October Volunteer of the Month: Anne-Marie Rousseau!

Our October Volunteer of the Month is the amazing Anne-Marie Rousseau! Ann-Marie volunteers weekly with SAFE as part of the Night Check program. She stops by in the late evening to count noses and verify that everyone is in good shape. She does a fantastic job tucking the ponies in and kissing noses! Anne-Marie contributes to SAFE in several other ways, including pitching in at work parties and volunteering at events. She also networks for our horses amongst her endurance friends, and she participates in her Employer’s Matching Program, which provides donations to SAFE based on her volunteer hours. She is a valuable member of our rescue team and we are grateful to have her. Please join us in congratulating Anne-Marie for her hard work and dedication!

Here is a little more about Anne-Marie…

My name is Anne-Marie Rousseau. I’m a research scientist working in a lab to cure cancer. I have the best day job ever :). I had horses as a kid but gave them up to be a grownup. Then, around age 40 I decided I needed them back. I started renting and borrowing whenever I could, took some awesome horseback vacations in France and Wyoming, and eventually moved to leasing and bought my very first all my own horse just last year :). I take weekly dressage lessons, am an avid trail rider, competitive mounted orienteering, and am starting out in endurance. We did my first LD (30 miles) a couple months ago! We finished about dead last but I finished. Woohoo!

I’ve been volunteering with SAFE for just over a year. Mostly nightly nose checks, but also whatever random tasks they call me for. I’ve helped move hay, worked the auction, primped and handled ponies for photo shoots, helped fill in on stall mucking, done site visits, helped move gravel…no job too small or dirty for me!

I started volunteering for SAFE after I lost my beloved elder arab statesman Raji to a sudden colic. I had had Raj on a full care lease for about 5 years and as he was slowing down, I found had more free time. I had some friends who worked with SAFE and I was impressed with their professionalism and overall philosophies. I started the process to volunteer and when Raji died suddenly, my orientation just happened to be about three days later. Oof. It actually was a very good thing. I could still be around horses but on my own terms. I didn’t know these horses and they weren’t mine, so I could still do something helpful and useful without emotional investment. At least that was the theory ;). Of course, anyone who’s around horses at all knows that the first time they wuffle in your ear you’re a goner. But it really did help me grieve and helped my heart heal some.
Now, a year later, I have a new young arab-quarter horse named Rifle (gosh, working with a young horse is a very different experience than with a 28 year old schoolmaster!) and we’re having a blast together, figuring each other out and having tons of fabulous adventures! 

Favorite SAFE horse? Right now, it’s Chance. I’m a total sucker for a big tall soft eyed gelding. He’s a charmer and during his long convalescence, we got to know each other a bit. I love that he’d give me a “hug” when I was checking his leg :). Miah is a close second…I love arabs! and Ginger of course…looking forward to getting to know Sapphire…and Phoenix too…

I appreciate the work SAFE does. They focus on not just getting horses out of bad situations, but doing everything they can to help a horse move on to whatever is next. They run a tight ship, so I feel my valuable time is put to the most efficient use, and it’s the HORSE that comes first in all things, which is as it should be.