The table to the left is a quick tally of the over-the counter items we’ve purchased to treat Ralphie’s tail since November of last year. We’ve purchased the same items from multiple suppliers, but Amazon provides the easiest-to-access records.

Below is a quick-and-dirty tally of veterinary and prescription expenses for Ralphie’s tail.

The reason we share the cost of caring for Ralphie’s tail is to illustrate how expensive horse ownership can be. (It would be great if you felt moved to donate, but that’s not our motivation.)

Part of the mission of Swingin’ D Horse Rescue is to promote responsible horse ownership. We believe horse owners (and adopters) must be financially prepared to provide quality care when your horse is in distress. Maybe your horse will never have a tail injury that requires $3,000-worth of care, but what about hoof abscesses, EPM, unexpected injuries, or the whole host of other catastrophes a horse is bound to encounter?

If Ralphie were in the hands of someone who couldn’t afford to pay for veterinarians, diagnostics, medications or supplies, would he be back on a kill lot instead of on his way to recovery today? Is that how he wound up on a kill lot in the first place? We can only speculate.

Our experience, after saving dozens of horses from the slaughter pipeline, is that many come to us with health issues that require hundreds of dollars to fix – but they CAN BE FIXED. We have to wonder if their previous owners simply couldn’t afford to care for their horse, so they instead opted to pass the problem along to someone else. 

We share Ralphie’s story so that folks who are thinking about taking the leap into horse ownership will think long and hard about what you’ll do WHEN – not “if” – catastrophe strikes. You won’t be able to sell a sick or injured horse to anyone but a kill buyer, so what’s your plan for covering unexpected costs?

The good news is, you don’t have to buy a horse to enjoy horses. Volunteer at a horse rescue. Lease a horse. Foster a rescued horse. There are myriad options that enable horse lovers to spend just as much time with a horse as you would if you owned it, but without the cost and headaches.