Frosting’s First Ride
The Frosting who arrived at SAFE at the beginning of 2021 was a scraggly creature, barely half a panel high at the wither, and covered in a ratty, matted coat. She was just shy of a year old then, and still clacking at every horse around her to remind them that she was little and therefore, not a threat. She spent some time at foster, growing up alongside mother-figure Fancy, and when she came…
Ride, Darla, Ride
While Darla is ready to leave the nest and embark on her next big adventure alongside a lucky adopter, we are happily enjoying the time we still get to spend alongside this special girl. Kaya M, Darla’s primary rider, has been putting in a lot of work to prepare this darling creature for her forever home, and while you can read what Kaya herself has written about Darla on her page, it’s clear…
March Joel Conner Clinic Report: Zelly
Kaya M brought Zelly into the groundwork portion of the March Joel Conner clinic, and had the following to say about her experience there as well as her observations of Zelly under saddle: “They say that being around smart people makes you smarter and I think that must also apply to horses. This horse is so smart! Just being around her shows me how I need to be a better horseman and I learned so…
Health Update: Declan
Since arriving at SAFE, Delcan has been a little bit off, physically. Granted, he’s an older gentleman, and with the wisdom of age comes less desirable things, like arthritis, but we still wanted to check him out with our vets. To add another layer, when he first arrived at SAFE, Declan kicked out at a panel which resulted in a laceration along his heel bulb. This injury ended up growing down…
March Joel Conner Clinic Report: Eleven
Sue C partnered up with Eleven at the March Joel Conner clinic, and had the following to say about their time together: “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Eleven at the March 2023 Joel Conner clinic. Eleven is a lovely 24 year old Percheron cross mare, sweet and largely untroubled. She can be nervous about handling, and had little exposure to ground work, but was a willing and…
March Joel Conner Clinic Report: Betty
Candi K recently worked alongside Betty in the March Joel Conner clinic, and had the following to say about their time together: “At first glance you might think Betty is big and assuming but once you look into her eyes you will see a gentle soul. At all of 5’1” I barely come up to her withers, her head is bigger than my torso and her hooves are bigger than my feet. None of that mattered though…
Hopper and Sparrow Move to SAIN
Hopper and Sparrow made their way to Skagit Animals in Need where they will enjoy life in their foster program (with new buddies!) until SAIN is able to find them a loving retirement home. We are very thankful to partner with SAIN to help find these boys homes and will continue to send qualified adopters their way! Both geldings were part of the 27 horse Pierce County Animal Control seizure last…
Artie Out on the Town
Given how mellow he has been under saddle thus far, we had no reason to believe that Artie would not be able to find as much comfort in his rider outside the arena as he did within it. And our hypothesis was proved correct when taking him out for the first time for a walk around the property. Artie was a very brave boy, walking over pallet bridges, through puddles, and by all sorts of birds and…
March Joel Conner Clinic Report: Brandy
Carrie S participated in the March Joel Conner clinic alongside Brandy, and had the following to say about their experience together: “I had the opportunity to work with Brandy during the groundwork portion of the Joel Conner Clinic in March of 2023. Brandy had previously attended one clinic, but had little work in between due to the large herd that SAFE took in last November, which…
2023 Q1 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: Feb 28, 2023 Jacob (Returned to SAFE) Intake Date: Mar 12, 2023 Irene (Animal Control) Intake Date: Mar 29, 2023 Quincy (Returned to SAFE) Placed Horses Harley Finnigan Lady Diva Jasmine Sullivan Chloe Remmi Apollo Nutmeg Bramble Hopper Sparrow Eleven Betty Cramer Otto
Quincy, back at SAFE
Easy has never been a word one would associate with Quincy. He first came to SAFE back in the beginning of February 2021 as an anxious stallion, incredibly reluctant to be caught and very nervous to be handled. He was gelded here, and a lot of time was spent to gentle him: braiding his mane, brushing his coat, and teaching him some basics of groundwork to help him feel more comfortable in his…
Darla, out and about
With the onset of nicer weather comes the shedding of many things: layers, coats, and roofs. The latter of which doesn’t actually go anywhere, rather we just get out from under them. Walks around the property are a great first step for prepping horses for the trails, or just experiencing a change of scenery. And really, when the ground is dry and the sky is blue, we’ll take any excuse to get out…
April Volunteer of the Month: Anne Healey
Anne started volunteering in July 2021 and has since become a solid rock on the Tuesday PM team. I don’t always have the pleasure of meeting each volunteer in person, but I remember hearing whisperings from Kaya about how awesome Anne was and she was right. Soon after these whisperings, she volunteered to be on my emergency text list, which is always my dream come true. What I soon learned was…
March Joel Conner Clinic Report: Darla
Kaya M rode Darla in the March Joel Conner clinic, and wrote the following about their time together: “Darla is really starting to show what she’s capable of and the March clinic proved that she’s much more capable, understanding, and prepared to handle difficult situations than I’d been giving her credit for! My huge personal takeaway from this clinic is that I need to stop settling for “good”…
Edward’s Popped Splint
If there’s one thing you can be sure of, it’s that horses will find ways to injure themselves. Cuts, scratches, lumps, bumps – you name it, and sooner or later a horse will find a way to amass a variety of them. It’s written into their code, as sure as breathing air or drinking water. So Edward was just exercising his right as a horse to injure himself when last week he popped a splint. The…
We Are Lucky To Have Our Minis
Penned by Best Buddy to Shasta and Sunny and volunteer, Debbie Meyer. March is traditionally known as the month to celebrate the luck of the Irish (and those who choose to symbolically be Irish) on St. Patrick’s Day. March also is the month that those who are fans of and mad (as in crazy!) about college basketball look forward to the March Madness competition. As a result, it was felt March…
Training Update: Picasso
Flashy Picasso was on a semi-hiatus from training when, back at the beginning of February, he developed an abscess that really took its time resolving. Only in the last couple weeks was he back to looking sound, but we wanted to be totally sure. So at a recent vet appointment, we had him checked out to ensure there wasn’t some bigger issue we were missing. Luckily, our vet felt that Picasso…
Alumni Update: Heidi
Look at cute Heidi, with mud only on her forehead! How does she do that? Heidi enjoys a walk in the woods; she loves to take advantage of the nice weather when we have it! Heidi and her adopter celebrated 15 years together in November!! We are happy to hear they said “Time flies when you’re having fun.”
