Clinic Update: Nashville
Nashville has earned the reputation of being very amiable to new riders and able to be put into a clinic or taken on a trail ride by someone she’s just met. For this past Joel Conner clinic, we were able to let volunteer rider Scott get on her the day before the clinic and easily fit into the class without trouble. LOVE this mare’s willing attitude and it was a treat that she enjoyed working with Scott. We look forward to him continuing to…
read moreClinic Update: Justin
Joel was kind enough to make Justin one of his projects for the clinic. He rode him every day and helped us understand a bit more of what Justin needs to work out his braces. I had the chance to work with him the days following the clinic and all I can say is WOW he feels like a different horse! With Joel’s help Justin is well on his way to meeting potential adopters and showing them his sweet and gentle personality. I have been riding him…
read moreNew Horses at SAFE
Slim, Moon, and Cassidy were surrendered to SAFE after the sudden and unexpected death of their owner. Their owner’s passing coincided with an unusually large amount of snowfall in this area, so friends and neighbors pulled together to take care of the horses until they could be transported to SAFE. The three horses have not received proper care for a while, and Slim, a 17 year old Belgian gelding, is underweight. His hooves are badly in need…
read moreMarch Volunteers of the Month: Heather Newton and Kimi Wagoner
Heather Newton: Upbeat, fun, and patient Shift Lead. “Heather is extremely upbeat, hard working and adds so much fun to our crew. She loves all of the horses. You see it in how she looks forward to taking them out, talking to them and taking time with each of them. Love having her as a co-lead!”–Leigh M. Heather Newton is a busy mom of three small children and yet finds time to co‐lead an AM chore shift here at SAFE. We have been privileged to…
read moreA Happier Outlook on Life for Pogo
It has now been a few weeks since Pogo’s castration. Before the procedure, the testosterone in his system gave him a very large personality in a tiny package. Sassy would have been a huge understatement, and he seemed to be in a constant state of angst. Thanks to his small size he was still relatively easy to handle, but his go‐to reaction to people was to lash out and bite. Fast forward to today, and Pogo is well on his way to becoming a new…
read moreSage has been adopted!
Sage came to SAFE a shaggy, slightly pushy pony, but through good handling and Horsemanship groundwork at SAFE she blossomed into a polite equine citizen, and in January 2019, she was adopted by Raven Rock Ranch as a therapy horse. Keeping with Raven Rock Ranch’s custom, Sage has been rechristened with an R name, “Robin,” which is as cute as can be! Originally offered as a companion pony, her personality and good health meant she could make a…
read morePyrrha has been adopted!
Pyrrha’s past life is a mystery: she was perhaps a ranch horse, a 4H mount, or a western movie star fallen on hard times. Whatever her past may be, we know one thing for certain: her future is very bright! She has found a home with Sandra and her family to be a much‐needed companion to a gentleman gelding named West. Sandra called SAFE looking for a foster buddy for her lonely gelding. Unfortunately, she lived too far away to be a foster for…
read moreHerd Health Recap 2018
If there’s one thing we’re really proud of here at SAFE, it’s our Herd Health program. Most of the horses we take in didn’t received proper vet care or nutrition in their previous lives, so there is a lot we need to do to return them to good health. When a horse first arrives, we start the process of getting to know them with a vet examination that provides a first glimpse into the state of their physical being. We try to find out where they…
read moreAmira has been adopted!
From the beginning, Amira’s winning personality shone through her starvation coat. She just needed a little TLC and conditioning to be ready to place in a wonderful home! Adopter Laura fell in love with Amira at first sight! It was easy to do with this sweet mustang mare. The new friends meet a few times at SAFE to get to know each other and a plan was formulated to continue her training and conditioning for a few months with Laura’s trainer,…
read moreWhat’s new with Lacey?
A sweet update from Kaya on working with Lacey, post‐snow storm: With snow falling off the roof of the arena, Lacey and I have been focusing exclusively on groundwork for the past few days. This is totally fine with me as we have a lot to work on! Today we went into the indoor arena (a place we very rarely go) and encountered some scary obstacles! At first, the arena itself wasn’t too scary, but I could tell Lacey was almost walking on tiptoes…
read moreSAFE Survives the Snowpocalypse!
