Sinatra

age: 3 (born approx Mar/April 2007)
sex: gelding
breed: 3/4 Saddlebred, 1/4 arab
color: cremello with blue eyes
height: 13.1 hh

Seized by King County Animal Control on Feb 23, 2008, Awarded to SAFE on July 22, 2008
Status: In Training

Located in Woodinville, WA
Adoption Fee: $1000

Sinatra is one of 10 horses seized from a Carnation farm and taken in by SAFE. This little colt came to us with a Body Condition Score of 1.5 on a scale of 1-9. Sinatra and another colt Kokomo, were living in a 12 x 36' pen which was full of dead blackberry bushes and debris, including pieces of wood with protruding nails. There was no food but the blackberry bushes in the pen and no hay anywhere on the property. Not 15 feet from their pen was a dead mare, her body bloated and partially eaten by coyotes, perhaps the mother of Sinatra or Kokomo. Sinatra was wearing a halter and thankfully, once we brought in some hay, he was easy to catch and load into the trailer.

Like the others, Sinatra was suffering from severe parasite infestation, rain rot, and his feet don't appear to have ever been trimmed. The lack of hoof care and severe malnutrition caused Sinatra to be quite severely cow-hocked, but good nutrition resolved this problem completely after several months. His appearance was deceptive due to his thick fuzzy winter coat and his extremely distended belly from the internal parasites, but when you touched this baby you could feel nothing on him but skin and bones. Sinatra captured our hearts with his affectionate and boisterous personality. Despite his hardships, he loves people and attention and is always waiting at the stall door for more attention from his rescuers. We did have some concerns with Sinatra as his body temparature was low his first day with us, but he seems to be doing well now and his energy level and appetite are good.

Update (2/29/08):
Sinatra gave us a scare yesterday. The weather was so nice yesterday that I let them out for a couple of hours of grass time, and I think it was a little too long for Sinatra, who may not have been used to having any grass at all. He had a mild gas colic last night and gave us quite a scare. He had a little banamine though and perked right up, and I checked on him a couple of times in the night and he was just fine. This morning he was his usual perky self and begging for food and attention. Phew!

Update (3/3/08):
I am here to tell you that everything you've heard about Sinatra is true. He is the friendly, most social, most outgoing little horse I have ever had the pleasure to meet. He is much smaller than his stall mate Kokomo and their neighbor Phoenix, but that does not stop him from being the bravest, boldest and most charismatic of the bunch. He loves to visit over his stall door... and he always needs to be in the center of whatever is going on at the time.

And he is so cute! He has this little tiny muzzle covered in white velvet and he's always sticking it everywhere...into your face, into your hands, into your pockets. He's got tiny little hooves, and a short little tail, and cute fuzzy ears, and he even smells like a baby!!!!!!!!! He has big blue eyes, and gorgeous white fur, and he wears the cutest little foal blanket and it is just too much to bear. (Sorry everyone, that was a little "foal meltdown." :D )

Update (3/4/08):
Sinatra was wormed yesterday and has the runs and is a bit less than his usual chipper self. Other than that though he is doing well - I think they all want to have more outside time and get out of the stall, but we have to ease them onto grass slowly.

Update (4/9/08):
Sinatra has made tremendous progress since we last updated this web page! He had a tough time of it for several weeks following the seizure, especially once he started to be treated for internal parasites. He had a very hard time maintaining a normal body temperature, and often after he lay down for a period of time, he would be too weak to get back up. He and Phoenix, who had similar problems, were stalled together, bundled up in blankets, and warmed by heat lamps night and day. Slowly the two colts regained their strength, and they seem to be out of the woods now. The two are inseperable, and their bond seems to have brought a great deal of strength to both of them. Now, when they are turned out together on sunny days, they run and buck and play, just like other foals their age.

Update (5/9/08):
Sinatra is shedding out to be a lovely warm cremello and we've discovered a star on his forehead! He and Phoenix are enjoying the arrival of spring and warmer weather.

SERIOUS CUTENESS ALERT! Read about Sinatra and Phoenix on the Horsebytes blog: Photo Assistant

Update (8/5/08):
Sinatra and Phoenix were gelded on July 17, and everything went very well. They have now completed their recovery and are available for adoption.

We now know that Sinatra's dam Sea of Wisdom is alive; however, his sire, Seas the Golden Day, died in the care of Jean Elledge.

Update (11/26/08):
Sinatra and Benny have been moved out to SIlverdale WA where they are being fostered by SAFE Treasurer Bonnie Hammond. The two boys are sharing a paddock with SAFE horse Honeycutt, who has proven to be a pretty good babysitter. Sinatra is doing very well in his new surroundings. He remains a very social and personable little guy. He will stop whatever he is doing, even eating, to come over and say hello. He is very brave and is not startled by things that most horses would run from, like tarps being dragged past him. He is quite easy to catch and lead. All in all, a delightful little guy.

Update (3/5/10):
Sinatra has started training with Andrea Lucianna. He has done great in his first two days. Yesterday they groomed him, bridled him and started teaching him how to lunge. Today he wore a saddle and did more lunging, and he was absolutely unfazed by the saddle. He was so calm that the trainer actually was able to lean over his back and have her helper lead him around. He's super, super easy and mellow to work with. Afterwards, he got a bath, which he really needed.

Updage (3/9/10):
Sinatra is doing great! The trainer reports he is the easiest to start so far. She's been on him at the walk several times now and he's just really good. She will trot him tomorrow. She says he might be one we could get away with just 30 days on if he stays doing this well. He gets a little nervous, but no buck, and she says he feels very honest and tries hard to please.

Update (3/16/10):
Sinatra trotted under saddle for the first time today! The trainer describes him as "completely unconcerned about having a rider on him" and "a little on the hot side." She has to watch out for his flying head as he likes to flip his head around and he managed to whack her in the chest with it even as she was leaning back to avoid it. We are convinced that Saddlebreds have some kind of weird double-jointedness going on in their necks, they sure are flexible with them!

Update (5/1/10):
Sinatra graduated from training today with a successful 60 days of work. We are very proud of him! He's done so amazingly well and really is a success story to be proud of, considering the state he came to us in 2 years ago.

Sinatra will be going to a new foster situation at a Hunter/Jumper facility in Woodinville where he is going to be the special project of one of the working students there who will be working with him under the instruction of the trainer. She will be doing a training blog on him as well as arranging some special fundraisers just for Sinatra, so stay tuned for some really great updates on how he is doing!

Oh, and he is now available for adoption - $1000 adoption fee!

SINATRA BLOG: http://sundancerpride.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-sinatra.html

Click here to follow Sinatra's progress on the SAFE Message Board.

If you are interested in sponsoring Sinatra, please click here to learn more about our sponsorship program.

Send email to adopt@safehorses.org if you are interested in adopting Sinatra.

Please read SAFE's adoption policies prior to submitting an adoption application for any SAFE horses listed on this site. SAFE Adoption Policies can be found HERE. SAFE has a strict no-breeding policy.