Nora

Nora, now known as Mercy, in her new home:

For updates on many of your favorite adopted SAFE horses, visit our SAFE Alumni Facebook group! It’s where SAFE adopters can post updates, photos, and videos of their SAFE horses, to share their progress with the SAFE community!

You don’t have to ride to enjoy horses! Take a look at Sarah doing liberty work with Nora. This is an incredible way to create a bond with your horse.

SAFE has so many unrideable horses that are waiting for homes! These are horses who have so much to give and so much they can do for you. They will brighten your life as you care for them, spend time with them, even just as you look at them. All they ask for in return is to be loved, fed, and sheltered. If you have room in your life and your heart for a SAFE companion horse, let us know! Friends are waiting!

Nora has been back at SAFE for several weeks now, and she’s settling in well. She spends her days in a field with Vida, Rosie, and Prince, and her evenings resting in her stall. She’s being re-introduced to good ground manners, and although she’d probably prefer to act like a kite on the end of a leadrope, she is learning how to be good. She’s got a lot of energy, this one!

Sweet Nora arrived at Safe Harbor Stables today after her foster home needed to lower the workload at home. Nora jumped right into the trailer without trouble to make the trip to Redmond. For her daily turnout routine, and because Nora does not like to be alone, she was introduced to a small herd of horses: Vida, Rosie, and Prince. She was respectful of Vida, the herd leader, and cautiously settled into the field with them. So far, so good.

Herd Health Manager and volunteer rider Melinda spent some time with Nora this evening to do a little groundwork and check out her ground manners. Because of a bone chip in her hock, Nora cannot be ridden but it is still important that horses respect their handlers. We need to ensure that our volunteers will be able to safely work with her. It’s been a number of years since Nora was at SAFE, so a refresher is always a good idea. Here is was Melinda had to say about getting re-acquainted with Nora:

What a sweet girl! I remember her from before but not very well. She was a doll tonight. We focused on leading, backing, and “personal bubbles.” She was very responsive and caught on quickly to what I wanted from her. I also worked her with the flag a bit. She was flighty about it at first but then settled easily. This will need a tiny bit of work.

At the end of our session I gave her a bath. No problems there. I’m glad she’s back home. She’s a nice mare!

here’s a video showing Nora and Melinda working together in the arena:

Nora with her friends: Kat & Marta

We always hope that we have placed our horses in forever homes…but from time to time, things don’t work out that way. Nora was with her loving adoptive family for almost three years when we got the call that their life situation was changing and they could no longer keep their horses. Saddened to hear that she was again needing to find placement SAFE stepped in to help run ads to find her a new home. Unfortunately, her adoptive families house sold and Nora had to leave the property before a new placement was found. Worried that she may end up in a bad situation, SAFE offered to take her back.

When I went to the property to pick her up, Nora was still the same sweet mare. She had been living with another older companion horse and two minis. While she called to them as we pulled away, she was very quiet for the ride and when I unloaded her at Cedarbrook Veterinary Hospital, for her quarantine and health evaluation from Dr. Hannah, she was relaxed, quiet and well behaved. She wasn’t even sweaty from the trailer ride and settled right into her stall.

After a clean bill of health and a dental float, we moved Nora in with our super foster and adopter mom Susan. Nora was reunited with her old friend SAFE alumni Kat and introduced to SAFE horse Marta. Everyone got along right away and the three mares make a wonderful little herd on Susan’s 10 acre property in Duvall. All reports of Nora have been glowing. She is in good health and available as a companion for adoption.

Nora is suited for beginning handlers and does well in either a stall with day turnout or all day pasture living. She gets along best with mares and while she can be a bit bossy about food, she is easily managed. All the mares currently eat and live together 24/7 without trouble. Nora is an easy keeper and only requires regular hoof trims and annual dental floats. She is a genuine sweetheart and we hope that a nice family will find room in their hearts to make her part of their family.

Today, a group of Vet Tech students from Pima Medical Institute took a field trip to SAFE Harbor Stables. The goal was to practice doing a physical exam, venipuncture, and administering dewormer. In exchange for providing the opportunity for the students to gain hands on experience, SAFE received free fecal floats, blood tests, and deworming for 12 horses. We are pleased to be able to collaborate with the Vet Tech program at Pima. All of the students were respectful, efficient, and grateful for the opportunity.

Nora stands patiently as a Pima student listens for gut sounds

To perform a physical exam, the students needed to take a horse’s temperature, pulse, and respiration along with locating “gut sounds” in all four quadrants. When the instructor asked me for our most laid back horse to perform the physical exam on, I picked our sweetheart mare Nora…and she totally rocked it. She let 6 students feel her every which way AND take her temperature. Then she took a break for some mash and came back and let the other 5 students poke and prod her as well. Only when the very last student was working with her did Nora stomp her foot ever so slightly to let us know she was done. She was kind and patient and friendly throughout. Nora is truly an amazing horse!

Big thanks for Sara and Terry for all their help today during the Pima visit!

Nora’s lovely face graced the advertisements we sent out for tomorrow’s Open House. Isn’t she the cutest? 

Everyone is pretty much in love with Nora. She’s a doll, just sweet and loving and really, really pretty. Her physical condition is slowly improving and while she still needs to put on more weight, she’s looking healthier and her coat has improved. Nora’s biggest problem is the condition of her hooves. She doesn’t have much in the way of hoof wall so she’s pretty much walking on her soles, and it’s been pretty painful for her. Daphne came out and put a full set of glue-on shoes on her so she’s a lot more comfortable now, thankfully!

She’s quite fond of her stall at SAFE Harbor, but we’re happy to see that she is venturing out into her paddock and doing some exploring, now that it doesn’t hurt so bad to walk around.

We’ve been contacted by one of Nora’s former owners, who tells us that Nora is a great trail horse. We’re still going to have to wait a bit longer before Brittney tries riding her. For now, she’s getting lots of love and scratches and she definitely seems to enjoy the attention! She’s a nice girl, a real sweetie!