Horse rescue has its highs and lows, and in order to keep going, we focus on the highs whenever we can: the before & after photos, the success stories, the happy adoptions. But today, we’re feeling pretty brokenhearted. We know that we can’t save them all. But that hardly eases the pain when we’re faced with a horse that we can’t save.

We didn’t know his name, so we called him Brio. He was a small bay stallion with a smudge of a star and two white socks, and our best guess was that he was a Peruvian Paso. He had been abandoned, found by a realtor locked in a stall alone in a barn on a property that was for sale. Picked up by King County, he was held as a stray for 5 days while they tried to figure out who he belonged to and when they couldn’t, he was released to SAFE. As soon as we got a good look at him, our hearts sunk. Brio was rail thin with a protruding spine and hipbones. His joints were all enlarged, especially his hind fetlocks which were enormous and painful-looking. His skin was weirdly elastic in several places, and could be lifted away like it was unattached to the muscles below. He was transferred to our vet who diagnosed him with Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis (also known as DSLD/ESPA).

It was clear to everyone that Brio was uncomfortable and in pain. In light of his condition and his age (estimated at 25), the decision was made to let him go. So today, on a stunning Northwest fall day, with a belly full of grass and in the warm light of the sun, Brio was humanely euthanized. His suffering is over and for that, we are very grateful.

But now that it’s over, we’re all feeling especially heartbroken over Brio. We only knew him for a few days, but we liked his pretty face, his talkative nature, and the cute way he would peer through a crack in the back corner of his stall to watch the horses in the arena. We all feel very strongly that humane euthanization was the right choice for this horse, and we are relieved that his suffering is over. His death was dignified and humane…but his life, at least in the end, was a tragedy. This horse belonged to someone who cared so little for him that he was thrown away like garbage. And we will never have the chance to make it up to him. That makes us very sad. It also makes us very angry.

All we can do for Brio now is continue to fight to keep other horses from suffering the way he did. That is why SAFE is committed to supporting local Animal Control agencies whenever we possibly can, so that people who abuse and neglect horses can be found, stopped, and punished.

Godspeed, Brio. We will never forget you.

Sunny was 28 years old when he found himself unwanted, neglected, and homeless. When he was taken in by SAFE, he was pitifully thin, his hooves overgrown, his chestnut coat dull. His teeth had not been cared for in several years, making it hard for him to chew his hay. His right knee was terribly enlarged from an old untreated injury, and he couldn’t move too quickly on it. He was in sad shape.

Sunny’s recovery over the summer months was slow and steady. There were some setbacks— a loose tooth that needed to be pulled, a scary episode of choke — but he seemed to be regaining his strength.

Despite his neglect, Sunny was still a proud horse who tried his best to keep the upper hand over his much younger companions. I kept him safely in his own paddock where he could still believe he was the top dog without letting him come to any harm.

He was also very vocal, and he nickered loudly and often…whether asking for food or just saying hello. Some days, when he felt especially good, he’d transform into a beautiful Arab steed…head high, ears pricked, nostrils flared, and tail flagging. In those moments, I caught a glimpse of the magnificent horse he’d been in his youth.

But as winter crept closer, Sunny began to slow down. His bad knee

She lived alone in a small muddy paddock with nothing to eat but potatoes. Her living conditions had already attracted the attention of Animal Control, but it wasn’t until she got tangled up in barbed wire that her owner finally surrendered her to the authorities. The barbed wire cut a 5” long and 4” wide gash into the muscles of her neck, exposing and just missing her jugular vein. When SAFE agreed to take her, it was uncertain if she would even survive her injury. Fortunately, our vet was able to suture the wound closed and stave off infection until it healed. Once recovered from her ordeal, April was sent into training to be a riding horse, where she proved to be an excellent student. April will make a wonderful companion for someone looking for an uncomplicated riding horse. She is also a complete and total sweetheart, pretty as the day is long. Only a slight bit of scarring hints at how close April came to dying. April was a lucky horse; unfortunately there are other horses out there that aren’t so lucky. Helping SAFE means that another horse like April gets a second chance at life.

He was a show horse, used to the best of everything. Corona was a courageous jumper who won ribbon after ribbon for his owner. And when she had to sell him in order to go to college, she thought things would never change for him…but she was wrong. Corona’s new owner didn’t feed him enough and the once handsome bay Thoroughbred grew thin and unhealthy. He sustained an injury that went untreated and soon became infected. Corona was helpless…and wasting away. Luckily for him, a kind person saw his plight and convinced his owner to give him to SAFE. When he came to us, he was a wreck: skinny, dirty, and dejected. It took months of vet care before he fully recovered from his injury, and gained back the weight he had lost, but in time, we started to see glimpses of the show horse he was. At the 2011 SAFE Benefit Show, Corona was back in the spotlight, winning Champion Rescue Horse as well as Reserve Champion of the entire show. And now his future is bright again. He’s been adopted and his new owner — who plans to make him into an eventer — will never let him fall into neglect again. Corona’s story has a happy ending, the kind of happy ending we hope for every horse to have. Help us make that wish come true!

His life nearly ended before it really even began. An accidental breeding brought him into the world, and for Sinatra and the other horses where he lived, the world was a harsh, unfriendly place. There was not enough to eat, and horses were dying. When Animal Control agents raided the farm in February 2008, 6 month old Sinatra and another foal were found in a tiny pen with nothing to eat but blackberry vines, not 15 feet away from the body of a dead mare. Sinatra came to SAFE along with 10 other survivors from the farm, and like all of them, he was nothing but skin and bones, riddled with intestinal parasites, and covered in rain rot. For a week after his rescue, his body was unable to regulate its temperature, and we kept him alive using heat lamps and layers of blankets. But despite his condition, Sinatra was an absolute joy from day one — affectionate, curious, friendly and sweet — and as we watched this little colt survive and grow, we couldn’t help but adore him. Sinatra has come so far since being rescued. He’s won blue ribbons at horse shows; he’s been taught to carry a rider on the flat and over jumps. Someday soon he’ll find his forever home, and the world will always be kind to Sinatra. And the world is a much better place with Sinatra in it.