Red Rock Mustangs Will Always Have My Heart (We Saved One More!)

We helped rescue this pinto mustang from Stroud Kill Pen in Oklahoma. Before I go much more into detail with our rescue mission, I want to preface this with a bit about the kill pen cycle in general.

Written by Mackenzie Wilde of Wilde Child Horsemanship, “Kill pens. How many times has your heart ached at the hundreds of poor, helpless horses posted online at kill pens? What if I told you that rescuing horses from a kill pen actually puts more horses in harms way?

The Kill Pen Rescue Cycle starts with someone often referred to as a “kill buyer.” They go to an auction and buy a horse for anywhere between $200-$500. They bring it to the kill pen, get some pictures, and post the horse online with a bail price if let’s say $1000. ((Note from Amanda: In this mustang’s case it was $850. *rolls eyes*)) 

Some kind person with a big heart sees the horse, falls in love, pays the bail fee, and “rescues” the horse. While that one horse has been spared from a brutal end, 3-5 more have been put in harms way. 

With that $1000 bail fee, the kill buyer does one of two things. Buy 2-3 more horses from auction and repeat the process… or fill the empty spot with another horse or two and send truck loads to slaughter. So not only is the kill buyer profiting roughly $3/lb (that’s roughly $3,612 for a 1200lb horse), but they’re also profiting off the bail fees which allows them to send more horses to slaughter. 

Before you rescue a horse from a kill pen, be sure to educate yourself on what goes on behind closed doors.” (Thank you Mackenzie for these beautifully-written words about kill pens.)

This is an endless cycle and more often than not, the horses you "save" from kill pens are much more likely to have been abused, mistreated, neglected, or have underlying health concerns. I do NOT recommend supporting this cycle and treatment of horses in America.

HOWEVER,

This mustang is a Red Rock HMA mustang. He is from the same mom in the wild as my own personal horse Maverick. They are half-brothers. Maverick's mom Sarah had this bay 2 years before Maverick's dad "stole" mama Sarah away on the range to live with him and make Maverick. They were all rounded up together in the 2018 gather. Knowing it was this one horse in particular, it was hard for me to sleep at night knowing his possible future fate was not looking good. They shared the land when they were both free, but wow did they end up in different situations! This horse is practically family. I felt I HAD to do something. 

Maverick is absolutely loving domestic life and goes everywhere with me on grand adventures and to fancy horse shows. He is my partner in crime and I love and adore him. This kill pen mustang has never had the chance to be loved on. Likely someone adopted him just like I adopted Maverick. Likely someone tried hard to connect with him, to get him to let his guard down and begin to trust humans, but it never happened. After a year of trying, this person received his title from the BLM and decided for whatever reason that they just could not take care of him any longer. They made arrangements with Stroud Kill Pen, located in Oklahoma, and dropped him off there.

Once at Stroud, the mustang was mixed together with several other hurt, sick and aggressive horses and categorized for the online sale process. A video of him was posted to their Facebook page, where miraculously, a Red Rock HMA lover was watching and noticed him. She mentioned to Tara of West of Las Vegas that she might’ve thought he was a Red Rock HMA mustang, and she was able to verify that he indeed was with some gorgeous photos of him from when he was wandering free and wild, on the same land as my personal horse right outside of Las Vegas. Tara posted the video of him at Stroud to her Facebook page and my friend Amber told me she wished she could help him. That’s when I saw his video and my heart just broke in half.

I posted his video to my Facebook page and had a few people say they would be willing to help pay his $850 bail to get him out of the kill pen, but that they could not take him in after that. I knew a trailer ride to Las Vegas would cost almost $2,000 from the Oklahoma kill pen, and then board here is $500/month, out of my budget currently. I watched as other comments came saying they wish they could do more, and then Amber said that she would be able to house him and train him, just didn’t have a way to get him to Kentucky. Once she said that, I had enough hope and fate that it could be figured out, and I called the kill pen to pay the bail for the pinto mustang, Maverick’s step brother!!!

