SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Sad News
Last Saturday, Aubrey slipped on a wet stall mat at her foster home. When she got back up, she was not putting weight on her right hind leg. Dr. Fleck examined her and found that she was very sensitive in her pelvic area. He was fairly certain that she has sustained a fracture to her pelvic bone but could not confirm with x‑ray due to the thickness of this area on a horse. At the guidance of Dr.…
December Volunteer of the Month: Paulette Green
Paulette joined the Thursday PM team in January 2020. It wasn’t much later she shared with me that she lived close and could fill in on shorthanded shifts. Everyone knows that is my dream come true! Paulette has a horse of her own, Gyspy, and has access to that “horse time” so many of the volunteers and staff are looking for at SAFE. Even though she takes care of her own horse everyday, that…
Three New Horses
Brandy, Bandit and Topper all arrived at the beginning of October. Sadly, their owner had terminal cancer and was in hospice care. One of their last wishes was to ensure that her horses were safe and taken care of. Their friends helped them locate SAFE, we were able to help so we headed to Port Orchard to pick them up. Brandy is a little shy about being haltered so we set up a little shoot to…
Pepper at the Joel Conner Clinic
Pepper was quite busy during Joel’s last visit to SAFE, for not only was she my companion in the groundwork portion of the clinic, but she was also present in the colt start. Because she’d worked so hard in the days prior to our groundwork sessions, she was a little bit sore on her right side, but throughout the weekend we still managed to get quite a bit done tracking mostly to her left. Last…
Questions from Kindergartners
Recently a teacher from a near by elementary school reached out because she had a few students who wanted to learn more about horses. Terry was happy to help educate our little budding horse lovers. Check out their questions and Terry’s answers and see if you also can learn a little about SAFE! What do horses do in the summer when it’s hot? They generally look for shade under trees and here at…
Alumni Update: Remy
Here are some great photos of Remy sent to us by his adopter, Jessica. Remy loves to play with other horses and teach them about toys. Here he is with his best friend, Soldier.
Jill at the Joel Conner Clinic
One of our volunteers, Sue Coulter, worked with Jill in the clinic a few weekends ago. This is what she had to say: “I was fortunate to work with Jill during two days of the groundwork portion of the Joel Conner Clinic, November 2021. Jill is a young mare, very soft, and well trained in groundwork, so all in all a pleasure to handle. I was able to work on and improve the angle to achieve hind…
Daisy Gets a Massage
Recently we had someone donate a massage to Daisy and this is what she had to say: “At first, Daisy felt like she was tolerating me for a bit, but then something shifted and she relaxed into it. Par for course being I was totally new to her and she was eating lunch etc. After releasing her, I hung around so I could observe any movement while charting. She wandered off, seemed to think about…
Taking A Walk On The (not so wild) Side
When many imagine an active horse, they envision great feats of athleticism: horses cavorting around courses and launching themselves over jumps taller than children, horses dancing around arenas with grace and finesse, horses racing around barrels with speeds reaching mach 1. They might not picture a horse on a leisurely stroll, with no saddle, bridle, or rider, merely a human friend to walk…
SAFE Holiday Cards are now available!
Front of cardThis festive holiday card set featuresSAFE horse Bowiein the snow. Bowie was rescuedin 2018 and lived at SAFEfor eight months before beingadopted into his forever home in 2019.Each card set is $28, packed in a clear box (great for gifting) and includes fifteen cards, fifteen envelopes and FREE SHIPPING! With a folded size of 5″ x 7″, this card mails at standard first class postage.…
Alumni Update: Pyrrah and Farley
Check out the photos sent to us by Pyrrah and Farley (now Zelda) adopters. Those are some fancy braids!
