Pushing Cows With “Kill-Pen” Horses

Yee Haw! I’ve never seen anything like it in Iowa. Ginnie and I and Ginnie’s granddaughter, Aria, were invited to the Suzanne and Adam Lange farm (or ranch) north of Burlington to watch them move 200 head of Angus cattle from one pasture to another, riding kill-pen horses (horses that were headed for slaughter). Yep, not by ATV, or on foot (like we used to do it), but by rescue horses, cowboy style, the cattle were pushed or herded to fresh grazing ground. The old horses loved it as did the riders. The Lange farm is some of the most beautiful country this side of Wyoming–rolling green, lush hills, thick timbers of oak, locust and maple, with not a building in sight. The Langes have nine pastures, numbered one-through-nine, 12 miles of fence and move the herd every three-to-five days, depending on conditions. They want to keep the herd fat and happy with plenty of fresh grass in front of them at all times. Not only do the Langes raise feeder calves, but also provide custom care for other people’s Angus cattle.

Suzanne’s dad, Charlie Nealey, and his brothers trained hundreds of horses a year. When Suzanne was six her dad said, “Suzanne, I’ll take the buck out of’m, if you’ll put the miles on’m.” So Suzanne rode the horses three hours a day. She couldn’t feel her rear for a spell, but she became an expert rider.

Then life happened–high school sports, marriage, children–and she drifted away from horses. But four years ago the Langes moved to the farm they have now, and Suzanne thought they had a place for a horse, so she bought one. She told her husband. He was agreeable. “That was easy,” she thought. “Maybe I’ll buy another.”

A friend of Suzanne’s, Angela Hollingsworth, told her about a mustang that was in a Kill Pen in Kansas. Suzanne went there, but it was sold. However, there was a mare that looked okay, so she brought it home. Her only intention was to ride with her kids. But she found a few more rescue horses and thought, “Maybe we should try them on the cattle.”

One of the geldings, Duke, was a former ranch horse. Suzanne was having a hard time with him. They were butting heads. Suzanne’s cousin, Trina Nealey Hulse, a former high school rodeo queen, suggested she call an acquaintance, Trevor Phillips, who was a good horseman. Suzanne messaged Trevor and said, “Hey, I’m move’n cattle. You wanna come out and help? I’ll put you on Duke. He’s a freight train out of control, so you better hang on.”

Trevor came out and Duke and Trevor bonded. Trevor could really put Duke through his paces. So Suzanne suggested, “How ’bout every time we move cattle, you come out and help?” And Trevor does.

Not only that, but Trevor, in his thirties, entered Duke in a Cowboy Challenge last year in Williamsburg and finished 9th out of 26 contestants. This is on a 20-year old, Kill-Pen horse that cost $1,000. One of the horses in the contest cost $80,000.

As soon as Suzanne brings her Kill-Pen horses to her farm, she sends them to Smoke’N Guns Arena in Danville for 30-45 days of consistent riding and training. It gets the kinks out of them and they find out what the horse already knows, and when Suzanne can start pushing cattle with them.

Faith is a mustang, you can put anyone on her. Loretta is a Paint and has White Line Disease (WLD) that cracked her hoof. They took a piece of license plate and tacked it onto her hoof to make it grow straight and allow the crack to heal. Loretta is high maintenance. She has pink skin so she sunburns easily, and has terrible allergies. Suzanne’s pony, Sam, is ornery. If there’s trouble, he’s going to be the cause. Sam is a fast learner, though, and has really stepped up to pushing cattle. And then there are the two beautiful Border Collies, Doc and Gus. Doc is retired, and Gus is in training.

Pushing the cattle was fairly easy on the day we visited, except that there were a few stragglers that had to be dug out of the timber, and one heifer with a limp that needed to be brought along slowly. These riders and Kill-Pen horses knew what they were doing. At the end of the day, as they headed for the barn, you wouldn’t find a prettier sight in Iowa. Thank you, Suzanne and Adam Lange for rescuing these fine animals. Suzanne is so happy she can give them a second chance. The horses are doing what they love, doing a great job of it, and living the best life that Suzanne can give them.

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Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526 or email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com. Curt is available for public speaking.