Luna
2013 dark bay Warmblood cross mare
Type of Rescue: Mayday herd dispersal
Intake Date: 4/4/2018
Adoption Date: 11/29/2019
Time at SAFE: 1 year, 7 months
Adopted!
Luna is a lovely big bodied mare who was surrendered to SAFE by her owner who could not care for her. Luna came to SAFE pregnant and gave birth to a healthy filly foal on November 3, 2018. Luna did not have a great deal of handling prior to being at SAFE, so we’ve had to work with her to help her learn good manners. After her filly was weaned, Luna was sent to Nick Donohue to be started under saddle.
Luna was adopted straight from training and is living a lovely life in Southern Oregon where her training is being continued by Noah Cornish.
Alumni Update: Luna
Beautiful Luna is now living in Northern California with her new person, Reegan. They both are settling in together very well with one another and working hard, preparing for an upcoming dressage clinic. Reegan and her mom, Doreen absolutely love her so much! She is a very special mare, so smart, works hard and picking up dressage very quickly.
Luna Finds a Home
Dear Luna has been ADOPTED! She has been placed with a lovely family living outside Ashland Oregon. Luna’s adopter Heather had visited her while in training with Nick Donohue and fell instantly in love. Heather really appreciated the training foundation Luna had been given and was excited to continue with her on this journey.
All reports from the new home have been good and we are excited to learn that Heather and her family have decided to purchase a horse property. What a wonderful life they are giving to this mare! We are so proud of how far Luna came and the good citizen she has become. We wish them all the best of luck and a very long and happy life together!
Luna Finishing Training
Here are some highlights from Luna’s training with Donohue Horsemanship in Banks, Oregon at the end of 2019. SAFE is thankful for all their hard work in helping us offer such well trained horses to the public. What a great foundation this young mare has received!
Luna: Training Update
Luna has done very well in training with Nick Donohue. She didn’t have too much trouble with saddling but required a bit of groundwork before riding. Once she accepted the new tack and a rider, things progressed nicely. She has three nice gaits and is maturing to be a steady partner. At times, she will become distracted by something outside of the arena but she quickly comes back to the rider without issue. As a green horse, Nick is working on getting her to line out and have more straightness but all and all everything has been pretty uneventful.
Luna is a dominant mare, probably because she spent a lot of her life in a big herd with many stallions. Because of this, Nick has chosen not to turn her out with his herd of horses. Understandably it would take her some time to get used to them all and unfortunately, she sometimes thinks more with her back feet when meeting new horses. That said, given time she would be able to be in a herd setting, especially if there is no competition over food.
Luna will be finishing her training with Nick in the next few weeks and coming back to Safe Harbor Stable to continue her education. Hopefully she will find a great forever home soon. This mare is ready for a wonderful happy life!
Luna is a Riding Horse!
Luna is doing great in training down in Oregon with Nick Donohue. Here’s a recent video of this former broodmare taking big steps towards a great new life!
Glory Helps Start Luna
We sent Luna out to Nick Donohue for her start under saddle, and it was so nice to see a SAFE horse helping another SAFE horse. Thanks for the flagging assist, Glory!
Luna: First Saddling
We currently have two horses in training with Nick Donahue at Silver Spade Ranch. Today Luna was saddled for the first time, and allowed to move out in the round pen and become accustomed to this new sensation. Nick says he’s happy with how she did! We’re so excited to see this big mare take some big steps down a different path than the one she started out on! She’s got SO much more to offer than just being a baby mama. It’s so fun to see her changing!
Luna Starts Work
Luna will be heading to training this summer to be started under saddle. She is currently getting in shape and working on preparation to be saddled. This beautiful athletic mare will be available for adoption after she is started. She is a sensitive and smart girl who at this time will do best in a home with a professional or experienced rider who has experience with young and green horses.
Three 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 was over within an hour or two (with Nova’s weaning there wasn’t much fuss at all). Pippi seemed to take it the hardest, but having her new buddies Rae and Nova there for comfort made a big difference. Nova seemed more upset about losing her aunt Mina than she was about being separate from her own mother.
