Things are Looking Up for Gunnar!
We have all fallen in love with Gunnar! This handsome half-Arabian is as sweet as they come. At the time of his intake we were told that he was 11 years old, but physically he looks like an older gentleman and his dental revealed teeth that look much older, as well. He is still stunning and sprightly, but you can tell that he’s not a spring chicken. The puzzle pieces all fell into place when we looked into his pedigree and found that he is...
read moreTabitha has been adopted!
We are so pleased to announce the successful adoption of sweet Tabitha, now called Willa by her new family. This mare is in her element, loving long rides on the trails with her owner Alyssa and companionship of her retired 25-year-old draft mare, Ray. She has been busy on many adventures and Alyssa says she is impressed by how calm she was for the transition home. They are having a blast together and Willa has really muscled up and is sporting...
read morePogo has been adopted!
Small but mighty Pogo has found a home! Julianne reached out to SAFE interested in adding this pint-size cutie to her family as a driving horse and family pet. She and her family came to meet him and were fully informed of his current behaviors and the progress he’d made, but that he still needed some work. Having some experience with manner training, Julianne took the lead and worked well with Pogo. She gave him fair corrections and it...
read moreGirl Scouts magically turn cookies into hay!
Girl Scout Troop 42212 of Redmond, WA visited Safe Harbor Stables when they were thinking about a nonprofit to support with their cookie sales and they fell in love with SAFE. To say these girls are enthusiastic about horses is an understatement. They enjoyed their tour of the farm and each girl had a chance to meet our darling Renee, who patiently accepted all of their pets and scratches. Each girl in the troop worked hard to do their best...
read moreAlumni Update: Rhythm
Rhythm became a SAFE horse back in 2010, surrendered into our care because of a life-threatening injury caused by barbed wire. His adopter Hillary gave us this update on her boy recently: The first photo is of the day I brought Rhythm home from SAFE, while the second is one of Rhythm just the other day. It’s hard to believe I have had this amazing horse for going on 10 years now. Thank you SAFE for all you do and for connecting me with this...
read moreAlumni Update: Dusty
Climb on into the Wayback Machine because today we’re catching up with a horse that was adopted from SAFE in 2010. Dusty came to SAFE as part of an animal cruelty case when he was a young stallion — just look at him now! His adopter Beth A had this to report: A couple of old dogs learning new tricks! I adopted Dusty from SAFE in 2010, he’s 19 now. A few months back, I told my trainer that learning how to jump is on my bucket list,...
read moreCameo Video May 2019
May Volunteers of the Month: Scott Bailey and André Cabrera
Scott Bailey, Horsemanship volunteer and more! Scott Bailey can be in jeans saddling up his favorite horse Justin one day, and waltz into the Heart of the Horse auction looking dapper in a suit the next. Scott mainly works horses in the Horsemanship program now, but he started on a chore shift and has spent plenty of time cleaning stalls. In addition, he is always eager to pitch in and help when we need him, from running errands for the auction...
read moreAlumni Update: Biscotti
Biscotti was born at SAFE way back in 2008. At age 10, he’s fulfilling all his promise as a wonderful riding horse for the daughter of his adopter, Tracy. Here are some photos she shared with...
read moreAlumni Update: Bucky B Lucky
It gives us great pride to share that SAFE alum Bucky B Lucky, now known as Lorenzo, and his adopter Ruth Geppert-Jelinek were named Champions of the English 18 & up division for the 2018-2019 Donida Farm English/Western Schooling Show Series. The pair were also awarded the Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program series Reserve Championship for the season! Great work as always, you two!
read moreWelcome, Millie and Hoss!
The latest additions to the SAFE herd are a pair of Arab horses who were surrendered to SAFE after their owner suffered a stroke and could no longer care for them. Boss Hoss is a 20 year old pinto Arab stallion, and Millie is his 11 year old daughter. The two are in reasonable shape, but they were living hard prior to their rescue. Hoss is a little thin, and his dropped pasterns are a concern to us. He’s a friendly and curious fellow, and...
read moreThree Weaned Babies
It took some work and a fair amount of brainstorming, but we weaned all three babies over the course of about a week and a half. First Nova, then Rae, and finally Pippi. Even though Pippi is two months older than Nova and Rae, we opted to wean her last based on herd dynamics, the personalities of all the mares involved, and space available. Each of the weanings was relatively uneventful, and the little amount of drama that accompanied each one...
read moreSlim’s Metamorphosis
It’s been a little over a month since we took in this handsome draft horse and his friends. Slim has been fun to get to know (spoiler alert: he’s pretty great). He came in underweight, scruffy, matted, and covered in rain rot. But with TLC and elbow grease, he’s blossoming into a beautiful Belgian. Since arriving at SAFE, Slim has gained back most of the weight that he needed to be at a normal body condition score. His scruffy coat was...
read moreSpecial thank you to project volunteers John Hansen and Derek Lapp
Maintaining the facility here at SAFE is a big responsibility. We have an amazing Facilities Team that works hard to create a healthy, safe environment for the horses and people of SAFE. Sometimes they receive assistance from generous members of the community, looking to use their skills and resources to benefit our nonprofit. We would like to thank two such individuals: John Hansen and Derek Lapp. In 2017, John Hansen of NW Land Management...
read moreNashville’s Lameness Exam
Nashville has always seemed to have some degree of mild hind limb lameness/weakness, but she has been able to handle light riding without issue. Dr. Lewis of Rainland Farm Equine Clinic was recently out at the farm and did a brief lameness exam on her. Dr. Lewis concluded that Nashville is “serviceably sound for a home with light trail riding and arena work.” This is consistent with what we’ve known from prior exams so there...
read moreApril Volunteers of the Month: Mary Jones and Suzette Mendoza
No joke, no April fooling, these gals do a ton behind the scenes to help keep SAFE programs running. With an organization like SAFE there a million little details to attend to, no one volunteer or staff person has time to make all of these things happen, which is why we rely on the talents of so many. This month we are celebrating some volunteers whose names and faces you might not know because they do their work from home, or at times when the...
read more2019 Q1 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: Jan 15, 2019 Gunnar (owner surrender) Intake Date: Feb 25, 2019 Kat (returned to SAFE) Intake Date: March 5, 2019 Slim, Moon, and Cassidy (owner surrender) Placed Horses Sage Pyrrha Amira Glory Pogo Tabitha
read moreJoel Conner Clinic Report: Stella
Casey had a few things to share with us about her rides on Stella in last weekend’s Horsemanship clinic. The pair continue to look amazing and Stella has matured into a beautiful mare that stands out in any crowd. Casey has done a lovely job bringing her along and continues to put more of a shine on this special girl! Here is what Casey had to say: Stella had another great clinic! As usual, she was unconcerned by the horses around her and...
read moreA New Chapter for Renee
For the past few weeks, we’d noticed a bit of a hitch in Renee’s step. At first it was thought to be a hoof abscess in her left front foot, so we wrapped it and treated it as such. But when the abscess resolved and she was still lame on that leg, it was clear that something else was going on and she needed a lameness evaluation. Dr. Lewis came out to the farm to perform the exam, and we weren’t too far into it before we...
read moreBack in the Saddle with Cameo
Terry worked with Cameo in this month’s Joel Conner Clinic. Here’s her report on the progress that she and Kaya have made with this mare: Cameo was a star pupil at our horsemanship clinic this past weekend. Kaya has been working with her for the past few weeks, conditioning and strengthening her for riding by working in hand over trot poles and through groundwork. We have ridden her a bit too but had not been constant through the...
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