By 2011, Honeycutt had been a SAFE horse for six years. He chose 2011 as the year to break his silence by becoming a professional equine blogger, first on Facebook and then on his own website. Honeycutt wrote extensively about horses and how he felt they should be treated. He also revealed a talent for writing poetry, mainly haiku, and abstract painting, using the “nose on canvas” technique. Honeycutt raised donations online with the help of the Honeycutt Nation, and he expressed his opinions clearly with a few simple words: “NO MORE POINTY HORSES!” 

Honeycutt’s website is still live at http://honeycutt.safehorses.org

On August 9, 2011, a barn fire in Arlington left 6 horses dead and 4 badly injured. Strider survived the fire but he suffered burns over his entire topline. He was hospitalized and treated for his wounds, but two months after the tragedy, Strider’s owner, who was facing financial hardship before the fire occurred, was unable to continue to pay for his care. His vet turned to SAFE for help and in October 2011, SAFE took ownership of this horse. Strider continued to receive treatment for his burns but by early 2012, the healing had slowed considerably. Dr Hannah Mueller DVM would perform a skin graft procedure to accelerate the healing process. The skin graft was a success, so much so that not only would Strider be able to live a normal life, he eventually became a riding horse again. Strider taught us all about strength and perseverance; he was a big, big horse with an even bigger heart.

EXCERPT: “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. He had been abandoned, found by a realtor locked in a stall alone in a barn on a property that was for sale. He was held as a stray for 5 days by King County while they tried to figure out who he belonged to. 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, and he had dropped fetlocks due to DSLD. It was clear to all of us that Brio was in pain…” Click Here to read Brio’s sad story