The Story of Swinger

I hope I get this all right...my head was pounding during the telling of it.

Swinger was rescued by a young teenage girl and he was her horse for many years. When she left home, she was just starting out and unable to care for him. Her parents sold him and the new owners agreed that if they were unable to keep him, they would give the family first option to take him back. This never happened. And like many horses, Swinger started the multiple sale routine. At one point he was a riding stable rented nag. he got older and thinner and more and more useless until one day he found himself on the auction block with the meat man sizing up his poundage. That is when the girl, now grown up found him again. She was still not set up to have him so she convinced a friend in the horse trading business to buy him and find him a good home. One day his new owners decided that he was too old and were ready to sell him for meat. The woman stepped in and took him and has been trying to care for him for the last couple of years. But old horses are expensive and old horses require alot of extra care and she was not able to keep this up but could not face having him out of the safety of her control. Her family and friends, concerned for her well being, convinced her that Swinger was just too big a responsibility at this time of her life. That is when a friend of hers told her about SAINTS. She called, and I was as usual, brutally honest, we would take Swinger in, and she was free to visit and remain his friend, but she would have absolutely no say in any of the decisions regarding his care, ever. I have to do this or we get tied up in everyone else's strings and needs. We simply cannot function in the best interests of any animal if we have to consider anyone else's needs except their own. For me the bottom line is really simple, either you trust us to care for the animal well, or you do not. If you do and they come here, then we need the freedom to do our job. If you don't trust us, then don't send the animal here in the first place, find a solution that fits you better. She has agreed and thinks that Swinger will be happy here.

She tells me that Swinger is a lanky, skinny, long legged clutz. Because of his decreasing muscle mass, he is accident prone and clumsy. he suffers from separation anxiety and will really be heart broken over the breaking of the bond with his long time companion horse friend where he lives now. He is arthritic and lame from an old injury somewhere in his past. Swinger is thirty one years old, and that will make him SAINTS oldest resident.

The sheep will be losing their stall and joining Carl in the open barn til the donkeys move to their new home, then they can have the donkeys stall again. I am not sure how much they will like that, I bet they try to move in with Gideon instead. They like him better than Carl. I hope Swinger is not too upset by the move here, and I hope he finds peace and happiness in this his very final home. And I wish to God, that horses will one day be considered life long companions and none of them ever have to suffer the breaking of their hearts and the loss of their hope, year after year as they are bought and sold and bought and sold again. Welcome Swinger, we are looking forward to caring for you forever.