I paid $995 to Stroud: $850 for his bail, $45 for a health certificate for him to be able to cross state lines with the correct paperwork when he is trailered to Kentucky, and $100 for him to stay there at the kill pen, but in a clean stall with unlimited hay for 5 days! ($20/day) The clock started ticking then and I started sharing his story! I reached out to a few rescues and one recommended an equine transportation hauler named Steve, who called me the next day and said it would cost $1,465 to get him from Oklahoma to Amber in Kentucky.

Within 48 hours, here are the donations I received to help with this mustang’s mission:

$400, $50, $50, $200, $50, $20, $140, $100 -These donations have covered his bail and health cert and clean stall and hay!) *Donation names have been kept anonymous for privacy.*

$100, $50, $50, $450, $300, $208

These amounts have covered all but $292 of his trailer ride to Kentucky! I will also have to pay another $200 on Wednesday for him to stay at the kill pen in a clean stall for 10 additional days, sooo we are $492 short right now. Just $492 short of getting him to a loving home that will keep him loved on and never give up on him.

Once he gets to Kentucky on July 20th, he will be cared for by Amber and her family, who are currently training multiple animals for a 100-day mustang/burro competition! This mustang will be trained by her family and they will evaluate him and find the perfect home for him! I am SO excited that he will have a real true shot at a forever home now! My heart is so happy! I KNOW that a Red Rock HMA mustang can change so many lives and minds, that it is so cool to see so many people coming together to save this mustang’s life.

So now that you know a lot more about the story, please let me know if you can help. I will list the ways you can below, but just know that your help in this means SO much to me! None of us can take care of all of these mustangs that need homes, but it is pretty cool to see how when we all come together, we can at least save one and give it a great home!! Any donation you make, $5, $10, ANY AMOUNT will be appreciated more than you know. I have had a lot of questions from many people in the last few days, so I thought I would collect my thoughts here and let you know the full story and mission and need with this horse! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! THANK YOU to all who have already donated!!! I cannot wait to see him in Kentucky enjoying life!

 UPDATE!! (July 25th, 2023)

HE MADE IT TO KENTUCKY SAFELY!!!

Here are the updated costs & donations!

TOTAL COSTS: $2,695

($850 kill pen, $45 health certificate, $300 board and hay for 15 days he waited, $1500 trailer ride)

TOTAL DONATIONS: $2,705

($450 Amanda & husband, $50 Dixie, $50 Kelee, $50 Trisha, $200 Leslie, $20 Melanie, $140 Deborah, $100 Tara, $100 Kellee, $50 Jackie, $50 Allison, $300 Hope4Hooves Rescue, $208 Petra, $100 Alex, $20 Sally, $100 Shawn, $400 Ulrike, $105 Frau, $40 Julie, $40 Pam, $25 Georgina, $63 Becca, $12 Jasmine, $12 Heidi, $20 Chandelle)

I am SO grateful to each and every one of you for helping with this mission!! I could not have done it without you!! He left the kill pen on July 21st and traveled all day long and arrived in Kentucky just before midnight! In just a few days he has allowed rubs and pets, they have taken his kill pen sticker off and he continues to relax and eat and gain weight and trust!! :) 

I will include a few photos here for you to enjoy! His ongoing care will continue to cost, so if you would like to donate to his hay fund or vet fund please do so in the following ways: 

Ways to Help:

1) Paypal through paypal.me/horsebackridingclub

2) Venmo @amanda-marie-whitmire (last four 2169)

3) Zelle @18587612169 (It comes up under Amanda Cascadden my maiden name)

**If you are interested in this mustang's training or adoption in the near future, Amber and her family have set up a Facebook group to follow along his progress. His name is officially "Waffles" haha too cute! CLICK HERE if you'd like more info on that progress group; it is only $8 to join!!