Lovable Freya
Freya is a sweet and lovable Morgan type mare, and for a gal in her 30’s, she is very healthy! When our vet got a first look at her teeth they were impressed! That means she still gets most of her nutrients from the hay we feed her and doesn’t need to live off of grain like a many senior horses. We do give her a little seniorfeed, just for the nutrients, but overall, this lady is on no…
Coco is Weaned
Coco blew out the candles on her 6 month cake at the end of last month, ushering in a new era of her young adulthood. Coco: the baby, is still visible — those high-pitched whinnies and acrobatic feats that come especially easy to young things remain front and center — but there is also Coco: the pony, who has stood to have her feet trimmed and has been haltered to have her mane (no longer just…
Montana Progress Report
We have started the gentling process with Montana. He is friendly but gets very worried about hands coming near the top of his neck where we need to tie off the halter. He has obviously had interactions with people in his past that did not go well. He is very stuck in his feet so his fear is exhibited in a “bottled up” expression, ready to blow at any moment. He was good to be roped and not…
Sweet Arigato
What great changes we have seen in this young mare over the last weeks. She is easily haltered now and able to safely walk out of her paddock and into the arena to work. Changing eyes remains a challenge for her so it is very important we keep working to help her free up and move across the front without panicking as she changes eyes. Ari is now fully vaccinated and has had a number of very…
Veronica’s Training Continues
Our major goal for Veronica is to help her to be responsive instead of reactive. Over the next weeks we will work to get her feeling 100% confident with the saddle before anyone needs to ride her. She is working on relaxing into a one rein stop from the ground and doing so without a brace. She needs to accept people walking up to her and her feeling like she’s grandma’s horse rather than…
New Adventures for Barb
An update on Barb’s training progress from Kaya: Barb has been gaining new experiences on the ground and in the saddle. We took a hand walk out on the trails and have been ground working on different parts of the property. While Barb initially has many opinions and doesn’t believe me that she can rely on me to look out for her, we eventually get to a place where she understands that she doesn’t…
November Volunteer of the Month: Joan Yankis
Joan started volunteering last September on the Saturday PM team. It wasn’t long before she reached out to me and asked if it would be helpful if instead of being on a regular schedule, she could just fill in on shorthanded shifts. What?! How could this be? It is every Volunteer Manager’s dream come true!! And so my dreams were answered and now Joan fills in at least 1–2 times a week. It is such…
Finding Peace Under Saddle for Nyx
As expected, we’ve discovered some trouble in Nyx as we’ve started transitioning him back into a riding horse. It appears he may have had some “liberty” type training in his past that has left him with some resentment toward humans. This is evident in working with him and the poor expressions that appear when asked to move freely. Our goals are to help him make a change and find immediate…
Edward, Esme, and Jacob Updates
We are moving at a fairly good pace with Edward despite his continued breathing issues. He is still very wary about people approaching him to be caught but each time he is quickly haltered and doesn’t have the opportunity to get away, he finds the event less and less stressful. Part of the problem with horses that have had some halter work in the past is that they have learned where the “outs”…
Good Girl Darla
Darla is a pleasure to get to know and very rewarding to work with so far. She has a huge heart and a ton of try. She was very shy and afraid coming into SAFE. Now after just a few weeks, she is more comfortable with haltering and has been walking nicely into the arena for her groundwork sessions. As her feet are getting freed up and her weight distributed onto her hinds, her expression softens…
Riding Rae
Rae is coming up on her 3‑year-old birthday next week, November 1. How fast does time fly! She is just transitioning from being ridden by Joel to Terry as we come into the winter months. Over the past year, she has been worked each month in which Joel visited and ridden a max of 2–5 times each visit. Coming into winter, we will work her lightly her 2–3 days a week with some time off during the…
George on the DL
George is a young and rambunctious gelding. From time to time, he thinks he should show off his smooth moves. Unfortunately, a few weeks ago, his less-than-stellar aerobatic performance ended with him slipping and totally biffing it into the dirt. He got up shook it off and looked no worse for the wear. But the next day it was clear he had really hurt himself. There was a small amount of heat…
Kayla is Adopted!
Kayla wasn’t at SAFE long before she had interested adopters coming to meet her. After only a few months in our training program, we were looking for a skilled rider who could support her and continue a lifelong journey. Kayla came to SAFE as a trade with Hooved Animal Rescue of Thurston County. She had been in foster with a trainer when sadly they suddenly passed away. The rescue didn’t have…
Watching Miss Daisy
Daisy’s continued elevated heart rate has us all pretty concerned. All her other vitals remain normal and she is acting happy and content. We’ve been monitoring how much water she drinks since this is something her previous owner said was always high. We will continue to work closely with our vets in caring for Daisy and are thankful for their support. She is a sweet gal who really enjoys…
Doolin is Adopted!
We are so happy to announce Doolin, now named Finn, has been adopted by Shannon! After arriving to his new home Shannon texted “I think we are in love!!” That is what we love to hear! Once turned out in his new home, he strutted and zoomed around his coral all afternoon, but also impressed everyone with his sweet lovely manners. Including their mare who may have a crush on him, while the gelding…
Alumni Update: Sampson
Check out these photos of Sampson! He’s looking good!
Scooter’s Story
Scooter came to SAFE early in 2012 as part of a group of Arabian horses seized by Animal Control after terrible neglect. Scooter was one of two stallions in the group (the other being Oscar) and the information SAFE was given about these two in particular was horrifying. They were both 15 years old, and had been used in a breeding program. They were found locked in tiny pens, standing on…
Coco is Six Months Old!
Can you believe Coco is already 6 months old? It seems like it was just yesterday when we found out our little 25 year old mare, Sundae, wasn’t just a little round, she was pregnant! That little squirt, Coco has been an independent lady from day one, kicking up her heels at her mom and running anywhere her long pony legs could take her. She spent the summer enjoying lush green pastures and…
Alumni Update: Tabitha (Willa)
We recently received an update from Tabitha’s (now known as Willa) adopter, who tells us that Willa is doing great! She recently lost her old companion, and in the interim while her adopter looks for a new friend for her, has been handling being an only horse very well — it perhaps doesn’t hurt that she has been receiving a lot of attention and care from the neighbors, not to mention treats! We…
