Sara and Phoenix
When horses come to SAFE, they are often suspicious and fearful. In many cases, their hard lives have left them mistrustful of humans. It takes patience, sensitivity, timing, and powerful observation skills to bring them out of their hurtful pasts and into a healthy, useful future with humans. SAFE has worked hard over the past few years to develop a group of talented volunteer riders who help do just that: give these horses a future. Every bond a SAFE horse forges with these calm, kind individuals makes them that much more ready to go out and make a bond with a new owner. This month we would like to spotlight, and thank, one of these talented individuals. Willing, cheerful, competent…these are the words our shift leads and barn managers use to describe this month’s volunteer of the month. Sara Sluszka is a ray of sunshine and a calm, competent hand for our horses in training.
Sara recently shared some of her horse background with us…
I grew up in Upstate New York, surrounded by farms. I had horse fever by the age of five at the latest, and started volunteering at a local barn in exchange for riding lessons when I was ten. One of my favorite horse memories is the summer when I was about 14, and my friend and I would take our horses to a field that belonged to a neighbor and race them (usually bareback). Being involved at SAFE as a volunteer rider over the past year has been such a great calming experience for me (as a contrast to my day job as a deportation defense attorney for detained immigrants in Tacoma). The horses have a magic way of bringing me back to the present moment, and when I am moving in a flow with them, it’s an indescribable feeling. It’s hard to choose a favorite horse at SAFE, though Phoenix, Ben and Cameo have stood out to me (all for very different reasons!). Thanks so much for this recognition, though I feel like I’m the one getting the great deal here!
Cheers to you, Sara! And thanks for all of your work with the horses!
Photo credit: Bea Sluszka
