Oscar: Training Update and Photos

Oscar has been a superstar for many of our volunteer riders. He continues to do well as a riding horse and has great ground manners. We love him very much and hope that his forever family comes to find him soon! He is a gentleman and a volunteer favorite. He deserves…

Sophie: Training Update and Photos!

Sophie is doing wonderfully in her training and preparation to be started under saddle. Volunteers have been introducing her to tack and doing groundwork with her so she’ll be ready to start training with Joel Conner in August. She has been a doll for everything and…

Health Update: Rocky

From Rocky’s foster mom Kellie: Just giving you an update. Overall, Rocky is doing well. Jim should be out this week or next to do his front feet. He is looking long, but most of that is how his feet grow these days. He is cantering and trotting around when you turn…

Lacey: New Photos

Sweet baby Lacey! She is a doll and we are enjoying getting to know her. She is already a volunteer favorite! Here are a few photos that Jessica Farren took on our 3 week from intake. [gallery link=“file”…

Stevie: New Photos

Stevie has been with us now for just 3 weeks and he is settling in to life at Safe Harbor. He is a VERY sweet boy who is sociable and wants to connect with people. Here are some beautiful photos Jessica Farren took of his body condition after 3 week re-feeding. We are…

Health Update: Stevie & Lacey

We have taken them slowly through the re-feeding process, starting with just what they were getting for hay when they came to us and slowly increasing that to the full amount required. Horses need between 2–4% of their body weight in hay. Our flakes are about 5…

Dusty in Colorado

In 2013, Dusty and his family made the move to Colorado. Dusty’s adopter, Beth A, served on the SAFE Board of Directors, and remains in contact with several people in the organization, so we get updates on Dusty all the time. Here are some photos that Beth sent us of…

Emmy’s new friend!

What is cuter than pictures of sweet Emmy? Pictures of Emmy and a PUPPY! Molly is our volunteer and neighbor’s new golden retriever puppy and Molly along with her big sister Maggie, came over to say hi this week. These photos are absolutely ADORABLE! Jessica Farren…

Not impressed.

Jewel, who helped out as an anatomy model at yesterday’s Equine Health Fair & Open House, is not impressed by Ben’s posturing.

Meet the new kids on the block!

Please join us in welcoming the two newest faces at SAFE! Stevie and Lacey are two young mustangs who were born in the wild, then rounded up and sold at auction. They are now three and a half years old and while they haven’t had the easiest life so far, they have…

Meet the SAFE Operations Council

What is the Operations Council you ask? Only the glue that holds everything together here at Safe Harbor! From a broken faucet to a horse with hives, these volunteers are the ones we call to ensure things run smoothly and are here supporting our horses behind the…

Adoption Announcement: Karma!

We’ve had a whirlwind of adoption announcements to share with you this past month. They’re all special…but this one is especially special. Karma has been adopted. From the moment we laid eyes on Karma, we knew that this troubled mare truly needed our help. Her past…

A Gift of Bodywork: Oscar and Nala

The SAFE horses have made a wonderful new friend: Barbara Breckenfeld of Movement in Balance. Barbara specializes in equine bodywork, massage, and energy healing. For the past few weeks, she has been coming to Safe Harbor and donating her time and gifts to a few…

Health Update: Bridgit

We are currently working to strengthen Bridgit’s hindquarters. We had Dr. McCracken come out and evaluate her and help us understand why she has such a sway in her trot from her hind legs. It is a little of “the needle in the haystack” for an answer so at the moment…

Open Positions on our Volunteer Team!

SAFE Horse Rescue is looking for new volunteers in a couple of specific areas! Read the following volunteer descriptions to find out if one position is right for you. If you are interested in lending some of your time to help our organization for any of the following…

Adoption Announcement: Tess!

When a new horse arrives at SAFE, we never know what we might have on our hands. So we take time to get to know them and we give them time to heal and recover from their past neglect. Watching these horses transform is one of the joys of working with a rescue! When…

Health & Riding Update: Scarlett

Scarlett is looking great! The combination of leather pads on her front hooves and weekly massages with Lori McMasters have brought her a tremendous amount of relief. With the pads and no pain in her front hooves she has been able to take some stress off her hind…

New friends: Annabelle and her Goats!

Annabelle has been fostered out at Jackie’s for 9 months and recently the other horses Sophie and Emmy moved back to Safe Harbor for training leaving Annabelle without a horse mate. While the neighbor horses are always in sight we weren’t sure how happy Annabelle…

Training update: Anderson

Anderson is one BIG love bug! If he could, I believe he would come into the house and snuggle up on the couch with me. This big puppy has a giant heart. It’s been a joy to be around him during his journey to becoming a riding horse. He has a very smart and strong…

Adoption Announcement: Mesquite!

We are so pleased to announce that Mesquite has been adopted! This handsome and talented boy has truly made an amazing transformation. Less than eight months since arriving at SAFE as an unstarted stallion, Mesquite is now a well-adjusted good citizen with loads of…

Foster Update: Rocky

Update from Rocky’s foster mom Kellie: Just wanted to let you know that Rocky is still doing very good. He is eating most of his meds (7/8th???) and I’m seeing only a few hay “balls” with the orchard grass hay. I think it is softer for him to chew. His weight is…

Foster Update: Banjo and Finn

Here are some great photos of Finn and Banjo (aka “Joey”) and their foster parents Carrie and Derek. They are taking wonderful care of these two boys. We are so lucky to have wonderful fosters to care for and love our companion horses! [gallery link=“file”…

Sophie: Baby is growing up!

