Training Update: Asha
Dear Asha has come home to Safe Harbor and started her preparation for saddling. She is pretty troubled about things like the flag so I am working on getting her relaxed and hooked on to me. It takes her some time each workout to find peace with me and not overacting…
Video & Training Update: Kat
Kat has made a wonderful transformation since her return back to Safe Harbor earlier this year. She was pretty skinny when she came back so the first thing was to get her healthy. Melinda, our Herd Health Manager, set up a refeeding plan to increase her calories. We…
Pasture Time for Millie
Millie has spent a great deal of her life in the company of her sire, Boss Hoss. Terry’s been helping her adjust to an independent life without her parent nearby. These videos are from Day 1 and Day 2 of Millie’s transition to a new life as an individual, learning to…
Millie Week 4
Things are Looking Up for Gunnar!
We have all fallen in love with Gunnar! This handsome half-Arabian is as sweet as they come. At the time of his intake we were told that he was 11 years old, but physically he looks like an older gentleman and his dental revealed teeth that look much older, as well.…
Tabitha has been adopted!
We are so pleased to announce the successful adoption of sweet Tabitha, now called Willa by her new family. This mare is in her element, loving long rides on the trails with her owner Alyssa and companionship of her retired 25-year-old draft mare, Ray. She has been…
Just a Picture of Hickory and Fran
Pogo has been adopted!
Small but mighty Pogo has found a home! Julianne reached out to SAFE interested in adding this pint-size cutie to her family as a driving horse and family pet. She and her family came to meet him and were fully informed of his current behaviors and the progress he’d…
Training Update: Zoe
To give Zoe the best chance at finding a home, we decided to give her a few weeks of professional training with Nick Donohue. This time will allow her a few more life experiences and make her ready for a great home to adopt her. All the updates from Nick have been…
Girl Scouts magically turn cookies into hay!
Girl Scout Troop 42212 of Redmond, WA visited Safe Harbor Stables when they were thinking about a nonprofit to support with their cookie sales and they fell in love with SAFE. To say these girls are enthusiastic about horses is an understatement. They enjoyed their…
Dottie and Piper, Living the Good Life
Dottie and Piper are living it up at their foster home! They get to be friends with all kinds of farm animals, they have acres to roam and graze on, and they have a foster family who adores them. Piper is getting to be a big girl. She’ll be two years old in June and…
Alumni Update: Rhythm
Rhythm became a SAFE horse back in 2010, surrendered into our care because of a life-threatening injury caused by barbed wire. His adopter Hillary gave us this update on her boy recently: The first photo is of the day I brought Rhythm home from SAFE, while the second…
Alumni Update: Dusty
Climb on into the Wayback Machine because today we’re catching up with a horse that was adopted from SAFE in 2010. Dusty came to SAFE as part of an animal cruelty case when he was a young stallion — just look at him now! His adopter Beth A had this to report: A…
Cameo Video May 2019
Millie Week 2
Luna Starts Work
Luna will be heading to training this summer to be started under saddle. She is currently getting in shape and working on preparation to be saddled. This beautiful athletic mare will be available for adoption after she is started. She is a sensitive and smart girl who…
Alumni Update: Biscotti
Biscotti was born at SAFE way back in 2008. At age 10, he’s fulfilling all his promise as a wonderful riding horse for the daughter of his adopter, Tracy. Here are some photos she shared with us: [gallery link=“file” columns=“2” size=“medium”…
Alumni Update: Bucky B Lucky
It gives us great pride to share that SAFE alum Bucky B Lucky, now known as Lorenzo, and his adopter Ruth Geppert-Jelinek were named Champions of the English 18 & up division for the 2018–2019 Donida Farm English/Western Schooling Show Series. The pair were also…
The Cutest Little Bunnies!
Sunny and Shasta got dressed up for their annual appearance at the Frank Lumber Easter Party! SAFE is grateful to Laurel and John at Frank Lumber for their many years of support!
Millie’s First Video 4/26/2019
Welcome, Millie and Hoss!
The latest additions to the SAFE herd are a pair of Arab horses who were surrendered to SAFE after their owner suffered a stroke and could no longer care for them. Boss Hoss is a 20 year old pinto Arab stallion, and Millie is his 11 year old daughter. The two are in…
Three Weaned Babies
It took some work and a fair amount of brainstorming, but we weaned all three babies over the course of about a week and a half. First Nova, then Rae, and finally Pippi. Even though Pippi is two months older than Nova and Rae, we opted to wean her last…
Slim’s Metamorphosis
It’s been a little over a month since we took in this handsome draft horse and his friends. Slim has been fun to get to know (spoiler alert: he’s pretty great). He came in underweight, scruffy, matted, and covered in rain rot. But with TLC and elbow grease, he’s…
Stella and Cameo Meet the Cows and Fancy Gets Started!
We enjoyed an amazing 3 days working with Joel Conner in Ellensburg. Our goal was to get the first rides on Fancy and give Stella and Cameo experience off property. We did that and so much more. I’m impressed by how well-prepared Fancy was for her first rides and what…
Nashville’s Lameness Exam
Nashville has always seemed to have some degree of mild hind limb lameness/weakness, but she has been able to handle light riding without issue. Dr. Lewis of Rainland Farm Equine Clinic was recently out at the farm and did a brief lameness exam on her. Dr. Lewis…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Stella
Casey had a few things to share with us about her rides on Stella in last weekend’s Horsemanship clinic. The pair continue to look amazing and Stella has matured into a beautiful mare that stands out in any crowd. Casey has done a lovely job bringing her along and…
A New Chapter for Renee
For the past few weeks, we’d noticed a bit of a hitch in Renee’s step. At first it was thought to be a hoof abscess in her left front foot, so we wrapped it and treated it as such. But when the abscess resolved and she was still lame on that leg, it was clear that…
Back in the Saddle with Cameo
Terry worked with Cameo in this month’s Joel Conner Clinic. Here’s her report on the progress that she and Kaya have made with this mare: Cameo was a star pupil at our horsemanship clinic this past weekend. Kaya has been working with her for the past few weeks,…
Sienna’s First Ride!
