
Meet Roy!
Our newest addition has a very sad story and once again we are so thankful for the animal control officers in Pierce County for their gallant efforts to help horses in our community. Roy was part of a herd of 7 horses, sadly two were euthanized on the property, one at…

Moshi’s First Rides
Moshi, one of the Graham 27, had her first rides here at SAFE recently. From the first few times working with her, we had a feeling this little mare was going to make it easier on us than some. And this isn’t to say that there are not always challenges (both standard…

Paw-ppy
Horses have a remarkable field of vision, able to see about 350 degrees around them. Each eye can work independently of the other, which makes sense – horses, prey animals by nature, have the best chance of survival if they can scope out almost the entirety of their…

Betty and Eleven Are Adopted!
Eleven and Betty arrived as a pair, nearly indistinguishable from one another, and left just the same: together. We’d gotten to know them a lot better by then — the way Eleven would maneuver her lips into a quasi-vacuum to suck up her prascend-stuffed carrot each…

Back to (halter starting) Basics with Esme
Even though Esme has been going well under saddle for a bit now, there are still some basics that she is in need of revisiting. Because Esme was improperly halter started once upon a time, she still has a difficult time coming off of pressure. In the below video, Joel…

May Volunteer of the Month
We are oh so lucky Lara found SAFE! She has been a rockstar on the Sunday PM shift, stepping up as Shift Lead and then Barn Assist coming early to help with hay drop and turn in. Not only does she work a full time job and commit one of her weekend evenings to SAFE,…

Lacey, Back in the Saddle
Our longest resident at SAFE is a little chestnut mare named Lacey. 7 years Lacey has been here, so you would think that by this point we know her very well. And while this isn’t wrong, there are many ways in which Lacey remains an enigma to us. For a while she was…

Introducing the Gig Harbor 7
The majority of the horses who come to SAFE come as singles or in pairs. One here, one there, typically with some space in between arrivals. But on occasion, we are called to assist with a larger seizure. It hasn’t been all that long since the Fall City 40, and an…


December Volunteer of the Month: Kirsten Lints
Congratulations to our December Volunteer of the Month, Kirsten Lints! Kirsten has been sharing her time, hard work and love with our horses for almost 3 years now! She started on a morning chore shift and moved into the role of Friday Barn Assist. As well, Kirsten is…

Cookie and Harper are Adopted!
A big happy ending for two little horses — minis Cookie and Harper have been adopted! Since early April, these two mares were in holding with us for Island County Animal Control at our dear friend and foster Sarah’s place, where they got back on their feet, so to…

Harissa’s Progress
For us, it begins in a muddy field. Harissa stands with her herd, four mares total, perhaps aunts or cousins or sisters, bound if not by blood then by the unfortunate nature of their circumstances. They squelch through the muck as they approach us, curious,…
Alumni Update: Henry (James)
James over the past month. He’s been making some friends at the barn.
Alumni Update: Rae
From Christina: Rae says pre-dinner/post-ride snacks hit different on these chilly fall days (especially when your friends aren’t invited to the buffet and are jealously thundering around their paddock!)

Guard Pony Lacey
Trudy, our wonderful Saturday barn staff, recounts an interaction that she and our sweet (and brave!) little Lacey had recently: “It’s arena turnout season… Where some of our sweetest pairs of horses get time playing together in the squishy sand footing. They get a…