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…

Introducing Lisa Garr, Weekend Barn Manager at Safe Harbor

As SAFE grows, we continually find ourselves wanting to do more for the horses in our care. Compared to even just three years ago, the amount of daily activity and labor at Safe Harbor has easily doubled. Every day we have volunteers cleaning stalls, throwing hay, and…

Aubrey Intake

Aubrey was surrendered to SAFE by her owner who was unable to provide care for her. She’s had it pretty rough for a while now, and has rain rot over most of her back and hooves that are in bad need of a trim. She also had a badly bowed tendon on her left foreleg which…

Phoenix: Health update

To help understand Phoenix’s navicular diagnosis, we asked Dr. Devine from Pilchuck to write up a brief explanation of the diagnosis and treatment options. We are currently managing him with shoe that have a lift in the heels and he seems happy and is looking good. To…

Home from the Hospital!

We welcomed Anakin to Safe Harbor Stables on Wednesday, a long awaited homecoming for everyone at SAFE. After four weeks at Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital, Anakin was released from their excellent care into ours. Finally strong enough to stand up without the aid of the…

Health Update: Phoenix

We are again working with our farrier to find the best shoe package to help Phoenix’s soundness. Last summer, Dr. Devine from Pilchuck did a big work up on our golden child which included x‑rays. The conclusion was that the root of his lameness is navicular syndrome.…

Health Update: Emmy

Emmy’s rehab after surgery went according to plan — or so we thought —until around the 6 week mark. We noticed her take a few bad steps in turnout and that raised a few red flags that something might be wrong. Dr. DeWard examined her and noted swelling in the stifle…

Professor Anakin Gives Back

We are preparing for Anakin’s release from the hospital on Wednesday, getting his feed delivered, getting his stall ready, and preparing for transport. In the meantime, we were delighted to find out that Anakin is already giving back to the horse community! We…

Getting to know Bean

New horses always take time settling into their new lives as SAFE horses. In the first few weeks they’re here, we get to know their personalities, what they like, what they don’t like. We start to dream of what kind of home will be the perfect match. Bean had been a…

Anakin Update: Jan 13 2016

Anakin has now been at Pilchuck for three weeks. We continue to see improvements in his condition. He’s steadily gaining about a pound a day, topping the scales at about 865 lbs now. (For reference, a horse his size should weigh between 1100 and 1200 lbs.) His calorie…

Cameo: Making Progress, Getting Stronger

Cameo continues to make good progress in her rehab from last July’s injury. Volunteers have been walking and trotting her in hand for the past several months. Cameo is a pretty good girl for her exercise sessions but she is easily spooked if there is too much noise or…

Getting to know Jessel

Well color me impressed! Jessel had her first health check up with Dr. McCracken and she was a superstar. She was a little shocked by the first vaccine but it only got better with the others. We will be giving her more boosters in a few weeks but at least she won’t…

Getting to know Tess

We are happy to have three sweet new mares in our care: Tess, Bean, and Jessel. They were rescued from a very tough situation of neglect and starvation, and it’s going to take some time and TLC before they are ready for adoption. At the moment, we are letting them…

Training Update: Mesquite

Sometimes you meet a horse and say, wow, now that’s my kind of horse!  Mesquite has had my heart from the beginning. Once I rode him, I was done for! He is an amazing horse! He is kind, gentle, intelligent and fun. Plus, he has three smooth gates. Oh, and did I…

Banjo and Finn: Foster Buddies!!

Banjo spent about a month at Safe Harbor Stables before heading out to a foster home with Finn. These two Palomino geldings are like brothers!  After a little “play fighting” to establish that Finn was the boss, they have now settled in and are good buddies. This is…

Foster and Health Update: Rocky

I recently spent the morning with Rocky during a routine vet visit from Dr McCracken. His foster parents, Kellie and Peter, have done wonders in gaining his trust with their kind and patient handing. Rocky has come a long way from the timid boy he was when we first…

Health Update: Karma

Karma’s rehab has been going well. She is progressing with her trot work and the transition to having a rider was uneventful.  She has been easy to handle in every way.   Karma is available for an adopter who is willing to carry on with her rehab plan. We are very…

Grandma Dottie Belle

Dottie has a new friend at her foster home at Pacific Moon Equestrian Center —an 8 month old KWPN gelding named Frido! This young son of Freestyle seems to really enjoy life in the big field, as long as Dottie is by his side. Dottie has taken the little guy under her…

Training Update: Anderson

Anderson made his way home from training a few weeks ago. It has been a lot of fun getting to know his personality and to start riding him. I have 100% confidence getting on him. With unfamiliar horses you don’t always know how they are going to react to a new rider,…

Adoption Announcement: Hickory!

