Penny The Pony Found Safe After Missing For Month

PLANT CITY, FL — A beloved children's party pony is back home after being stolen from her Plant City stable a month ago.

Casey Reid of Turkey Creek Stables, 5534 Turkey Creek Road, Plant City, couldn't help but think the worst when Penny the pony, a 29-year-old mare who'd been a fixture at the stable for 12 years, went missing on Saturday, March 7.

Starting in November and continuing through January, several horses in central Florida had been found slaughtered, most likely butchered for horse meat.

The mangled corpse of the first horse was found on Thanksgiving Day in Ocala. Four days later, a second horse was butchered in Palmetto. On Dec. 11, the bloody remains of a third horse was discovered in Bushnell.

Then, in January, Brena Kramer, who runs the Railroad Pass Equestrian Center, a rehabilitation facility for horses in Zephyrhills, interrupted an intruder who was likely trying to butcher one of her horses. The horse that she rescued from a kill pen was found in his stall, bound by ropes.

Reid said she wasn't initially concerned when Penny went missing from Turkey Creek Stables, which abuts the county-owned Medard Park containing 2,700 wooded acres.

"She likes to roam the property," said Reid.

The night Penny went missing, the stables was hosting its monthly horse competition. Reid placed Penny in a gated field, so the pony wouldn't get in the way of the competitors' horse trailers that were coming and going during the event.

When Reid went to check on Penny the next day, she'd disappeared from the field.

"She's old, so we thought maybe she got confused and lost her way," said Reid. "We began searching for her on horseback."

Unable to find the pony, the stables contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office agricultural crimes unit.

"It came to mind that maybe she'd been butchered," said Reid. "But I never thought anyone would steal her."

While the agricultural crimes unit investigated the pony's disappearance, Reid posted photos of Penny on Facebook asking if anyone had seen her.

"A lady saw the post and got in touch with us. She said knew where the pony was," said Reid.

Reid was already familiar with 18-year-old Joel Johnathan Lopez. He'd been at the horse show the night Penny went missing. In the midst of all the activity taking place during the show, she said it would have been easy for Lopez to pull a horse trailer up to the gate of the field where Penny was secured, load her into the trailer and drive off.

When the stables confronted Lopez, he returned Penny, saying he found her wandering 2 miles down the road. Reid said the story didn't make sense. If he really found her, why didn't he contact any stables in the area to see if they were missing a pony?

The story sounded suspicious to agricultural crimes deputies as well.

On Wednesday, deputies from the agricultural crimes unit questioned Lopez, and he confessed to stealing Penny from the stables. At the time he stole her, Lopez was working for a party pony business.

Lopez has been charged with grand theft animal, a third-degree felony in Florida.

"I am disgusted that someone would steal a horse for their own monetary gain," said Sheriff Chad Chronister.

Although Penny was unharmed during the episode, her days of roaming the property are over. Reid said they plan to keep a much closer eye on the wandering pony.