As though returning from a long holiday, these two noble ladies have come back to SAFE. For many months we watched their experiences at their foster home from afar – frolicking alongside their foster siblings, enjoying a summer of grass, making friends with neighboring alpacas and dogs.
But circumstances change, and as we slid into fall, we welcomed the girls back home through the gates of SAFE. It had been a while since we’d seen them in person, and the careful care their lovely foster took of them was apparent from the moment they stepped off the trailer.
These girls may be on the older end of the spectrum, but they are so full of life and personality! There’s nothing about them — well, ok, maybe Brandy’s poor teeth and Bandit’s stiff legs – that scream ‘senior citizen,’ and something tells me if they could speak English they would firmly reject the term.
The ladies are quite attached, and therefore their stall accommodations include a half wall so they can see each other all through the night, which works out well for Brandy, who can beg Bandit for hay. Given the poor state of her teeth, Brandy is on a mash-only diet, but still tries her best to finagle some hay snacks once in a while.
Sleepovers every night!
Since their return to SAFE, these two have stepped a bit more firmly into our horsemanship program, and volunteers have been able to both learn from and teach these gals a few new tricks. They were participants in November’s Joel clinic, where they worked on being a bit less pushy and finding comfort in their human handlers when the physical distance between their horse counterpart grew.
While we are enjoying having the girls back at SAFE, we are holding space in our hearts and minds that they might find a permanent foster situation. While all horses need time and attention, there are some – these two included – who would really benefit from being an ‘only child.’ With up to 30 horses under our care here at SAFE and only 24 hours in the day, logistically we cannot dote on all of them to the degree they deserve. To place them in a foster situation where they can be given the lion’s share of attentiveness would be an amazing gift to them. If you are interested in fostering these two, shoot an email to adopt@safehorses.org to start up a conversation.
In the meantime, we continue to delight in feeding these two their daily pill-pocket stud muffins and watching the funny way Bandit’s lips corkscrew when you find juuuust the right spot to itch on her withers.
