Gypsy Tales Farm rescues horses scheduled for slaughter

| Photo credit: Grey Chapin
BY GREY CHAPIN, Alachua Chronicle Correspondent
ALACHUA, Fla. – A local horse owner recently rescued six foals from a kill pen in Texas, bringing a “special spirit” to Alachua County. The horses were initially rounded up from Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and bound for a Mexico slaughterhouse when Cary Hollfelder, owner of Gypsy Tales Farm, stepped in to save them.
Hollfelder’s 40-acre Alachua property is home to seven horses. She bred Gypsy Vanner horses for 10 years alongside business partner Lisa Robson before retiring in 2022.
Robson and Hollfelder discovered the foals through a friend on Facebook who brought the Texas kill pen auction to their attention. Each day, the kill pen was putting more and more horses up for auction. Hollfelder remembered thinking, “Where are these horses coming from? Who has 300 babies that they’re sending to the kill pen?”
After the six foals arrived at Gypsy Tales Farm, Hollfelder and Robson quickly realized they were wild mustangs rather than domestic horses. When they read about Wind River Reservation in the news, they began to put the pieces together.
In 2023 alone, over 6,500 feral horses on the Wind River Reservation – home of the Shoshone tribe – were rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management. Horses are a part of the Shoshone culture and community, acting as their guide to the afterlife. Robson said the horses they rescued “carry a special spirit” despite all they have been through.
Out of the 6,500 horses, most were sent to Mexico to be slaughtered. Kaufman Kill Pen in Foley, Texas, acts as “kind of a stopover before things go to the slaughterhouses,” according to Hollfelder.
The kill pen put 300 of the youngest horses up for auction. “They probably realized they could make some money on it,” said Hollfelder.

In a short interview, Mike McBarron, owner of Kaufman Kill Pen, was reluctant to comment, stating he had lost his voice due to laryngitis.
Unfortunately, kill pens are not uncommon. According to NBC News, wild horses that once roamed freely across the Western U.S. are ending up penned in corrals at facilities self-described as kill pens.
Due to their spiritual connection to the horses, many members of the Shoshone tribe did not approve of this treatment. At a Select Committee on Tribal Relations legislative meeting in July 2023, Wind River Reservation residents expressed concern over the fate of the horses.
The residents proposed an alternative management plan that would have included a wild horse training program for struggling youth and community members battling addiction, according to Wyoming Public Media. Government officials moved forward with sending the horses to auction.
Private owners like Hollfelder and Robson are the main sources of hope for wild horses sent to auction.
Nora Denslow at Mill Creek Farm, also located in Alachua, is too familiar with this need for rescuing “the most unwanted of horses.” Mill Creek acts as a retirement home for horses that have been neglected or abused.
Denslow also attested to the compassion and generosity of the horse community in Alachua County and Marion County.
Hollfelder encourages other Alachua horse owners to look into rescue options if they have the means. “The surprising thing for us is how rewarding it’s been and how just fun it’s been,” she said with a grin.
This is a great service to our community and to nature. Cary is to be commended.
Great story–and photos!–Grey. I assume these horses will stay here, rather than go back to Shoshone lands, where they could simply be rounded up again and sent south towards slaughterhouses in Mexico?
It’s nice to see such a positive article. Nice job. 🙂
Thank you for raising awareness of this occurrence…and huge thanks to Cary and Lisa for saving them!
Such a Blessing to these horses,Cary and Lisa as well ,the opportunity to give them a second chance ,You ladies are Amazing ❤️