The past two weeks have been a challenge to say the least, but after four snowstorms and more than two feet of snow, we’re happy to say we’re still here! The twenty‐two horses currently at Safe Harbor Stables, who range in age from 3 months old to almost 30, came through the storm in perfect health and comfort. All their meals were delivered on time, they all enjoyed daily turnout time, and returned to a clean stall each night. Were it…
read moreRemy Health Update
After a few weeks of assessing Remy’s behavior under saddle, he has stopped making improvement. He isn’t regressing anymore, but it’s clear to trainer Nick Donohue that something isn’t right. Nick has stopped riding him now and we have been discussing the next steps to take. Dr. Salewski of Hindsight Veterinary Care has been out to see Remy for chiropractic work twice now. He is still finding an area of concern in his back, an area that he said…
read moreTraining Update: Tabitha
Tabitha came to SAFE in April of 2018 from a situation of extreme neglect. She currently in excellent health and SAFE has gotten her up to date on all vaccines, dental and farrier work. She has been a very easy to handle for our volunteers, vets, and farriers. Tabitha loads and trailers very well, she has no vices, and has gentle ground manners. SAFE was unsure about her training background so we began with the basics in our horsemanship…
read moreBig Girl is Ready to Ride!!
Kaya has been diligently working through the groundwork steps to get Sienna prepared for a rider. Here is what she had to say about this experience: “Sienna is, without a doubt, one of the smartest horses I have ever worked with. Having just been working with her for a little over a month, I’ve gotten to see some awesome changes, but watching videos and hearing stories from when she first came to SAFE, it is incredible how far she has come in…
read moreTraining Update and New Video: Justin
Justin has been a joy to work with these last few months at SAFE. He has steadily improved with each ride and is more and more comfortable with a rider. We are working on loosening him up and helping him work without getting tight or braced. He’s had the most difficulty shaping up to the left but even that has had some big changes. Volunteer Alessia has been helping us create new videos of the SAFE horses. She just completed this beautiful…
read moreHealth Update: Remy
Reports on Remy’s recovery from his sore back have been good but unfortunately not great. He’s greatly improved with time off and with a trial of Bute and then Equioxx but he’s still not at 100%. Nick said that he would start the week off ok but the day after every ride, Remy would seem less and less willing to work. He continued to be well behaved and a gentle fellow to work around. With the riding trouble not completely resolved, we have…
read moreTraining Update: Amira
Amira came to SAFE in November 2018. She was a little underweight and had not seen a vet or farrier in some time. She had a very bad case of thrush and a few spots of rain rot. After a few weeks of medical treatment, she was up to date with her farrier, vaccines, and dental care and ready to start work. We took things slowly, building muscle and strengthening her in preparation for riding. We worked her on the ground, assessing how she would be…
read moreEvents Recap 2018
It costs a great deal of money to run an organization like SAFE, and some people might be surprised to know that we receive no funding whatsoever from government at any level. We rely on public donations to pay the bills and keep the lights on. Fundraising can take many forms, and here at SAFE, we have several revenue streams to keep cash flowing. One of these is special events. SAFE has two major fundraisers that happen each year. The first…
read moreFebruary Volunteers of the Month: Lori Page and Kaya Mead
Lori Page: Reliable, Kind, Friday PM Volunteer! February is about love, and we LOVE our volunteers. We love that our volunteers love each other, and we really LOVE that our volunteers love the horses. Lori Page is someone who falls into all of those categories, she loves SAFE, she loves her fellow volunteers and she LOVES the horses. Her very first memories are of horses when she was 5 or 6 years old. She was hooked from the very start,…
read moreIntroducing Pogo
We have a new horse to introduce…a little horse…his name is Pogo and today he is a pony stallion, but that will change this Friday when Dr Fleck arrives to transform him into a happy gelding. Pogo was surrendered to SAFE by his owners who were not able to keep him or successfully rehome him as a stallion. SAFE had originally arranged for Pogo to be gelded at home, but the vet was concerned that his owners didn’t have the skills or the space to…
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