Chip and Dale are Adopted!
Chip and Dale are excited to be home forever! They recently returned to their previous foster mom’s home and you can see the joy in every roll, buck and kick. We are thrilled to announce Chip and Dale will permanently be staying with Laura, they are officially adopted! A little over a year ago, we picked these two senior minis up after their elderly owner could no longer care for them. Luckily,…
Training Update: Sienna
Sienna, Sienna, Sienna! This sweet mare remains a bit of an enigma to us. On the ground she is the model for so many things, but under saddle she remains tight. She does stay with you longer before checking out, and she is able to be talked off a ledge easier than she once was, both good changes. But we are also not always trying to talk her out of it — that trouble that exists within her still…
March Joel Conner Clinic
It’s the first Joel Conner horsemanship clinic of the 2023 season here at SAFE in Redmond, WA!! — Auditing is $30 each day | cash or check only (checks made out to Joel Conner) — Free for current active volunteers and Alumni horse owners. Schedule Groundwork: 9:00 am- 12:00 pm Riding: 12:30 pm — 2:30 pm Colt Starting: 2:30 pm — 5:00 pm Dress warmly and bring a camp/lawn chair if you have one.…
Check in with Sparky
Who has the better life? Sparky or Jackie, our wonderful foster mom and volunteer holding the brush? It’s very hard to say because the level of cuteness oozing from this video should make everyone jealous that Jackie can do this everyday. To quote her “This might be why things on my to-do list don’t get done.” But of course, truth be told, Sparky is living a fantastic life surrounded by friends,…
New Friends: Barb & Kelly
Since her stint on stall rest after her houdini moment, Barb has been occupying a one bedroom paddock. If her escapades don’t allude to it, I will tell you directly that Barb is a playful and mischievous creature. If she were written into a novel, the genre would most certainly be adventure, and she would be the main character who trouble cannot help but find. But the one thing currently missing…
Training Update: Addie
As was standard with the Graham horses we started (or re-started) under saddle, Addie had some issue when asked to go forwards. As is the case, the things that reveal themselves on the ground also appear under saddle and vice versa. It was clear that Addie was tremendously stuck – even when asked to go forward on the ground she felt that she could not move her feet, which manifested in her…
Artie 4 U!
Extra extra, read all about it — Artie Shaw is available for adoption as a riding horse! There was a time, not all that long ago, when we wrote riding out of Artie’s future. His first experiences with the saddle were so dramatic that we felt the time and effort it would take to get him comfortable, not to mention the risk involved for those humans on the ground, seemed to outweigh the potential…
Meet Irene!
Introducing our first intake of 2023, Irene! Irene, along with another horse, was living under the care of an owner suffering from dementia. Unfortunately, due to her own condition, the owner was unable to provide for the horses as she once had. Both horses were seniors, and one was suffering from a chronic lameness. It was clear that all parties required assistance. The community surrounding…
Training Update: Flagging Off Otto
Otto’s fourth birthday just passed, and it’s hard to believe that the little sickly boy with the infected tooth who arrived at the end of 2021 is now such a solid (and healthy!) riding horse. Casey A, who has been spending the most time riding and working Otto over the last months delights in this guy’s softness and try, and has been enjoying the time they spend together, both on the ground and…
Poppy’s Playmate
If you squint, it’s hard to differentiate the two little black mares who came in together as part of the Graham 27 seizure. They’re both small of stature, both rather narrow, both almost fully black. In the shadows, it’s hard to even tell they’re there. When night check makes their rounds to feed, I can imagine on moonless nights all they see is the glint of four pairs of eyes, waiting for hay…
Zelly’s Progress
Zelly is the very definition of ‘looks good for her age.’ At 20, she is no spring chicken, but her physical condition and her mental acuity show a horse who still has a lot left in the tank. When first assessing Zelly on the ground, we met a horse who was clearly very used to going through the motions. She had a kind of robotic way about the way she would respond to what was being asked…
Alumni Update: Glory
Glory is doing well. Melissa, Glory’s adopter, enjoys riding her in the wheat fields near where she lives. Melissa’s son is also starting to ride Glory and has dreams of doing some roping on her one day.
