Families give kill pen horses second chance at life

Oftentimes when Lana K. Stamper has a few spare minutes, she will open her phone, scroll through Facebook and look for a life to save.

Stamper, her husband Donald, and daughter LaKayla Whitmore were participants at Grand National Horseman Association playday finals in Lawton last week. At first glance, it seems the horses the Stampers and Whitmore’s children rode were no different than those of other competitors.

But if Stamper hadn’t happened to sift kill pen websites in search of horses set to be repurposed, as the euphemism goes, the horses she and her family competed on last week would’ve likely been killed for meat and other byproducts.

“There’s all different types of horses (listed on kill pen websites),” Stamper said. “I’m constantly scrolling through and looking at the Facebook site and seeing what they have.”

Stamper estimates she and her husband have bought, worked with and saved 40 horses from kill pens in the past five years.

Whitmore said sourcing horses from the kill pens can be taboo among horse owners. And sure, there is risk. Divorce settlements, maintenance expenses and an owner’s fading interest can cause a well-behaved horse to be auctioned and sold to a kill pen. But erratic behavior, neglect and abuse can also be the impetus.

Not all kill pen horses work out. Whitmore estimates she has about a 50 percent success rate in rehabilitating horses for a new career.

“You’re saving them from turning into meat,” Whitmore said. “There’s some that are too wild to handle and there’s some that you can work with. Every one of them is gonna have their issues but you just see what you can work with.”

Finding a reputable kill pen is key. The good websites have videos and are transparent with the horse’s history, ailments and features. It is always easier to feel comfortable purchasing a horse that comes with its papers, but that is hit or miss.

“Kill pens, it always has a negative reputation,” Stamper said. “But it’s actually very positive. It’s a good place to find quality horses. Now, there’s some you’ve got to weed through.”

Tater is a success story.

Stamper bought the 8-year-old Shetland pony about a year-and-a-half ago.

The Stampers and Whitmore have land close together in Apache, where they bring horses purchased from the kill pens.

“What I do is take them home, ride them, rehabilitate,” Stamper said. “Sometimes they just need some simple veterinarian work. A little TLC, maybe a special set of shoes if their feet are sore, and they’re good reason horses.”

Whitmore will always work with an animal before letting her children ride it. But after working with Tater, Whitmore realized he would be great for her 3-year-old daughter Rustlynn Glass.

Glass competed on Tater all week.

Stamper said browsing kill pen websites and Facebook can be addicting. There are stories of $30,000 racehorses that grew old, or didn’t earn enough at the track, that would up in a kill pen slated to be sent to Mexico to be killed.

Stamper and Whitmore can turn a slight profit from horses they have rehabilitated and resold, but they said it is not about the money. They said their reward is seeing horses adapt to a new career and are loved again.

“They’re not going to be perfectly sound horses,” Whitmore said. “They’re going to need a lot of work, and a lot of TLC. But they have a chance. It’s all about giving them a chance.”