Alumni Update: Vida
Vida’s adopter, Jo Ella, shared this sweet photo of the two of them in February. Jo Ella said Vida is her best friend and it doesn’t get any better than that!
Sienna is Looking Sleek
Sienna is what they call an easy keeper, or as her fans insist, “She’s just big boned!” We were giving her the minimum amount of hay that we could, but she still had some weight issues. The staff was stumped and even had her blood tested to see if something was wrong…
Topline for Teddy
Teddi looks like a horse in her 20s and is only 9 years old. We have recently started Teddi on Nutrina Topline Balancer which contains more protein, but is low in calories. We will see if this helps her develop her topline a little better. We will be checking her…
Cyrus is Adopted!
We could not be more thrilled to announce that Cyrus is adopted! We hit the jackpot with his adopter and we could not be happier. Carol and Jim came to SAFE a few months ago to look for a friend for their riding horse, Nitro. Sadly, they had recently lost their…
Coco’s First Day Out
A Whole New World for Breve
Breve went to foster for a month of training with Julie, one of our amazing fosters. When Breve first arrived she met Julie’s horse, Sophie, who chased her around like a kid going after an ice cream truck. However, Breve was so good and never pinned her ears and even…
Our Newest Addition: Coco!
We have a new horse to introduce. She joined our herd Wednesday, April 21st at 10:37pm. Welcome to the world, Coco! Sundae delivered her filly quickly and easily without a hitch. Less than two minutes passed between the time her water broke and her foal was born. The…
Sundae Surprise
Sundae was one of a group of seven ponies seized from their owner by Animal Control. Two of the male ponies were stallions, and one was cryptorchid…so naturally we were concerned that some unplanned breeding might have taken place prior to their rescue. As it turns…
Meet Ajax
We have a new horse who joined our herd late last week: Ajax, a 23 year old QH Type gelding, was “rescued” some time ago, but for the last few years, he did not receive the care he needed. When his owners sold their farm, he was rehomed to someone who wanted him as a…
Meet Lucca and Aries
Terry, our Operations Director and Jane, a long time SAFE volunteer, headed across the waters on a ferry ride to Kingston. They picked up two new horses this week, Lucca, a 19 year old bay Arabian mare and her friend, Aries, an 18 year old red roan Arabian. Both are…
Update on Mac’s Injury
Mac’s bandage was changed on Monday and it looks good! The wound is starting to fill in and we will be starting him on oral antibiotics this week. He isn’t the best for worming, so we will see if he will eat it with a little grain. If not, we will try a…
Update on Teddi
Teddi has been in our rehab paddock for over six months. We do not see her limp at a walk and are still hopeful that time may heal her pastern joint. Right now, we are now considering Adequan to improve her long term soundness. Adequan is a supplement which has been…
Alumni Update: Misty
Misty is doing amazingly well! She won “Horse of the Day” at an IEA show and is currently serving as an part-time lesson pony and teaching kids at Burkwood. Since Sarah hurt her knee, she can’t ride right now, but having Misty teach lessons to the little ones allows…
Jill is Ridden for the First Time
Kaya calls Jill, Beans, which is short for Jillybeans. She has many names. Jill was started under saddle at the Joel Connor Clinic a few weeks ago. Joel had the first couple of rides and then Kaya was also able to ride her. Here’s what Kaya had to say about her: Jill…
Barb Started as a Riding Horse
Barb has become Kaya’s favorite horse to work with. She was ridden for the first time at the Joel Connor Clinic a few weeks ago. Then Kaya got on and has been working on riding her ever since. Barb is a very opinionated pony, but seems to enjoy the work. She is really…
Pearl is Becoming a Riding Horse
Pearl had her first ride at the Joel Connor clinic a couple of weeks ago! She isn’t bothered by having a person on her back and took to it easily. Here’s what Kaya had to say about her: Pearl has come a long way since being at SAFE, but still has a long way to go…
Mac is on the Injured List
Sadly, Mac had a bit of an accident yesterday during turn in. He got bothered just outside the barn door, scrambled backwards, and fell onto a ceramic planter. He suffered two sizable lacerations on his left hind gaskin that needed emergency vet care immediately.…
Razin’s Surgery was a Success!