The three fillies are now hanging out with matriarchs Angel and Renee. They’ll be learning lessons about how to be a horse from these ladies who have been there and done that. At some point in the near future we’ll send them to foster where they’ll be able to grow up in a quiet place with room to romp, and we’ll bring them back when they’re 2‑year olds to start introducing them to groundwork in preparation for becoming riding horses. For now, though, we are happy to have them right where they’re at because they’re a constant source of amusement. No doubt about it, though, raising babies is a lot of work!
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- Asha meeting new neighbor, Gunnar
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- Mina enjoying the peace and quiet of not having a baby at her side
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- Luna explores her new paddock
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- Grain tastes best after you dump it
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- Triangulation
Sunshine!
It’s hard to believe that just over a month ago it was 13 degrees at Safe Harbor Stables, and this week the thermostat is hitting 80! The horses are enjoying it tremendously and taking every chance they can to sun bathe.
The downside to this beautiful weather is that horses still wearing their winter coats can dehydrate quickly when it’s hot outside. We’ve been keeping a close eye on ours to make sure they aren’t getting overheated. Provide access to fresh, clean water for your horses at all times–and monitor to make sure they’re actually drinking it.
Welcome, Spring! We’re all happy to see you.
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- Mina and babies
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- Kat
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- Luna and Nova
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- Asha and Pippi
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- Angel
Why are there foals at SAFE?
Why are there foals at SAFE right now? Because this year, we rescued three mares who were pregnant. We have not changed our stance against breeding, nor did we have anything whatsoever to do with the breeding of these mares.
One of the three mares, Asha, came from an Animal Control seizure in which she and another mare were removed from a situation of neglect and starvation. Her foal was born Sept 1, so she was likely bred in October 2017. This mare was seized by Animal Control on Jan 30, 2018 and was signed over to SAFE on April 15, 2018.
The other two mares, Luna and Mina, came from a large band of 21 horses (including 9 stallions) who were roaming free on a property that was foreclosed upon and resold. These mares gave birth on Nov 1 and Nov 3, which means they were bred in December 2017. We were brought in by Animal Control to help disperse this herd in April 2018. Because they were exposed to stallions, we had to assume that all the mares in the herd were pregnant when we took them, and this was confirmed by veterinarians after they were rescued.
Furthermore, whenever we intake a colt or stallion, that animal is gelded as soon as it is physically possible to do so, and usually before the horse even comes to our farm. The only intact stallion to ever set foot on our farm in Redmond was Valor. He was gelded on August 9, 2017.
So, to recap:
1) SAFE does not breed horses
2) SAFE does not keep intact colts or stallions
3) SAFE does, however, rescue pregnant mares
If you or anyone you know has questions about SAFE and the work we are doing, please ASK. We operate 100% in the public eye, so if there’s something you’re curious or concerned about, just ask. It’s that simple.
Now let’s get back to enjoying those beautiful babies!
Luna and Nova Get Outside
Jessica Farren took these lovely photos of Luna and her filly Nova. The two spend most of each day outside on the grass where Nova loves to run and run and run!
Two Healthy Fillies Born at SAFE
Exactly two months after the birth of Pippi, we welcomed two new lives into the world!
Mina delivered a lovely black filly on November 1, 2018 at 11pm. The diminutive little girl with no white markings was christened “Rae” in memory of our dear friend Raven. Rae is healthy and full of life, and momma Mina is taking wonderful care of her.
The very next night, Luna decided she was going to follow in her best friend’s footsteps and have her baby too. She waited until 2:30am to give birth to a tall strapping bay filly that has been named Nova. The delivery went well, and both mom and baby are healthy.
Guess the Foaling Date for Luna and Mina!
Do you think you can guess when Luna and Mina will have their foals? We’re going to have a fun contest to see who can guess the closest to the actual birth!