Sophie had her first dental float this week! We were able to confirm that she is coming four years old this year. One baby cap came off during the float and one wolf tooth was extracted with no trouble. She needs a little work with needles for sedation but wasn’t too…

Heath Update: Anakin

After six months in our care, we’re reaching the final stages of Anakin’s rehabilitation. Dr. McCracken came out Monday to do a dental float and give him his vaccines. Unsurprisingly, Anakin does not have the world’s greatest teeth…there was bad ulceration but he…

Health Update: Emmy

This week we brought Emmy home from winter turnout at foster. We had a lameness evaluation done on Tuesday (video posted below) and sadly, she is still slightly off on the right hind. The time off has helped her some, but there is clearly something still bothering…

Check in with Cameo!

Cameo is getting back to work and doing very well. We are keeping things easy to start with, working on groundwork, saddling, and hooking up with her handlers. Already we are seeing good changes! Here is an update from her volunteer rider Claire: “Cameo has come a…

Thank you from ALL the horses at SAFE!!!

A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who donated during the Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG event May 3rd and 4th! Generous donors like you raised over $16 MILLION dollars for non-profits in the Greater Seattle area. SAFE is so very thankful to all of you who donated over…

Training Update: Jewel

Claire has done an absolute AMAZING job training Jewel for SAFE. Our little palomino paint has transformed into a beautiful young riding mare with a TON of potential. Claire had a few things to tell us about the progress Jewel has made and riding her in last month’s…

Ben at the Joel Conner Clinic, April 16–17, 2016

(as reported by Ben’s regular rider, Lisa Garr) In December of 2015, Ben and I participated in a clinic at SAFE with trainer Joel Conner and I was just hoping he would stay calm enough to participate safely. Well, he blew me away then with his focus, willingness, and…

Eye Surgery is a Success

We have good news to share: Anakin had his eye surgery done last Thursday and it was a complete success. He spent the night after the surgery at Rainland Farm Equine Clinic so Dr McCracken could watch over him following the procedure, and he was released into our care…

Jessel Medical Update

On February 5th, Jessel sustained a skull fracture while she and Tess were playing in turnout. Radiographs were taken and determined that the fracture was about 2 1/2” long and had slightly dislodged the bone in her face. She was prescribed antibiotics, pain…

Stella Medical Update

On March 24th, Stella came up completely lame on the left hind leg. Dr. McCracken came out and diagnosed her with a peroneus tertius tendon rupture. This tendon is part of the apparatus in the hind limb that coordinates flexion and extension of the stifle and hock.…

First meeting of new friends

With Shay’s recent passing, Marta was in need of a new friend to join her at her lovely foster home in Fall City. Since we’ve determined that Aubrey is not sound enough to be ridden, she seemed a good choice. Here are photos of the two mares meeting for the first time…

Nadia Update!

Hi Bonnie, We wanted to write and give you an update on Nadia! We adopted her from SAFE almost 5 years ago. She was my daughter Zoë’s very first horse and she is now riding her for WAHSET for Yelm High School.  I thought I’d send you some pictures of our first couple…

Run free, Shay

Strength and beauty. Two words that perfectly describe Shay. In the four years that we have known her, we’ve seen her battle back from neglect to become a vibrantly, beautiful mare. She’s lived a happy life in the company of her best friend Marta under the wonderful…

Anakin Update — March 14, 2016

Another month has flown by and the skelatal horse we met back in December is becoming more and more of a memory. Anakin has now put on nearly 200 pounds since his rescue, and he is starting to glow with renewed health and vitality. He’s enjoying more and more turnout…

Rocky: New Photos and Heath Update

We had a nice visit last week with SAFE horse Rocky at his foster home. Jessica Farren was able to come along and took some beautiful photos of Rocky. He has really come a long way from the frightened and pained horse that SAFE took in over a year and half ago. His…

Aubrey: Health Update

Dr. McCracken came to examine Aubrey and check her soundness to see if she could be a light riding horse. After palpating the front leg she determined that the bow tendon is very old, so there is no point in ultrasounding it. Dr. McCracken confirmed that Aubrey has…

A Great New Life for Maggie!

For SAFE horse Maggie, the road to her forever home has been a long one. This mustang pony mare was gathered out of a Nevada BLM roundup in 1995, so by our estimation she’s about 22 years old. We know very little about her life before coming to SAFE but there’s pretty…

New shoes for Phoenix!

We had new shoes made for Phoenix and he is LOVING them! He is sound and moving great in them. David Barron and Gavin Cooper from Olympic Forge started trimming and shoeing horses for SAFE at the beginning of 2016. Phoenix has been struggling to find the right pair of…

Training update: Khianna

Here is an update from Khianna’s volunteer trainer and rider Jolene. We are very proud of her progress: Khianna is slowly transforming into a calm and confident horse. A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to use a tarp to assess Khianna’s progress. I expected a…

Rover Update!

Rov is a joy to our family and appreciated every day. All of the horses on the property love him and look after him like a little foal. And, my daughters have a ball with him even though they’re now too big to ride him.

Freedom at last!

Yesterday was another big day for Anakin! Following his eye doctor appointment and a sponge bath, he got to go out into his run for the first time ever! His exercise has been strictly controlled in order to keep him from burning too many calories, but the racehorse in…

An Appointment with the Opthomologist

While Anakin’s weight has steadily been improving since his rescue in early December, his left eye has become more and more cloudy. The pressure in the eye has been monitored by his veterinarians, and it was recommended that we have him examined by an equine eye…