Congratulations to our March Volunteer of the Month, Kyle Putnam!  Kyle has volunteered at the farm doing chores, as well as at the SAFE Benefit Horse Show and most recently as a foster home for SAFE horse Dexter. Please join me in offering Kyle a sincere “Thank You” for her contributions to SAFE!  Here is a little about Kyle in her own words…

How did you get involved with SAFE?
“I’ve been volunteering on and off with SAFE I believe since 2008. I had just graduated from law and grad school but the economy was in the tank and I was unemployed. I really needed to find something productive to do during the days and SAFE gave me a chance to do that. When I started working in Auburn, driving between Auburn, Monroe, and Seattle on a regular basis became a bit too much so I had to bow out of regular participation. But as the wheel always turns, Abby Gambrill started boarding at my stable, we became great friends, and I got sucked back in! I was blessed with the ability to foster a horse for a short period of time and Dexter seemed like a horse who would get a lot out of our situation. I am a massage practitioner as well as a professional groom, so I am at the barn A LOT, so I can keep a close eye on him throughout the day. He gets all of his needs catered to, but, in return, he has had to learn to cope with a busy barn with lots of horses out and about.

Who is your favorite SAFE horse?
“Sorry Cedar and Annie, but Dexter has become my favorite! I just love this little guy. We’ve gotten to the point that he’ll even nicker at me if I walk by his stall during the day, which is pretty darn cute. I had tried really hard to stay objective and not get too attached to him, but he won me over. It’s going to be hard to see him go, but I’ll be happy if I know he’s going to the right person.”

Anything else you would like to tell us about your involvement with SAFE?
“I don’t know if we’ll ever understand how people can horde, starve, abuse, and otherwise neglect horses. It’s not just a bad economy. Even when the economy improves, there will still be inexplicable cases of horses in distress. It is important for communities, not just horse communities but our larger human communities, to have well-run organizations like SAFE in the good times and the bad.”