Wren
Quarter Horse mare
Suitability: TBD
Color: bay
Markings: star
Height: 14.0h
Weight: 724lbs
Adoption Fee: TBD
Wren came to SAFE in May of 2023 as part of a 7 horse owner surrender situation in the Gig Harbor area. She, along with her 6 herd mates, were living in poor conditions, surrounded by broken panels, standing in deep mud, without clean water.
Wren is a younger mare, likely under 10, and while she arrived a bit nervous and at least mostly unhandled, it was not long before she was learning the ropes. She is a fast learner, and has already proven how brave she is to new experiences, like seeing the farrier and leaving her friends for a walk around the property.
Wren is already making great progress with her foundational groundwork, and with her trajectory, it feels like it won’t be long until this little mare is getting started as a riding horse!
All SAFE horses are adopted with a no-breeding clause, no exceptions.
Introducing Wren
Wren came to SAFE back in May as part of a 7 horse rescue from the Gig Harbor area. She was living in a 4‑horse herd, and while initially curious, she was somewhat cautious around people at first, preferring to keep her distance.
But after her arrival here and those those initial days working with her, catching her with a rope in the round pen and beginning the halter starting process, Wren proved to be a very adept student. She was not, like some of her cohorts, unwilling to be pet, and was quickly able to be haltered after those first sessions.
Perhaps it was because she had not been “messed with” very much, but once in regular work, Wren had very little trouble with the introduction of new stimulus like the flag, and the rope. She was quick to learn how to pick up her feet, and stood very well for her first trim. She was the first of her herd to leave the nest, so to speak, and was able to participate in the groundwork portion of Joel’s July clinic outside of a round pen just a few weeks after her arrival.
We are so accustomed to horses coming through our program who have a lot to work through, that when we get a horse like Wren who has a better understanding than most, it almost feels like something is wrong. It should be more difficult, we think to ourselves, as she walks into the barn for the first time with hardly a squeak, or lets us start preparation for saddling only after a handful of sessions. But perhaps this is just what it’s like when starting colts who don’t come with a truckload of baggage. Regardless, when we get a horse like Wren, we do not take her willingness for granted.
And all this isn’t to say that Wren was going through the motions without any kind of challenge. There were still spots in there and things that she found difficult. It’s just that it took her a lot less time to come to an understanding of what was being asked of her, and we were more easily able to help her out of what trouble she did come across. She is a lovely mare, and we expect her to keep progressing through our training program at a good clip. Now that she has been removed from her previous situation, it will be quite exciting to see just what the future has in store for such a bright young lady!
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 even shorter period since we took in the Graham 27. Now, we were once again called to help with a multi-horse intake. Seven horses in the Gig Harbor area needed our help, the owner needing to quickly re-home horses that were not easily re-homeable. On the heels of the Graham horses, we felt a bit more prepared for a larger intake, but unlike the Graham horses, these horses had not had regular (or any) handling in some time.
So on a Saturday morning, we loaded up our trailers with panels, and set out with a robust team of people and a brigade of trailers and a plan to pull seven horses out of the mud.
Thanks to a ton of planning, a great deal of manpower, and an earlier scope of the property, we were able to successfully remove all the horses from the property over the course of just a few hours. We ran chutes from the pens, some quite winding and intricate, but everyone left unscathed, and arrived at SAFE in one piece.
Lancelot, the stallion, was the first to pull through the gates.
Next were mother and daughter, Ciara and Inula,
followed by the small herd of mares: Meadow and Mirana, the elders of the group, (and the only ones who allowed us to halter them), and Wren and Harissa.
Seeing them at SAFE was like seeing them with the lights clicked on for the first time. It was clear they were in need of some TLC, but out of the mud and muck, it became obvious just how much. Their feet were overgrown, slippered in some cases. The four mares had a line of what appeared to be rotten hair halfway up their legs, likely a result of standing in a high layer of wet ground. The mother and daughter stank, a smell like rotting, and while there was nothing visibly deceased on the property, it felt very much like a place where death lived. All of them, when confronted with clean water troughs, drank long and deep.
It was clear from the moment we set eyes on the horses that they would take some work to rehab and retrain. Even the mares who let us halter them were not keen on being touched much beyond that. We certainly had our work cut out for us. But this was not the first time that challenging horses had come through our gates, and it will not be the last. The road ahead might be long, but the most important thing is that these horses are safe now, and that is all that matters.
Wren’s Friends:
1. Laura M.
2. ____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________
5. ____________________
6. ____________________
7. ____________________
8. ____________________
9. ____________________
10._____________________
Every horse deserves at least ten friends! Even a small monthly donation can make a difference. Plus, SAFE horse sponsors receive discounts at local businesses through the SAFEkeepers program!
