SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Volunteer(s) of the Year: Meghan, Monique and Trela!
We know you all have been holding your breath, waiting for us to announce our 2022 Volunteer of the Year! We wanted to surprise them in person (and film it to share with everyone! No pressure ladies) and it just so happened we couldn’t get them in on the property at the same time until this week! Watch as Kaya surprises Meghan, Trela and Monique, in their natural habitat (pounding T posts) and…
A Horse’s Best Friend
Veronica loves dogs! Not only if they just happen to be walking by her as she snoozes next to the fence line, but when she spots them, she comes right over and wants kisses. Our Saturday Barn Staff, Trudy, brings Titan her adorable husky to work each weekend. Trudy goes about her busy day with Titan always in tow or sometimes towing her along. Since he was a wee puppy, he has grown up at SAFE…
February Volunteer of the Month: Molly McCord
Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Month, Molly!! Molly is a delight to be around, she brings sunshine to the barn and is a fantastic leader for her Friday PM team. Friday nights are hard shifts to fill, but every Friday, there is Molly, spending her “weekend” night with us. If there was an award for longest distance traveled to volunteer, it would surely go to her for the 50+ miles she…
SAFE Tax Donation Receipts were emailed yesterday!
2022 Tax Donation Receipts were sent out on January 31 via email to everyone who made at least one gift last year and who has an email on file with us. If you did not get one, it might be because we don’t have a working email address for you. If that’s the case, send a message to donate@safehorses.org and we’ll get your fixed right up! We had 1500 different donors in 2022 and our most successful…
Pepper is Adopted!
Another one of our Fall City 40 is adopted! Our adorable, goat braying, fluffy maned little girl is all grown up and living her best life as a best friend to her big brother, Cal, a 17 year old 16HH Andalusian. Her adopter, Sue, was looking for another friend for Cal when his buddy passed away earlier this summer, leaving a huge gap in their lives and a distraught Cal. Sue’s family is passionate…
Foster Update : Gabby
We love seeing what Trisha is up to with our long eared Gabby girl. Recently, they have been working on the scary spray bottle, which Gabby would not even consider being around, until Tess (Trisha’s other horse) was interested. Gabby quickly got jealous of Tess getting reinforced for wanted behavior and decided she could give it a try. FOMO (fear of missing out) is apparently a big motivator and…
Limelight Features the Graham Horses
This week the wonderful ladies from the Limelight Pet Project came to meet the Graham herd! It is the largest feature they have ever done and we are so grateful they took on such a huge task. They spent the day with Graham horses capturing beautiful portraits of all 16. Thank you, Limelight Pet Project, for the long day(s) of photographing, interviewing and editing to shine the light on these…
Choose Cramer
Our ex-Bucking horse is seeking forever home to live out the rest of his days as a companion to those on two legs and four. This former athlete, clocking in at 16.2H, is only 8, which means he has a lot of time left to do retired horse things like play around with his friends and take lots of naps, both things he is very good at. He is a draft cross, which means this is one beefcake of a boy,…
Camille and Sebastian Adopted Together!
It’s not often we get the privilege of adopting two of our horses together to the same home, so when we do, it sends “Ooohs” and “Ahhhs” throughout our community. Though Camille and Sebastian were only at SAFE a short while and their friendship was still so new, the volunteers and staff enjoyed seeing the two spend time together in their new besties paddock. Whether it was spending time simply…
George is Adopted!
We are thrilled to announce George is adopted and to an amazing family! Back in 2019, we were called upon to help find homes for a group of wild, neglected horses, we called the Fall City 40. George was a young stallion when we met him, wild and untouchable, but VERY curious about the new people who kept showing up with food. (Hence the name Curious George) He was moved to SAFE in preparation…
January Volunteer of the Month: Danielle Jaffy
Congratulations to our January Volunteer of the Month, Danielle!! Not only does Danielle show up every Tuesday night for chores, (often early and sometimes with her sweet daughter, who helped name Nutmeg!) she also plays a crucial role in helping get our horses adopted! Danielle is helping behind the scenes posting Facebook adoption ads and assisting the horse community with the May Day horse…
Herd your Horses
The nature of SAFE is that it is a transient place, meant to be a pause in the life of the horses who come here, a comma in their lives, not a full stop. What this means is that things change on a regular basis – we play musical paddocks quite often (though all of the horses have a chair at the end of it). What it also means is that herds grow and shrink as horses come and go. For Nova,…
Otto’s Playmate
Though one might say he is mature for his age, based on how well he is going under saddle and his general level-headedness, the fact remains that Otto is still just a young lad, not yet 4. And boys, as they say, will be boys. Otto has been getting into some shenanigans as of late, with none other than his herd mate, Artie. After they get turned out for breakfast and eat said breakfast…
Tiva’s Tale
There is a journey each horse must make, a map laid out before them when they first arrive at SAFE, a pathway to a brighter future. Not every route looks the same. The topography and length vary as much as the horses themselves do – some are short and flat, some steep and winding, some end before they’ve even really began (and these particular paths, if using the map analogy, dump out into a…
A Precious Gem Seeks a Home
“Bijou” means jewel in French, and never has a horse embodied her name so fully. Sweet Bijou truly is a gem of a mare, her kindness radiating outward from her gentle eyes. Hers is a face that enjoys being pet – she is the perfect horse for someone looking for a companion to dote over and love on, for she will soak attention up like a sponge. In a herd, she can adjust to a pecking order,…
