Daisy

Foster fail alert!! When Daisy headed to foster at Shellie’s home back in February 2021, we didn’t know that she wouldn’t return, but we are happy to hear Shellie fell in love and refused to give her back. In fact, she said she couldn’t imagine life without her so she signed the adoption paperwork.

Now she gets to spend her time with Laurence, Shellie’s gelding. The two are very content and enjoy grooming each other and rolling in the big pasture. We are happy for Daisy and her new family. When she arrived at SAFE last August she was part of a criminal case and that couldn’t be discussed outside our community. She was extremely under weight and the stallion she was with had to be euthanized due to extreme neglect. Her story was a sad one that now has a happy ending thanks to Shellie and Lawrence.

From Daisy’s loving foster mom Shellie: 

“Daisy is doing wonderfully! She had a hoof trim on April 1, which went very well, not sore afterward, no boots needed! She’s shedding like a mad-woman with a beautiful caramel coat now starting to peak out on her shoulders. Working on leading her and Laurence together inside the paddocks to prepare for getting them out to the pastures (what a couple of drama-queens). 

She’s holding her weight well finishing a solid 6–8 lbs/day of Triple Crown Senior plus Alfalfa leaves. I’ve been experimenting with adding different Alfalfa hay chops (easy to eat) — the Haystack mix with molasses, and two others from Rocking E — one with molasses and one without, that are partially fermented ‘for ease of digestion.’ These are both moist, so easier for Daisy to eat. Daisy and Laurence both seem to like these.”

Thank you, Shellie, for your continued amazing care of this very special girl!

Adoptions are a wonderful thing, but they are often bittersweet for those involved in the horse’s life. When Sundae was adopted from her foster home, it left her human foster, Shellie, with a bit of an empty nest, and her foster brother lacking a friend. Luckily, we had a perfect option. 

Daisy, a SAFE favorite, was an easy choice. Her docile personality and gentle nature made her a great fit for her foster mom, who was hoping to have a horse to dote upon. Daisy adores attention, and could happily stand for hours upon hours being brushed and loved on. 

Daisy’s discomfort in being away from her paddock made taking her out for walks while at SAFE quite difficult. Shellie had a bigger space to offer Daisy, which meant she could get more exercise in a way that was also comfortable to her. Overall, the circumstances were just right for all parties. 

On the day of her move, Daisy was so excited to see the trailer. She had a ton of energy, calling out as it came around the bend. And without a flinch she literally jumped right in! Once at Shellie’s, Daisy was quite calm, and relaxed right into the new space. She didn’t even squeal at Laurence, her new foster brother. He was happy to see her, and seeing that Daisy has always been a mare who firmly attaches herself to her neighbors, she was almost certainly glad to see him! We sure miss seeing Daisy’s sweet face at SAFE, but we know that she is very well loved and cared for during her time away at foster.

Daisy has been doing well with the transition into winter and continues on her daily 10 pounds of senior feed and free choice alfalfa. Her weight is excellent and she seems to enjoy the other horses near her pen. As we move into spring it will be nice to get her out on our grass pastures and introduce her to some friends. She is a very social girl and we think she will enjoy the companionship of other horses. Winter is difficult for group turnouts, but soon enough the sunny days will return. Until then, Daisy is enjoying grooming sessions with volunteers and is a herd favorite.   

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 it/digest experience and then wandered back inserting herself directly in front of me for some more. I complied. Then as I turned for the gate she blocked it and put her rear directly in my path.  I complied once again. Sweet and very smart girl. She catches on quickly. There is nothing like the feeling of making a connection of free will. I let her know how much I appreciated it by showering her with praise.

My goal for session with Daisy was just to listen and observe her body and story it was telling and see if we could enter into a trusting relationship where she let me assist in her body’s needs utilizing a traditional Swedish approach to massage. The tone of the first session is always building trust and a safe place for them to release. Since I’m still enrolled at NWSAM and this was under my case study requirement, I adhered to their traditional Swedish approach, but when finished I hope to fully incorporate the knowledge from my 30 yrs of Hawaiian Healing Arts past into my equine work. Always learning.

The premise of Lomilomi is taking something congested, stagnant etc and breaking it up into small pieces and remove toxicity from the body from a holistic standpoint. Lomi also has components that extend beyond physical and are addressed as energy, mental/emotional & spiritual. Perhaps closer to Eastern philosophy than Western structure & function. However, structure and function play an important role and a common language so that information gained can be shared, so it is important to be able to address both.”

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 brushing and spending time with people. 

Daisy, our one-eyed beauty, has gained weight since her arrival at SAFE. Her initial weight of 780 pounds has increased to 807 pounds. She’s looking quite a bit better these days, which is very nice to see.

Daisy gets nervous about being moved outside her paddock, but is comfortable and happy in her familiar surroundings. She had no problems handling her recent farrier trim, and similarly did well when receiving her vaccinations. Daisy’s heart rate remains elevated, but we currently have no diagnosis from the vet. Her other vitals are within normal range, she tested negative for equine Cushing’s Disease, and she is eating well. We monitor Daisy’s heart rate in both the morning and evening, tracking it on an ongoing basis.

This is a good point at which to mention that, if you are caring for a horse, it is important to know your horse’s normal heart rate as a baseline for watching for illnesses. SAFE recommends that a horse’s heart rate be taken every day for a week to record the normal heart rate and come up with a baseline. Heart rate is an important diagnostic measure of horse health.

SAFE has been called on to help several owner surrendered neglected horses in the last few weeks. Because of the large number of adoption, we’ve had the space available to say yes to these requests, which is fortunate because these are all horses in desperate need of help. Our latest intake is a 25 year old mare named Daisy. Daisy came from a sad situation with an owner who struggled for many years to provide proper care for their two horses. The other horse was an elderly and untouchable stallion. Animal Control had been involved with this situation for quite some time, and made numerous attempts to work with the owner to improve the care.

Thankfully, the owner did reach out to a few rescue groups for help, including The Hayburner Project, who provided the horses with hay, and also raised funds for much needed veterinary care for the stallion. Help provided by The Hayburner Project was wonderful for Daisy and her friend. We all agreed, however, that this was a temporary fix for an ongoing problem. If the horses remained in this home, they would continue to suffer, especially during the winter when forage becomes scarce. So we worked together to come up with the best solution to this problem. The stallion was in rough shape, so it was quite a relief when the owner agreed to let him be humanely euthanized if SAFE would take the mare. Animal Control took responsibility for taking care of the stallion, and Daisy was loaded onto a trailer and headed to Redmond.

Daisy is a pretty mare, whose looks are not at all hampered by the fact that she only has one eye. She is very thin, however, so we are taking steps to safely get some good calories into her and get her healthy again. She’s a good sized mare with a very light bay coat, and she seems gentle and calm. We’ll be looking for a home for her as a companion horse once we’ve gotten her healthy again. She is certainly a horse who deserves a safe home where she’ll be well cared for the rest of her life.

Our sincere appreciation and thanks goes out to The Hayburner Project for everything they did to help Daisy and her friend. The Hayburner Project operates a hay bank in Washington state, and provides hay, feed and other basic necessities for horses when their owners are facing challenging times. To learn more about their work, please visit www.thehayburnerproject.org