We’ll give a you a clue to get you started. The two mares were both palpated and ultrasounded by equine repro specialist Dr Brandi Hollihan from Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital on April 26, 2018. Here’s what we learned at that exam:
Luna was estimated to be at 175 days into gestation.
Mina was estimated to be at 145 days into gestation.
So, if you think you can accurately predict when the foals will be born, here’s your chance! For a donation of $5 per guess, choose the mare (Luna or Mina), the birthday (including time of birth) and the sex of the baby, which will be used as a tiebreaker. The person with the closest guess for each foal will receive half the pool of money raised by the this fundraiser. The other half will go to SAFE’s Foal to Four Fund.
For a $5 donation, you may enter one guess in the contest. You can enter more than once. The person who is closest to the date and time of the actual birth will be the winner for that mare’s contest. In the case of a tie, the sex of the foal will be used as a tiebreaker.
Good luck!!!!!
UPDATE: Mina is officially on “Foal Watch” status as of Nov 1, so we’re not taking any more guesses for her!! You can still submit guesses for Luna.
Luna’s Getting Closer!
Right on the heels of Pippi’s arrival, Luna is showing signs of getting closer to foaling. She’s right on track for the predicted foaling date of sometime in October. She has recently started having some mammary development, and she is producing some “milk.” It’s still in the early stages, but it’s a sign that we need to start preparing for another baby. Now that Pippi and Asha have vacated the foaling stall, we’ll be setting it up to welcome our next new addition to the herd. We’re fairly confident that Luna has foaled before, so hopefully this SAFE birth will go as smoothly as the last one!
Mommies to be…
Beautiful mares, full baby bellies and a late summer glow were a perfect setting for photographer Jessica Farren to capture this special time in their lives. All three were wonderful models and our herd health manager Melinda, their midwife, helped set the stage.
Good things come in threes
Like all good horse owners, we keep close eyes on the weight of our horses. Clearly no one wants to see skinny horses, but a horse that’s overweight can face health problems too. Every SAFE horses has its meals tailored to its weight and health, and we make adjustments as needed to maintain proper weight.
So a few weeks ago, we started to notice that Asha was looking a little round in the belly. We’d recently started to put our horses out on grass for part of the day, so we figured we just needed to make an adjustment to the amount of hay or grain she was getting. But the odd part was that she didn’t really seem fat…in fact, she seemed pretty svelte, every place but her belly. Could she be pregnant? We consulted with Animal Control to see if Asha had been out with a stallion prior to being seized, and they told us they didn’t think she had been. But she seemed to have changed shape practically overnight. So we decided to have her checked for a possible pregnancy.
Dr. Fleck came out and palpated her, and sure enough…there’s a baby in there! Based on her size and how the fetus felt, he guessed that she’s in the last trimester of her pregnancy. Probably around the 8 month mark, give or take. This was confirmed today by Dr Lewis, who performed an ultrasound on our mama-to-be. She told us that we can probably expect her to foal in September.
We have not had a baby born at SAFE since 2008, and now we have three pregnant mares all at once! Luna and Mina are probably due a month or more after Asha. We have no idea when any of these mares were bred, so we may be in for a surprise or two. It’s challenging, because we’d like to be able to vaccinate these mares at the right times so that they can pass as much immune protection to their foals in their colostrum as possible. We will work with our vets to make the best decisions we possibly can and hopefully we will be welcoming three healthy youngsters to the world this fall.
Video Intro: Luna
Introducing Mina and Luna
Mina and Luna are the latest additions to the SAFE herd and they are both pregnant. Mina and Luna have been in a vet’s care for 6 weeks and they have made nice recoveries from the neglect they faced in their previous lives. Their pregnancies have been confirmed by ultrasound and we have an approximate idea as to when they are due. Luna’s foal is expected in November and Mina’s about 30 days later. We can’t share their “before” pictures, but hopefully you’ll enjoy the “afters” since they are lovely. Mina and Luna are currently in foster care while we decide where they will be housed for the duration of their pregnancies.
Mina (photos by Jessica Farren)
Luna (photos by Jessica Farren)