Stall Wars: A New Hope
Our Domino is a very special boy. His days before he arrived at SAFE were lonely ones, and so now, with so many other horses around and the bustle of daily activity, Domino lives a very different life than he did for many of his years. But that sort of adjustment can be difficult, especially for an older guy. Domino, like many of us, has a hard time with change, and at SAFE where change is all…
The Graham 27
On November 28, 2022, a large group of horses were seized from a property in Graham WA by Pierce County Animal Control. Fifteen of the horses were found in a large field, and the remaining twelve in an old dairy barn. The fifteen in the field were rounded up and haltered by members of SAFE, then loaded into trailers with the help of two of Seattle’s Mounted Patrol Unit sergeants. They were then…
Sisters Forever
We said goodbye to two darling horses last night and our hearts are aching. Beva and Aspen, sisters to the very end, did everything together. Last night, they shed their broken bodies and flew away, side by side for always. For Beva, it was colic, her second bad episode in a month. She could barely stand, she just kept dropping to the ground and refusing to get back up. Banamine, which usually…
Frosting’s New Friends
Our sweet filly Frosting sure is growing up quick! This little lady is really growing into a beautiful, feisty mare and has a new opportunity to figure horse things out in her new herd. Having been supported by her aunt Fancy for the last year, Frosting is ready to make some friends and live her rebellious teenage years with her fellow youngsters (while of course running back to the support of…
“Brandit,” Back at SAFE
As though returning from a long holiday, these two noble ladies have come back to SAFE. For many months we watched their experiences at their foster home from afar – frolicking alongside their foster siblings, enjoying a summer of grass, making friends with neighboring alpacas and dogs. But circumstances change, and as we slid into fall, we welcomed the girls back home through the gates…
Lacey’s Leisure Time
Lacey has been enjoying some time off this year; eating yummy grass, sleeping in her cozy stall, enjoying long naps in the sun, and spending time with her fenceline buddies (one of which was a very sweet donkey who she liked very much). Since Lacey let us know that her horsemanship journey is going to take some time, dedication, and very skilled energy, we decided to wait until we could really…
Bring Darla Home for the Holidays!
Our darling Darla is looking for her forever home! This sweet mare will melt your heart with just a single look into her big doe eyes. Darla is going well under saddle, walk trot lope, but will still need an intermediate rider to help support her as she expands her education. Her disposition would benefit from a confident partner, and she would thrive with someone who is looking for a project…
SAFE Holiday Open House
We’ve decided to postpone this weekend’s open house until next Sunday Dec 11. We’re concerned about the snow and ice on the roads making travel difficult or unsafe. And even if the temps warm up, that would make parking onsite here at SAFE near to impossible. Plus, with this week’s snow and cold, we’re all pretty exhausted… So we’re going to *try* to do this next Sunday Dec 11 from noon to…
Valentine is Adopted!
We are pleased to announce Valentine has found the perfect home! Sandy and her family are very familiar with SAFE horses having adopted two before Valentine. Sadly, Farley, passed away early this summer and while the neighbor’s horses provided some comfort to Zelda (formerly Pyrrah), they were looking for a friend to bring more joy to her life. The friendship started last month with barely any…
December Volunteer of the Month: Linda Goldman
I’m excited to announce Linda Goldman as our last volunteer of the month for 2022! I feel very fortunate to work with this kind, funny, patient, hardworking, mellow, go with the flow, do whatever needs to be done lady! Linda started volunteering in May 2021 and immediately started filling in on shorthanded shifts and then after only a few months of volunteering, took on the Shift Lead role when…
Rae-dy for adoption!
Our sweet, velveteen Rae is ready to find her forever home! This sweet-as-pie mare has come a long way from being baby Rae, and we are looking forward to get to share what makes her so special with adopters. Rae is exceptionally brave, and would likely make a wonderful trail horse because of it. On her first ride outside the arena, she conquered many obstacles – puddles, bridges, cats and dogs –…
Sparky’s New Friends
Since Sparky arrived last May, we’ve tried pairing him with a few friends for company. At first it was Ruckus, a pony, but he was adopted shortly after we paired them up. Then we tried our minis, Sunny and Shasta, but they had their routines and little home and decided they weren’t keen on sharing it with the new guy just yet. Sebastian was the first horse we introduced, because of his gentle…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Brandy
Sue C worked with Brandy during the last Joel Conner clinic, and had the following to say about her time spent with this special mare: “This weekend I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Brandy during the groundwork portion of the Joel Conner clinic. Brandy is a 27 year old quarter horse mare who has had little training with groundwork, and is very tied to her paddock mate Bandit.…
Barb, in Summary
Here are some things about Barb, otherwise known as: Barbie, when she is behaving like the doll – Barbra, with a stern intonation, i.e., when she’s exercising her right to be impatient – Bobblehead, when she’s silly (which is quite often, being newly four and all) – Barbarella, when, well, whenever. We do really like nicknames here at SAFE. No matter what you call her, this little mare is…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Darla
Kaya M, who has been working with Darla for a while now, brought this lovely white mare into the riding portion of Joel Conner’s clinic recently. Here is what she had to say about their time spent together in the arena: “I literally can’t say enough good things about this mare. She handled all of the clinic like she’d been doing it her whole life, even though it was only her second clinic. Darla…
