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Swingin’ D: “Source of financial gain” for owners?

Rolling in the… There are people who make a comfortable living in the horse rescue industry. They collect enough donations to pay substantial salaries, buy expensive vehicles, and provide perks that many people can only imagine. Horse rescue is a noble venture that takes back-breaking effort; so, good for them for figuring out how to […]

Ani’s road to Happily Ever After

After a year and approximately $9,000, Anastasia has journeyed from slaughter to sanctuary… and Happily Ever After is closer than ever. Generous donors saved the stunning registered Missouri Fox Trotter from an Oklahoma kill pen in March 2019 and asked if Swingin’ D Horse Rescue could provide sanctuary. She was so profoundly lame, we were […]

Dear President Trump: Protect America’s Horses

Dear President Trump: Congratulations on your successes in your first term as President of the United States, including Phase One of the trade deal with China; though I respectfully request that you re-visit a section I can only pray was an oversight. Much has transpired since last we met. I was Miss Oklahoma, competing in […]

What would you do?

What would you do if you saw this horse as you scurried about your busy day? Shake your head and drive on by? Say a silent prayer? Curse his owners under your breath? Break in and remove him? Throw him some food? We get contacted by citizens concerned about horses like this all the time. […]

Lipstick on the pig of horse slaughter

If I needed people to defend an indefensible position, I’d find a way to make it look morally acceptable. To help my soul wrestle with the cognitive dissonance, I’d slap a heap of lipstick on that pig. As a public relations professional who helps organizations restore their reputations, I know a little something about framing […]

China trade deal threatens American horses

Phase One of President Donald Trump’s trade deal with China threatens to open the gates of hell for America’s horses, with the reemergence of U.S. slaughterhouses.

Wait and See… Now your horse can’t see

A week ago, volunteer April Slater noticed Everest – our big, loveable gray quarter horse (half of the Ghosts) – squinting his right eye, which was weepy and obviously irritated. We’ve learned from experience, a “wait and see” approach to eye injuries can quickly lead to a blind horse. When it comes to the eyes […]

Kancia’s story will save lives

Hard knocks can be useful when we learn from them, and some lessons can only be learned through hard knocks. Half of Swingin’ D Horse Rescue’s mission is to save at-risk horses and place them in forever homes; the other half is to share those horses’ stories as teachable moments to promote responsible horse ownership. […]

Sounds evil when you put it that way

We get asked all the time, how on earth does a perfect horse like this get sent to slaughter?! Sometimes we can guess the excuses and justifications, but I often imagine how the decision must have evolved.   Dream Sequence: Bob’s Going to Slaughter Owner we’ll call Christina: “Ol’ Bob’s laminitis is acting up again. […]

One horse, two very different futures

Kancia’s story begins the same as nearly all the horses Swingin’ D Horse Rescue takes in: We didn’t have the space or the money, so when Susan called looking for a place for an older mare she’d intercepted from going to auction, I had to turn her away. Looks are deceiving I told myself the […]