When Razin was seized by Animal Control along with a group of neglected ponies, he appeared to be a gelding. However, none of the other male ponies seized from that property had been gelded, which made us wonder why the previous owners would have gelded this young…
Sweet Sienna
Sienna is a sensitive horse with a lot of life. She’s a BLM mustang who looks like she has a mix of draft horse in her, so people might think she is lazy, but she’s not at all. Terry, who rides her, has worked hard on getting Sienna to relax and just stand still. In…
Veronica’s First Dental
Veronica has made fantastic progress in the past few months! She has gone from being a horse who was turned out 24/7 and only worked in her attached round pen to being walked all around the property and even spending a night in a stall. This month she received her…
Mac’s Lameness Exam
During a recent veterinary exam, Mac flexed positive in both his right hind fetlock and upper limb. He improved on soft arena ground but the test on hard ground showed pain. To rule out any major issues, we decided to take radiographs of his right fetlock which showed…
Jasper’s Surgery
Jasper had a bony growth on the left side of his jaw. It did not seem to bug him or cause him any pain. However, he would repeatedly bump it and break open the skin, so we decided to have the growth removed. We held a fundraiser for a surgery for one of our ponies,…
Flynn is Adopted!
When Flynn’s new family first visited Flynn at SAFE, he walked right over to their daughter, Olivia, and nuzzled her. On their second visit, Olivia and Flynn played Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light. She even made up her own colors for turning and trotting. He was…
First Ride on Kayla
Here is what Terry recently had to say about Kayla: “Kayla has been a lovely mare to get to know. She came to us with a great foundation and was ready to get to work right away. Our first goal has been to strengthen her for riding since she had a few months off prior…
Merry in the Round Pen
Here is a video of Terry working with Merry in the round pen at SAFE. Merry is a terrific horse with a sweet personality. It won’t be long before someone takes home this wonderful mare.
Caramel Learning to Trust
Caramel is working on trusting people to handle her hooves. These videos are the result of a ton of patience and relaxed feel with Trisha lifting her hoof. What amazing progress this mare is having with her kind foster mom! No expectations and no timelines.…
Frosting Arrives at SAFE
Witness Frosting’s first moments at SAFE after Animal Control dropped her off. Having Veronica as her neighbor was a highlight for this young mustang who makes sure Veronica knows she is a baby by clacking her teeth.
Alumni Update: Whiskey
We recently got an update from Whiskey’s adopter Marie and she says that Whiskey is doing great! They both travel a lot to the mountains, and even took a trip to Montana. Whiskey is 25 years old now, and is a sneaky lady. She still has a lot of life, running around,…
Mac’s First Couple Months
Mac has only been at SAFE for about two months. He is a sensitive boy with sweet eyes. So far, we are working on getting Mac conditioned and building more muscles. He is learning that moving forward is the answer. He braces when he is asked to go back and is head shy…
A New Horse at SAFE: meet Frosting!
Frosting is an 8 month old Mustang filly who was one of four horses seized by Animal Control due to neglect. Having just taken in seven ponies from another county, SAFE was not able to take all four of the horses, so one went to Pony Up and two went to a private…
Whisky and Shortbread are Adopted!
