You broke your hand while baking a cake for your husband but you didn’t have the money to fix it. Your husband doesn’t want to deal with you whining and crying about how much your hand hurts. And who’s gonna bake his cakes with you all mashed up and bawling?
He goes out and finds a much younger little cutie with perfect little baking hands, and swiftly moves her into your bedroom.
Three's Company
Women can be expensive, and, for those who struggle with math, two women can be twice expensive. Not to mention, the bed’s a little crowded with the three of you – especially when one of you has a giant, throbbing paw in an oven mitt full of ice.
Hubby’s gotta make a choice. One of you has got to go; and despite all those years you loved, honored and cherished him, you don’t get a say. You don’t get to remind him of the commitment he made to you, all the beautiful memories you made together or the delicious cakes you baked him though the years. It’s a business decision that comes down to economics and space. And cake. Hubby loves his cake, and the new little cutie bakes even better cakes than you used to bake (you know, before the hand mishap).
Happy Trails, Wifey
So Hubby loads you into the back of the station wagon for what you believe is one final hot date; only he’s not taking you to your favorite restaurant. You’re going to the land of broken wives, where you join everything from the young wife who just needed a few cooking lessons to learn to bake a good cake, to the old grandma wife who just needs a daily dose of ibuprofen to keep the oven humming.
But the worst part of being unceremoniously dumped on the island of misfit wives is learning who runs the joint. Your new caretaker is a serial killer of wives, which means you’re about to die in the most inhumane way imaginable.
The Allegory of the Wife
Okay, horses are not wives, and humans don’t enter into lifelong covenants with them; but no sentient being that’s capable of service and loyalty deserves the scenario you just read. Still, tens of thousands of American horses go through it each year when their owners carelessly dump them because they can no longer afford their care.
That’s where Swingin’ D Horse Rescue comes in, and that’s where you can help. Just like you don’t deserve to be put down because your baking hand needs to be set and put in a cast, horses don’t deserve to be betrayed and slaughtered because of a fixable ailment a previous owner couldn’t afford to treat.
Whether it’s wooden clogs that cost $1,000 to remodel a $700 horse’s feet, or medical treatments that cost $6,500 to salvage a $350 horse’s tail, Swingin’ D spares no expense for a horse that just needs a little investment of money, patience and care to return to health and productivity.
When the vet delivers bad news about a horse’s condition, we ask two questions: Can the horse ever live comfortably without drugs, and does the horse have the will to survive the treatment. If the answers are yes, we ask for the most effective treatment plan – regardless of cost. Yes, we could slap a band-aid on it, mask the symptoms and find some dupe adopter to trick into taking him off our hands, then feign shock when the adopter tells us he’s broken; but then we’d be no better than the kill buyers, brokers and horse traders who perpetuate the problem of unwanted horses by peddling disappointment and disenfranchisement.
We understand it’s the worst possible business plan, but business is what nearly killed these horses. It would be the definition of insanity to continue to allow business to dictate whether loyal servants live or die.
Where You Come In
When you’ve seen the transformation in as many horses as we’ve seen – from pathetic, skin-and-bones, lame and hopeless to spry, healthy, full of spirit and running with the herd – you know you need to keep doing whatever it takes to make horses whole.
You also know that God wouldn’t show you your purpose in life just to watch you go bankrupt, and that He filled the world with people who want to help. We just have to find them.
So Many Ways to Help
Swingin’ D has plenty of ways horse lovers can help us save and rehabilitate even more horses. One great way you can help is to foster a horse that’s awaiting adoption. Every foster family that helps us care for a horse through the winter, makes it possible for us to take in another poor soul.
You can also help by making a tax-deductible donation.
If you’re unable to foster or donate, please consider some of the other ways you can support our mission of saving and rehabilitating unwanted horses.
- Volunteer
- Shop for Swingin’ D
- Donate equipment or land (also tax deductible at the value of the item)
Your tax-deductible donations help us bear the brunt of fixing the problems that sent these precious souls to slaughter so their next human isn’t faced with the decision your poor hubby had to face when you broke your baking hand.
