ve asked Dr. Root if he would consider offering a discount for a vet check for people that have adopted these ponies, and am waiting to hear back from him.  I have no idea if there are any geldings, or if they are all still stallions.  I can say that not one of them acted studdy last night though.

There were lots of sorrels with flaxen mane/tail, a few grays, a gruella, a buckskin, solid blacks, and some paints.  I think most of the paints were spoken for though.  We adopted a white one.

These are awesome ponies, very gentle disposition, intelligent, and gaited.  It would be a tragedy for them to go to slaughter, as it would be with any sound horse.

Please pass this on, and keep them in your prayers.

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All photos in this post are photos of the actual horses in question. They were taken with a cell phone in low light; please excuse the poor quality–they really are beautiful animals.