We are so excited that Whisky and Shortbread have found their forever home with Sherry, Rick and their 27 year old Appaloosa mare, Windy. Whisky is very interested in Windy and really wants to be friends. Windy isn’t quite sure about this yet, but Rick and Sherry are…
Caramel is off to Foster
Today was a BIG step in the future success of Caramel. She is headed to a foster home where the views are fantastic and she is surrounded by other horse friends. Trisha, who is now fostering Caramel, adopted one of the Fall City 40 horses, Hazel, last January. She did…
Veronica Out and About
SAFE’s volunteer, Candi, has been a huge part of Veronica’s gentling process. Her kind and patient feel has been key to the successful haltering of this extremely sensitive and touchy mare. We have slowly gained her trust and she is allowing for basic grooming and…
Billy Has Come So Far — Foster Video Update
Billy has come so far in the 8 weeks he has been with his foster family. Julie has been hard working hard. Here is a couple videos she sent to us. He is ready for a family to adopt him who can continue the great work he has been getting with SAFE. He is not suitable…
Q13 Pet of the Week: Razin
Fundraiser for Razin
Razin has been with SAFE for over a month and recently has been diagnosed as a cryptorchid, which means that he needs a more complicated procedure in order for him to be gelded. While a little more invasive than a typical gelding, this procedure will cost SAFE between…
The Three Little Horses
Razin, Sundae, and Breve have been doing wonderfully at SAFE. All three have progressed greatly and are learning what it is like to be loved and to have human friends. Their haltering skills are continuously improving, and they even did well for their first farrier…
Cyrus Is On The Mend
Cyrus has come such a long way since he first arrived at SAFE, and soon he hopes to be making friends with a few other SAFE geldings. Before he gets the chance to spend the day with the other boys, he is working on recovering from a minor injury he received on January…
Beauty in the Big Arena!
This is Beauty’s second time riding at SAFE outside of the round pen. She is coming down off a feel nicely, learning to soften through one rein stops and building trust with her rider. She can be fairly “gate sour” and she would prefer to be ridden alongside another…
Meet Marianna Clair, SAFE’s new Development Director!
We have a brand new SAFE staff member to introduce to everyone: Marianna Clair, who joined SAFE last week as our Development Director. Marianna will be taking over responsibility for fundraising efforts at SAFE, as well as planning and executing events, and developing…
Flynn’s First Ride at SAFE!
This was the first time we saddled Flynn, bumped him up to the fence, and mounted him for a ride. He did extremely well and felt like a “been there done that” pony! We have only had him at SAFE for 2 months and most of the time has been spent recovering from his eye…
Hazel’s New Home
Terry recently dropped off Hazel at her new home. Here is what Terry had to say: “Jackie and I were so blessed to be there the day Hazel was picked up and today we got to help settle her in to her new home at Hooved Animal Rescue of Thurston County. She truly has come…
Piper is Adopted!
We are excited to tell you all that our baby Piper is returning to her wonderful foster mom, Talia, but this time it is for KEEPS! Yep, you heard it right, Piper is ADOPTED! Talia fell in love with Piper two years ago when she opened her herd and heart for Piper to…
Who’s your Valentine?
This week was the first time Terry worked with Valentine in the round pen. She doesn’t appear to have had much formal training and she is very sticky getting her to get on her hind and change directions off the halter lead. She is especially stuck in her right hind.…
Quincy Gets His Hair Did
This was Terry’s third time working with Quincy. He is very reactive and afraid of human contact. At a few points during his groundwork session, he leaned into the touch and his eye become very soft. Hopefully with patience and time we will help him over his…
Greetings from Gig Harbor!
Pepper and Tilt have been spending time in Gig Harbor with a wonderful foster family. Lisa Garr, one of our volunteer riders, lives in Gig Harbor and stops by the foster family’s home to work with the two mares. Here’s what she recently had to say about their…
Alumni Update: Glory
Here are some photos that Glory’s adopter, Melissa, recently shared with us.
Alumni Update: Baxter
Baxter is living a well loved life on 5 acres with a 20 year old gelding as a best buddy. Here are some photo’s that Baxter’s adopter, Mandy, recently shared with us.
No Expectations
One thing I love about SAFE is that we have no expectations or deadlines that our horses have to fulfill for us. We accept them as individuals and recognize that one size doesn’t fit all. As we got to know the Fall City 40 horses better, we found there were many…
Fancy Update
Fancy has been at SAFE for nearly three years. Through the great work by her horsemanship trainers, Fancy has become a trusting and athletic riding horse. As a veteran of both Joel Conner and Buck Brannaman clinics, Fancy has learned to relax around other riding…
