Building a secure foundation for new possibilities.

My name is Sara Draper, and I have spent the last 7 years on a crazy journey that ultimately created Dragon Stables Equine Center. DSEC is now at a crossroads, we need help funding Earnest Money to begin purchasing land to call home for the Center. As the older generation of farmers, many now in their 80s, look to retire, they are selling off their properties. Many are being bought by developers, then cut up and turned into cookie cutter houses with postage stamp backyards.

We are looking to purchase land (~20 acres) near Stillwater OK to provide a forever “sanctuary” & rehab setting for our beloved Equines. Dragon Stables Equine Center Inc (501c3) currently funds & cares for multiple horses pulled from kill-pens. These horses are now housed at boarding ranches throughout the Stillwater Area.

Many of our current herd will stay as sanctuary herd members – but just as many will need rehab/retraining to make great partners. We are currently looking at multiple properties that range in price from $400-$900k. It must have enough acreage suitable for foraging animals w/ natural windbreaks & water sources. Of course – solid fencing is vital part this project.

With your help, we can begin to secure a location that meets all these needs & we will begin the tedious process of making this become a reality. Our plan for this ranch would be to create a self-sustaining facility that rescues, rehabs, & re-homes those that are able & provides sanctuary for those who are not.

This is an immediate need as we need to secure a location for the horses by September 2023 – as our current farm owner is retiring in August. In addition to caring for the horses – The ranch would offer tours, educational clinics and unique events . History has shown that youth events and specialized adoptions help provide great security for our horses. These types of projects will be ongoing, as will our Barn Buddies. Our goals remain on focusing on creating an environment where DSEC’s equines are forever safe & not at risk of ending in a slaughter pipeline again.

We need your help.

Many of the horses in our care have faced the auction cycle many times and need time to decompress before becoming productive members of equine society again.

CoaCoa went through action every single weekend in November 2022.

Sissy & Zepper came from a place where there were up to 180 horses at one point with bodies just laying in the fields rotting.

Monster was sent to a kill pen because she chipped her knee and was no longer sound to race. (She has an article on HorseRacingWrongs – Goodin Puddin)

Revenge went through the killpen cycle twice, we escorted her to the rainbow bridge in September 2022.

TipTap (rehomed 2020) was sent to auction because she didn’t produce a foal.

Mere-Mare was starved & matched with a baby that wasn’t hers to bump up the sympathy to resell by the weight buyer, she passed a few weeks later due to organ failure from refeeding syndrome.

Ty (Mere-Mares baby) was a 5 week old colt (too young to be sent to slaughter) so he was paired with a starved mare who wasn’t his mother for sympathy building. He passed less than 2 days after arrival due to a strangulated umbilical hernia.

These are the horses we give safe havens to until they can trust again, that in itself is a long process unique to each horse.

Our chance at a secure foundation is desperately needed as many farms are being sold, many are outside of our price range, and we have tried to do this alone, but simply can not. The bailing to safety is just the beginning of the expenses many of the horses will incur. As a 501c3 in good standing, your donations are tax deductible.

Our current farm is being offered to us at a significant discount below market value however we need to come up with 25% as Earnest Money before the owner retires (end of August 2023), that total is $54,600; we have set our goal to $55,000, if we cannot secure this farm then we need to raise almost double the funds while paying significantly more in boarding leases.