SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
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…
King 5 News: Over 20 horses seized from Pierce County property recovering
Over 20 horses seized from Pierce County property recovering, investigation continues A majority of the horses seized during an animal cruelty investigation are recovering at Save a Forgotten Equine (SAFE) and will be available for adoption. Link to video on KING‑5 News Website Author: Julie Calhoun Published: 8:43 AM PST February 12, 2023 REDMOND, Wash. — After being rescued from a property in…
Alumni Update: Flynn
Flynn is doing great in his new home and obviously has adoring fans. Every time we see a photo of him and one of his fans, we screech with delight because of the cuteness.
Alumni Update: Tilt
Julie recently sent us an update on Tilt with exciting news! “Another update from down here in Santa Fe at what we’re calling Desert Jewel Ranch. A huge day for little Korra (formally Tilt). Thanks to Terry Ann Phelps-Peddy, Kaya Mead, Joel Conner and the SAFE horsemanship program, a lot of Buck Brannaman videos and her immensely sweet temperament, Korra had her first ride!! She was awesome. It…
Otto’s Tummy-ache
I played a lot of horse games on the computer growing up, most of them focused on eventing (the act of jumping or a piaffe reduced to pressing a single button on the keyboard). While this was fine, my main interest was drawn to the care parts of the simulators — dragging a curry comb over the side of a homogeneously dirty pixelated horse and watching the dirt be wicked away in great rectangular…
Soundside Podcast on KUOW
Last week, Bonnie was interviewed by KUOW about the Graham horses! Listen as she introduces the Soundside team to Henry on their recent visit to SAFE. Listen to Soundside on iTunes or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jax’s Racing Past
Jax has a lip tattoo that denotes his past as a racehorse. It’s always fun when we get a horse who comes in with some kind of marker about who they were in their past — so often we don’t have any clue a horse’s history. Looking into Jax’s lip tattoo, we discovered he was born ‘Sir Gallagher’ in 2008 here in Washington state. He is a grandson of Storm Cat, but his career earnings were not quite…
Alumni Update: Millie
Mille lives a happy life as the “queen” of her pasture! Although she is not being ridden, she is able to go on trail rides being ponied behind her pasture mate. She does very well on trails, even when they encounter bicycles, hikers, and other horses. We are so happy to hear Millie is living a great life surrounded by friends and adventures …
Volunteer(s) of the Year: Meghan, Monique and Trela!
We know you all have been holding your breath, waiting for us to announce our 2022 Volunteer of the Year! We wanted to surprise them in person (and film it to share with everyone! No pressure ladies) and it just so happened we couldn’t get them in on the property at the same time until this week! Watch as Kaya surprises Meghan, Trela and Monique, in their natural habitat (pounding T posts) and…
Alumni update: Flynn
Cute photo of Flynn and a lesson student enjoying the warmer weather!
A Horse’s Best Friend
Veronica loves dogs! Not only if they just happen to be walking by her as she snoozes next to the fence line, but when she spots them, she comes right over and wants kisses. Our Saturday Barn Staff, Trudy, brings Titan her adorable husky to work each weekend. Trudy goes about her busy day with Titan always in tow or sometimes towing her along. Since he was a wee puppy, he has grown up at SAFE…
Alumni Update: Lucca
Jane loves trail riding and spending time with Lucca. When they are not riding the beautiful trails near Lucca’s boarding barn, Jane spends time hand walking, just to spend more time with her. Jane even brought Lucca to a Joel Conner clinic so our volunteers could have a chance to work with a horse in the clinic. It was great to see them on the property and we love hearing how Lucca is doing…
February Volunteer of the Month: Molly McCord
Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Month, Molly!! Molly is a delight to be around, she brings sunshine to the barn and is a fantastic leader for her Friday PM team. Friday nights are hard shifts to fill, but every Friday, there is Molly, spending her “weekend” night with us. If there was an award for longest distance traveled to volunteer, it would surely go to her for the 50+ miles she…
SAFE Tax Donation Receipts were emailed yesterday!
2022 Tax Donation Receipts were sent out on January 31 via email to everyone who made at least one gift last year and who has an email on file with us. If you did not get one, it might be because we don’t have a working email address for you. If that’s the case, send a message to donate@safehorses.org and we’ll get your fixed right up! We had 1500 different donors in 2022 and our most successful…
Henry Health Update
All of the Graham horses are up to date on medical care, and have already had their feet done twice. Henry is no exception to this. The nervous, wild-eyed horse who arrived at SAFE after what was likely his first trailer ride is a far cry from the sweet horse who we are getting to know. This is not to say he is not still looky, but he has graduated from needing to live in a breakaway halter, as…
Kelly’s Legs
Kelly arrived at SAFE with some significant dermatitis on her legs, with her hind limbs being the most severely affected. She had rubbed patches completely raw from itching, and had developed some sore spots on her fetlocks underneath all those lovely draft horse feathers. We had our vet out to look at her and do an intake exam, where she developed a treatment plan for Kelly that involved daily…