Hickory has been adopted! It is wonderful that this gentle boy has found a perfect home while he’s been training with Joel Conner. Fran, his new owner, is an avid trail rider who is looking forward to having him join her two older horses. Fran plans on leaving Hickory…

A perfect place for Lola!

The end of 2015 was a very busy time for us as a few of our horses made their way to join new families.  One that has been a LONG time coming is LOLA’s adoption! It has been quite the journey for this little mare.  SAFE and our volunteers have been with her through…

Anakin Update — Jan 5, 2016

Anakin continues to make progress in many important ways. He’s slowly gaining weight–topping the scales at 856 lbs at yesterday’s weigh in — and his appetite remains hearty. He’s drinking plenty of water, passing manure, and his protein levels seem to have…

Wrap up from Joel Conner Clinic Dec. 12–13, 2015

We had a great time hosting Joel again at Safe Harbor. The horses and volunteers had an amazing weekend and everyone progressed in their feel and training. Here are a few accounts from the volunteer participants about what they learned about the horses they were…

Chip finds his forever home!

Chip has been a SAFE horse for a while…three years in fact…and we’ve had the opportunity to watch his transformation from a breeding stallion to the best and happiest gelding in the herd. And today we can happily announce that he has finally found his forever…

Khianna: Training update

Khianna has shown progress in her training with volunteer Jolene.  The two are working diligently and their efforts are paying off.  Here is a little about Khianna’s personality from Jolene: “When Khianna first arrived, she was very fearful of most things; she was so…

Ben and Lisa Take a Lesson with Michael Sparling

Here is a lovely write up from Lisa G who is training Ben at Safe Harbor. He is gaining a lot of confidence from her steady and caring approach. I worked with Ben in a lesson with Michael Sparling the other night, and have a lot of things, big and small, to work on…

Emmy, Sophie and Annabelle are turned out for the winter!

Emmy is getting a winter turnout with her new friends Sophie and Annabelle. Sophie and Annabelle have been at the farm for about a month now and welcomed Emmy into the herd. They are all getting along well and even the goats get to hang with the girls! We are hoping…

Do You See the Family Resemblance?

This lovely young mare to the left is one of Dottie’s offspring, Dana. Doesn’t she look a lot like Dottie? Dana lives in Juneau, Alaska and a few months back, her owner was researching her lineage online and stumbled upon Doty Belle’s “Where Are They Now?” video on…

Photos of Khianna

Here are some beautiful photos Jessica took of Lisa and Khianna working together: 

Anakin Update 12-28-2015

We had a little unwanted excitement just before Christmas. Up until Dec 23rd, Anakin had not tried laying down in his stall at Cedarbrook. He’d just graduated to free choice hay (as opposed to the small frequent meals he’d been getting up to that point) and he’d…

Bean Intake Photo — Sept 2015

Bean is one of three mares seized by animal control in Snohomish County after they were discovered hidden in a barn, locked in filthy stalls, and starving. Bean’s filly Jessel was one of the three. Bean was considerably underweight when she was seized. The horses were…

Anakin Update

Our boy continues to fight the good fight at Cedarbrook Vet Hospital where he is being cared for round-the-clock. His feed has been increased so that he now has soaked hay in front of him nearly 24 hours a day, which makes him VERY happy! He does have some swelling in…

Horse Collaborative: Anakin and the Anatomy of a Horse Rescue

Anakin and the Anatomy of a Horse Rescue From the racetrack, to the research lab, to death’s doorstep by Bonnie Hammond Published Dec 16, 2015 Link to the story online at HorseCollaborative.com Link to the story on Horse Collaborative’s Facebook Page For us, Anakin’s…

Training update: Nala

Nala continues to do well under saddle. She is moving up to more trot and is looking sound! The volunteer riders are dedicated to her rehab work and they are enjoying getting to ride her. She is still bare foot and as long as that looks good we are going to see if how…

Scarlett is doing great!

After some time off we are back to riding Scarlett. She has been such an amazing girl through everything. We had her flex tested a few weeks ago and got the all clear to start riding her again. She picked it back up like she hadn’t missed a beat. What an ANGEL! We are…