Phoenix in Rehab

Here’s volunteer Stephanie riding Phoenix during his rehab session yesterday at Safe Harbor! As of this week, Phoenix is now being walked up to 30 minutes per day. Happily he’s being a wonderfully well behaved gentleman for his rehab…not to mention stunningly…

We named her Grace

Many of our supporters have asked for more detail about what happened to Ruby’s foal. If you missed the beginning of the story, you can read it here. Another busy Saturday night at NWESC had Dr. Hannah Mueller caring for her patients. She passed Ruby’s stall to see…

Saddle? No problem!

Mr Finn was a superstar yesterday! He wore a saddle for the first time since coming to SAFE and was completely unfazed by the experience. Terry says was a perfect gentleman! Way to go, Finn!! As we’ve mentioned before, when we took Finn on as a SAFE horse, we were…

Happy saddle day, Sapphire!

Sapphire wore a saddle for the first time today as a SAFE horse, and she was a champ! Terry was even able to lay across her back and have a volunteer lead her around the arena for a few steps. Great work, Sapphy!!

The Alpaca Gauntlet

Kat, Skittles, and Lola went out for a walk today to see the alpacas, who live right down the street from Safe Harbor Stables. We’re located pretty close to the Tolt Pipeline trail, but to get to the trail, you have pass by the alpaca gauntlet. Some of the horses find…

Groundwork for the win!

When Oscar was returned to SAFE in December, it took nearly two hours to load him into the trailer. As Terry remarked not long after meeting him for the first time, getting the respect of this feisty little gelding would be her first priority. “He is very sweet on the…

April Training Notes: Sapphire

We had a pretty big setback with Sapphire after Sasha’s passing. We’ve been doing ground work with her to gain her trust, and she regressed quite a bit and started showing some aggressive behavior again. But thankfully, by the end of the month, she was getting back to…

April Training Notes: Atticus

Atticus has been very spunky and playful in turnout, now that he’s settled back in at Safe Harbor. He continues to have food aggression issues and does not want anyone near his food. Our volunteers are being trained to ask him to back him up before they enter his…

April Training Notes: Finn

We’ve had some difficulties keeping Finn’s shoes on recently. His feet seem to be pretty soft and his shoes have just fallen off a few times. But they seem to be holding better now, and hopefully with better nutrition and hoof care, his feet will improve. We treated…

April Training Notes: Oscar

Oscar has been doing much better under saddle, and we’ve seen good improvement in his willingness to move forward. Also the Dynamite Vit has helped his lethargic behavior and he is not drifting off while we are working with him anymore. He still has issue with…

April Training Update: Kai

I’ve had some wonderful rides on Kai this month where he was feeling stronger and showed some good self carriage. I started working on sitting trot and found he is not ready for this on his weak back muscles. I will continue to slowly introduce more of this over the…

April Training Notes: Lola

Lola has been making good progress this month, including some good independent trotting without the help of a ground person. I found that she loves to trot with Kat in the arena so I’ve been riding her during Kat’s rides so she gets some “help” when she starts getting…

April Training Notes: Jewel

Jewel is doing well, learning to lunge and develop some ground manners. She still pulls on the halter when lunging and she overreacts when asked to go out on the circle. Treatment to the injury she sustained to her left hind foot was actually beneficial to…

April Training Notes: Phoenix

Phoenix’s rehab is going well. We’ve re-introduced walking under saddle. He is up to 20 mins of riding, continuing some hand walking up to 30 without rider. Increasing both by 5 mins gradually over each the week until we reach 45–60 mins then continue with that…

April Training Notes: Skittles

Skittles is doing very well and is now going walk trot and canter under saddle. She did seem to lose a little weight this month, possibly due to coming into season, so I increased her mash again just a bit. She is muscling up a bit along the top line mostly over her…

Two New Arrivals…One Unexpected

We rely on our compassionate SAFE community members to help us provide for the horses in our program. Today, we need your help more than ever. On Thursday evening, working with local Law Enforcement, we took in a young mare in serious trouble. Her BCS was a…

Skittles is stylish!

Check out Skittles’ cute hairdo…we’re calling it the flip flop! She is so amazingly sweet and LOVES getting hugs. Xoxo!

Somebody to love…

Savannah is such a lovely mare. She’s probably never going to be comfortable enough to be someone’s riding horse — her fibrotic myopathy causes a lot of strain to her back and hips — but she’s got so much to offer someone as a companion and friend. Savannah is a horse…

Silly goose!

Savannah didn’t enjoy yesterday’s hail storm, but rather than come inside to escape it, she chose to stand outside in her paddock and look miserable. Fortunately the hail didn’t last long, and within minutes all was well again, but we just had to laugh a little when…

Horses do the darndest things…

So Atticus has returned to Safe Harbor — his wonderful foster home had to bid him Adieu when one of their horses came home from training. He’s looking like a million bucks, by the way, he had a great winter hanging out with SAFE alum Deeds. Terry turned him out in…

New horizons for Misty

Misty has spent more than a year in foster care with Lisa T, a terrific rider and trainer who has donated countless hours working with this mare and continuing her training in a forward and positive direction. During their time together, Lisa and Misty did arena work,…

Woodinville Weekly: Student’s Book Helps SAFE Horses

Student’s Book Helps SAFE Horses by Shannon Michael published March 18, 2014  Alex Olson is not your ordinary second grade student. She took a book writing project and turned it into a charitable fundraising opportunity that benefits Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE), a…

