SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
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.
Good Boy Jax
What a nice horse Jax has turned out to be! He’s made such a transformation since entering our horsemanship program about a month ago. It’s been extremely enjoyable working with this gelding, and teaching him a new and better way of being. When we started working with Jax, there were two issues that came to light right away. First was anxiety…he seemed to think that “being worked” meant flying…
Esme — Ready for Adoption!
Esme, started under saddle last fall, is coming along very nicely as a riding horse! She is a cute little mover, and is soft on a loose rein, walk trot and canter. She recently had her very first rides in the outdoor arena, and did great, even amongst many would-be distractions. She is beginning to work a bit in the soft feel on two reins — a really exciting development from the horse who two…
Jacob’s Trial
Part of our adoption process at SAFE involves doing our best to ensure the matches made between horse and human are the best fits possible. We try to make sure of this before the horse is out the door – adopters are encouraged to come and visit with their potential new family member as many times as they like to feel fully comfortable with the partnership, as sometimes a single meeting is not…
Alumni Update: Doolin
Shannon does lots of groundwork with Finn (formerly Doolin) to help him relax and be less nervous and he is doing really well! She has ponied him with her older Quarter horse and is teaching him how to ride comfortably in the trailer. Last September, she brought Finn to the Joel Clinic at SAFE and eventually her goal is to teach him to be a riding pony so in a couple of years, her little…
Moshi’s First Saddle
Of the Graham horses who came to SAFE, the majority were assumed (or known) to have at least some experience under saddle. A few, however, were wild cards. Moshi was one who fit into the latter category. Upon first glance, her small stature makes you think she is perhaps much younger than she actually is, but teeth don’t lie, and Moshi is around 6 years old, certainly old enough to have been…
A Dental for Tiva
I’ll let you in on a little secret: we have a document that lists all our horses here at SAFE with all their different stats. Name, height, weight. When they last had their feet done, when they last were vaccinated. It’s a way to keep track of things, helps us organize appointment dates and have a place to house all of the data behind the creatures we know and love. The sense of fulfillment when…
March Volunteer of the Month: Lise Anderheggen-Leif
Congratulations to our March Volunteer of the Month, Lise!! She started on the Wednesday PM team during the infamous 2020 and quickly became a dedicated, reliable team member who fell in love with SAFE. As a Co Lead, she has helped train many new volunteers and is very patient with what at times can feel like a revolving door of new teammates, adding a sense of humor that is necessary for the…
Darla — Ready for Adoption!
Darla is ready for her forever person to take her home! This sweet mare has so much try and she is so fun to ride. Darla has come a long ways since she was surrendered to SAFE; from hardly halterable, to confidently rideable. While Darla can still be nervous at times and takes a confident rider to help her relax, she’s proving that she is getting more and more comfortable and will be suitable…
Field Report: Working with Bijou
Kirsten AL, one of our horsemanship volunteers, has been working with Bijou the past several months, and has had the following to say about their time spent together: “What a fun horse to work with! In both being a gem with a heart of gold and a challenge with her set ways, Bijou doesn’t ever fail to impress with how attentive and sensitive she is. She has a huge willingness to try and…
Alumni Update: Karma
Karma lives on 15 acres with her 17-year-old gelding buddy Ramsey. Her adopter, Sarah, doesn’t ride her anymore, but she seems to enjoy her life hanging out with her buddy. Karma is brought into a stall for an hour each day to eat her alfalfa, then she and Ramsey go out to spend the night in a one-acre paddock and, in the morning, are turned out to wander on 15 acres. Pretty nice life for a…
Alumni Update: Leonardo
Leo is doing well on a nine-acre property with his companions, Alpine and Oak. Toni (Leo’s adopter) lives and works on the property. Toni is not currently riding Leo due to school and work commitments, but she does groundwork with him, and he gets a lot of attention and grooming.
Alumni Update: George
George’s adopter says “Finally finished our round pen for George! After five weeks of terrible weather and no riding, I got on him tonight and he was an absolute gem. He was very proud of himself too!”
Training Update: Poppy moving on the Wall
Little Poppy is hard at work in our horsemanship program, learning all sorts of new tricks. Because she has likely never been saddled before, we are putting her through all the paces with that as our first major goal, but we are working on other aspects of a well-rounded horse’s education as well. In the below video, Terry works Poppy as though she is tied (she is NOT tied, I want to reiterate…
Declan — Ready for Adoption!
Declan is ready for his new riding partner! This big, sweet, handsome gelding has overcome a lot of tension and anxiety when it comes to riding and is starting to relax, lower his head, and lengthen his strides more and more every week. Declan recently started riding out in the big arena and feels very confident and comfortable outside the round pen. He has also started standing tied and does…
March 2023 Joel Conner Clinic
Join us for the first Joel Conner horsemanship clinic of the 2023 season!! Come learn from Joel, see what our horsemanship program is all about and witness our horses in action. Join us at SAFE located here. March 24–26th from 9AM — 5PM Auditing is $30 each day | cash or check only (checks made out to Joel Conner) Free for current active volunteers and Alumni horse owners Dress warmly and bring…
Regarding Henry
The first challenge that Henry and I faced together was helping him understand that “walk” is a gait that he’s allowed and in fact encouraged to use. Like many of the Graham horses, Henry would set off like a bat out of hell when turned loose in the round pen. He’s got a rather gorgeous floaty trot, and he looks quite flashy when he’s going around at top speed with neck arched and his tail up in…
Training Update: Moshi
Little Moshi is settling in well here at SAFE, and has begun work in our horsemanship program alongside volunteer Lexee N. Lexee has been putting Moshi through all the beginning pages of the ‘Red Book’ in preparation for saddling her for the first time. It is our belief that Moshi, unlike the majority of the Graham horses, has never been saddled, so we are working to prep her for it to make it…
Sparrow’s Racing Past
Sparrow has a lip tattoo that denotes his past as a racehorse. However it’s odd: the letter that denotes the year of birth is missing, which made identifying who he was born as a bit more challenging. But by playing a game of trial and error with letters, we were able to find a horse who matched his physical description and had all of the numbers of his tattoo. ‘Proud Texan,’ born in 2001 in…
