What is a killpen?

A killbuyer or flipper is a person or organization who buys horses from one place, and then sells them to another for a higher dollar. If the horse doesn't re-sell promptly to a private party, or doesn't fetch enough money, the killbuyer or Flipper, as a matter of business practice, then sells the horse "at auction," or to another Flipper, or to a slaughterhouse.

Even though this person or organization may not be shipping them DIRECTLY to the slaughterhouse, the system (or "pipeline" as it is sometimes called,) is a sort of death sentence for the horse in any case, as the process is terrifying and brutal on the animals. Hence the title "killbuyer" is probably accurate for all those in the horse flipping business of today, and horses being held or shuffled around by them are referred to as being in the "kill pen."

Back in the day when horses were commonly used by everyone, (and there was no internet!), Horse Traders served an excellent purpose. If a farmer needed to "trade in" his older workhorse for a younger one, the horse trader could help. If someone was looking for a light-duty workhorse, again, the trader could help. If someone needed a fresh mount for long journeys, they might trade in their older saddle horse for a new one. In turn, perhaps that senior saddle horse might be bought up by a person needing a slow, gentle mount for their children to use. Of course the Trader needed to make a profit in every transaction. After all, that was his profession.

Nowadays, I think of these people as "Flippers." Their entire profession exists for just that last step in the process--needing to make a profit in every transaction. The Flippers of today benefit no one except themselves. They have not bred, foaled, raised, trained, rehabbed or cared for that horse they just made money off of. Moreover, there is NO NEED for them any more! In today's world of the Internet, why would we even rely on a Flipper to obtain, handle, and rehome our precious horses?

There are many arguments out there about what the Killbuyer or Flipper really does. Does he really send the horses to slaughter? Will he really shoot them behind the barn if they are too skinny? Where do the donkeys, minis, foals, stallions, and pregnant mares really end up? Is that horse really going to "ship" in 3 days? Does the killbuyer really have 15 horses loaded on the slaughter-trailer already that we never even see?

In my opinion, none of these questions need to be answered, much less argued over. The horse trapped in the killpen surely does not care! Let us all agree on this: In the hands of a Flipper is no place for a horse to be! The "profession" of Flipper is no longer noble or necessary! Let us put our heads together, good people of the horse world, and focus on how we can make that profession so OBSOLETE that it simply disappears.