Owen Update

Owen continues to make steady progress adjusting to his new life as a SAFE horse. We’re taking things very slow with him to earn his trust. Fortunately Owen is a very good boy, gentle and willing and easy to deal with. It’s lucky for us that his behavior is so mild…

Sasha, Rest in Peace

On Friday afternoon, surrounded by friends who were there to comfort and say goodbye, Sasha was humanely euthanized. It is never easy to make the decision to let a horse go, but it is especially difficult when that decision is being made because we fear for the safety…

Finn training update

Finn has been in ground work for the past several weeks, and he’s been very impressive! He’s made a big impression on Laura M who has been coming to Safe Harbor Stables a couple times a week to help Terry with ground work. Laura is very enthusiastic about Mr…

Foster/Training Update: Ginger

Ginger is coming along well. She now going fairly solid walk/trot and they are working on the canter. Her canter is still very unbalanced and quick due to lack of strength but it is coming along. She has an especially hard time cantering to the right but she does pick…

Volunteer update: Moments with Savannah

Sandi N is a volunteer at SAFE Harbor who has been spending some quality time with Savannah, both as a friend and companion, but also helping her with her fibrotic myopathy. Terry asked Sandi to share her thoughts about her interactions with this lovely mare: Meeting…

Skye Training Update

Skye is currently living up at Half Trak Farm as she begins part 2 of her training journey with Andrea Lucianna. When Skye first arrived at Half Trak, she had a bit difficulty settling in. At first she would not tolerate being in a stall and would pace, refuse to eat,…

New Tires for the SAFE Trailer!

We would like to express our appreciation to Les & Jeannette Parrett and their family for the donation they made to SAFE for the purpose of acquiring new tires for our horse trailer. When we purchased the trailer last year, the safety inspection indicated it was in…

Cameo Update from Training

Cameo is continuing to progress in her work with Andrea Lucianna at Half Trak Farm. It’s been a difficult journey for this mare, and she has her good days and not-as-good days, but she is moving forward all the time. It’s important to keep in mind just how far she’s…

Trailer Training with Phoenix

Getting Phoenix loaded into a trailer for the trip back to SAFE last fall was an experience that many of us shudder to remember. So now that we have the ability to safely secure the SAFE trailer in our outdoor arena, many of the horses are getting trailer training as…

Owen’s Story

This is Owen, a 6 year old American Curly stallion who was surrendered to SAFE by his owner. He’s a handsome young horse, healthy and sound, and he seems bright, curious, and smart. He’s also 6 years old and completely unhandled, not even halter broken. He doesn’t…

Skittles at the Open House

Skittles had the opportunity to let her sweet personality shine during this past weekend’s Open House. She was the official greeter in the main barn, and she was completely charming. 

March training notes: Skittles

Skittles is going very well under saddle in both walk and trot. She has shown on two different occasions that she is a very level headed horse by not overreacting to noises or other horses acting up in turnout next to the arena while she was being riden. I wouldn’t…

March training notes: Oscar

Oscar has been pulled from the Volunteer Rider program for now, due to resistance moving forward and some kicking/bucking at the leg. Saddle fit is an issue—he’s very sensitive to the saddle rocking on his withers. We have been working on his grumpy reaction when…

March training notes: Finn

Finn is such a nice horse! He’s happy just to have his halter put on and be taken for a walk – he loves interaction and physical contact. Loves to be loved on! We set him loose in the arena, and he had lots of pent-up energy to burn. He ran around and around, kicking…

March training notes: Sasha

Moving forward with her in strengthening and re-introducing a rider. Her back is very weak so it will take time to build up. First rides were good but Sasha does show stubbornness when it comes to going forward. This could get ugly quickly so I’m taking it slow and…

SAFE Awarded Training Grant from the ASPCA

We are extremely pleased to announce that SAFE has been awarded a $4,000 Training Grant from the ASPCA Equine Fund for the second year in a row. This grant was given in recognition of SAFE’s commitment to producing good equine citizens who are ready to succeed,…

Rain, sand, and Sasha

This is what happens when you mix rain, sand, and Sasha. I think she knew I was laughing…what else could I do? Love her face! 

February Volunteer of the Month: Lisa Tuininga

One of the many ways to volunteer with SAFE is to become a Foster for a SAFE Horse. Our network of foster homes is what allows us to help more horses than we can house at our main facility. When we happen to come across a foster who is also willing and capable to…

Volunteer Update on Sapphire

SAFE Harbor volunteer Heather E has been interacting with Sapphire since her arrival at SAFE, and they’ve developed an interesting relationship. We asked Heather to share her experience with this lovely but troubled horse: Sapphire is one of the most welcoming horses…

Dances with Horses — a Visit from Trainer Laura Nurss

Thank you to Eve Tai for this writeup and for the attached videos! A few weeks ago, SAFE hosted Laura Nurss, a horsemanship and liberty work teacher at Horse Haven at Bear Creek. We asked Laura to come to SAFE Harbor to work with Dottie, Sapphire, and Lola to help…

Finn at SAFE Harbor

Finn was released from Dr Hannah’s care this week, and is now part of the herd at SAFE Harbor Stables. He’s already found one new BFF in Jewel…the two of them are quite smitten with each other. They are a nicely matched pair, about the same size and very similar in…