We have been getting wonderful reports back from Nick Donohue on Sienna’s progress. She settled in nicely to his training barn and Nick said that while she was a bit reactive and touchy at first, she is progressing well. Nick worked on getting her more comfortable…
Sunshine!
It’s hard to believe that just over a month ago it was 13 degrees at Safe Harbor Stables, and this week the thermostat is hitting 80! The horses are enjoying it tremendously and taking every chance they can to sun bathe. The downside to this beautiful weather is that…
The First Phase of the Moon
There’s no time like the present to get started training the new horses! We were told that Moon had some training and riding in her past when she was younger but it’s been a while. We always like to begin our new horses with groundwork sessions to help them learn the…
Health and Clinic Update: Amelia
Miss Amelia is doing very well at SAFE. She has a great friend for turnout in Tabitha, and her overall happiness seems to have increased. We have been working her a few times a week on the trail obstacles at Safe Harbor. Her behavior continues to improve but she still…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Lacey
What a remarkable job Kaya is doing with this little feisty pony! The growth in Kaya’s horsemanship and dedication to Lacey this winter was inspiring. All the hard work shows in how well they did in the clinic this past weekend. Kaya’s enthusiasm and commitment to the…
Clinic Update: Nashville
Nashville has earned the reputation of being very amiable to new riders and able to be put into a clinic or taken on a trail ride by someone she’s just met. For this past Joel Conner clinic, we were able to let volunteer rider Scott get on her the day before the…
Clinic Update: Justin
Joel was kind enough to make Justin one of his projects for the clinic. He rode him every day and helped us understand a bit more of what Justin needs to work out his braces. I had the chance to work with him the days following the clinic and all I can say is WOW he…
Joel Conner Clinic Update: Kat
Blair did an amazing job with Kat in our Spring Joel Conner clinic. It was great to see this mare out with all the other horses looking pretty darn good in her senior years. We are glad she is back at SAFE and getting a chance to find a suitable forever home with…
Joel Conner Clinic Update: Renee
Catherine took Renee into our spring Joel Conner Horsemanship Groundwork Clinic. Here is what she had to say about her experience: I was able to work with Renee over the weekend. On Friday we had troubles with paying attention. Renee was more interested with getting…
New Horses at SAFE
Slim, Moon, and Cassidy were surrendered to SAFE after the sudden and unexpected death of their owner. Their owner’s passing coincided with an unusually large amount of snowfall in this area, so friends and neighbors pulled together to take care of the…
A Happier Outlook on Life for Pogo
It has now been a few weeks since Pogo’s castration. Before the procedure, the testosterone in his system gave him a very large personality in a tiny package. Sassy would have been a huge understatement, and he seemed to be in a constant state of angst. Thanks to his…
Sage has been adopted!
Sage came to SAFE a shaggy, slightly pushy pony, but through good handling and Horsemanship groundwork at SAFE she blossomed into a polite equine citizen, and in January 2019, she was adopted by Raven Rock Ranch as a therapy horse. Keeping with Raven Rock Ranch’s…
Pyrrha has been adopted!
Pyrrha’s past life is a mystery: she was perhaps a ranch horse, a 4H mount, or a western movie star fallen on hard times. Whatever her past may be, we know one thing for certain: her future is very bright! She has found a home with Sandra and her family to be a…
Herd Health Recap 2018
If there’s one thing we’re really proud of here at SAFE, it’s our Herd Health program. Most of the horses we take in didn’t received proper vet care or nutrition in their previous lives, so there is a lot we need to do to return them to good health. When a horse first…
Amira has been adopted!
From the beginning, Amira’s winning personality shone through her starvation coat. She just needed a little TLC and conditioning to be ready to place in a wonderful home! Adopter Laura fell in love with Amira at first sight! It was easy to do with this sweet mustang…
What’s new with Lacey?
A sweet update from Kaya on working with Lacey, post-snow storm: With snow falling off the roof of the arena, Lacey and I have been focusing exclusively on groundwork for the past few days. This is totally fine with me as we have a lot to work on! Today we went into…
Photo Update: Marta
SAFE Survives the Snowpocalypse!
The past two weeks have been a challenge to say the least, but after four snowstorms and more than two feet of snow, we’re happy to say we’re still here! The twenty-two horses currently at Safe Harbor Stables, who range in age from 3 months old to…
Remy Health Update
After a few weeks of assessing Remy’s behavior under saddle, he has stopped making improvement. He isn’t regressing anymore, but it’s clear to trainer Nick Donohue that something isn’t right. Nick has stopped riding him now and we have been discussing the next steps…
Training Update: Tabitha
Tabitha came to SAFE in April of 2018 from a situation of extreme neglect. She currently in excellent health and SAFE has gotten her up to date on all vaccines, dental and farrier work. She has been a very easy to handle for our volunteers, vets, and farriers. Tabitha…
Big Girl is Ready to Ride!!
https://youtu.be/ZCDmnEwOJSs Kaya has been diligently working through the groundwork steps to get Sienna prepared for a rider. Here is what she had to say about this experience: “Sienna is, without a doubt, one of the smartest horses I have ever worked with. Having…
Training Update and New Video: Justin
Justin has been a joy to work with these last few months at SAFE. He has steadily improved with each ride and is more and more comfortable with a rider. We are working on loosening him up and helping him work without getting tight or braced. He’s had the most…
