SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Tiva is Haltered!
Our Operations Director, Terry, was able to halter Tiva for the first time here at SAFE, just last week. What is not shown in this video is the preparation in getting to this moment — the hours that were spent with Tiva in the round pen getting her to hook on, roping Tiva and going through the first pages of Buck’s ‘Red Book’ with her, the first touches at the end of the lariat rope on her face…
August Volunteer of the Month: Trela Herman
We are extremely thankful Trela found SAFE. Her hard work, dedication, positivity and “up for any task” attitude is priceless and we couldn’t do it without volunteers like her. Learn a little more about Trela below. HOW AND WHEN DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED WITH HORSES? As a child, I grew up in Indiana and my family had a few horses, cows and chickens (but I was so young, that I don’t think that…
Our Annual Auction, Saturday July 23rd!
The property is abuzz with staff and volunteers preparing for our annual auction, Heart of the Horse Barn Party, this Saturday, July 23rd. We are excited to host the event on SAFE’s property after holding it virtually the past two years. Even though it’s a sold out event, there is still time to be involved and help support our horses. Silent auction items are available to bid on and will run…
Sparky-ing Joy
The novelty of meeting new horses as they come through the gates of SAFE never gets old. The horse person in all of us lights up with every new arrival — each new equine could be the very first one we’ve ever met, considering the way we act. And not to say that the sense of joy and wonder isn’t always present when our new residents become a bit more tenured, but acclimation is bound to…
Valentine on Fox 13!
Our sweet Valentine was featured by the Limelight Pet Project this last Sunday on Fox 13! If you missed it, no worries, check out her full story by watching the video below. Thank you to our wonderful friends at The Limelight Pet Project who help shine the light on hard to adopt pets. They help spread the word about our adoptable horses and provide us with beautiful photos and a wonderful story!…
Catching Eddie
Edward has, as all horses do, an almost preternatural ability to read humans. When I think about a horse like Edward — really, when I give thought to horses in general — I am filled with amazement that they allow us to do even a quarter of the things that they do. So when they test their boundaries with us, I should really be more surprised it doesn’t happen more often. Edward arrived at SAFE…
A Walk With Cameron
One of our long time volunteers, Monique, who walks Cameron once a week, wrote this about him and it melted our hearts. “Our sweet boy Cameron can see us a mile away, Is that a bucket?! Oh, time for my walk! He’s always eager against the gate, messy face nose dive in halter. Um, let’s check out the new kids, look Cameron a new cute mare! Swoop! Head dive for road hay-pull up, our dance as we…
Nyx is Adopted!
Congratulations to our big boy Nyx! Lindsay first made the journey from Oregon to meet Nyx 3 months ago. The two hit it off and the plan was made to continue Nyx’s training for a couple of months before heading to his new home. The training would end with Lindsay riding in the Joel Connor clinic in June at SAFE. Lindsay was a rockstar and did a fabulous job during the clinic! Not only was she…
Daisy is Adopted!
Foster fail alert!! When Daisy headed to foster at Shellie’s home back in February 2021, we didn’t know that she wouldn’t return, but we are happy to hear Shellie fell in love and refused to give her back. In fact, she said she couldn’t imagine life without her so she signed the adoption paperwork. Now she gets to spend her time with Laurence, Shellie’s gelding. The two are very content and…
George, in focus
These beautiful photos of George, taken by Marika Moffitt, Owner of SoulDog Creative (formerly Dirtie Dog Photography), showcase two versions of George — the spunky, athletic gelding moving out in the roundpen, and the observant, brave fellow ready to adventure out in the world. He sure is one handsome guy, and one who will make someone a very lucky riding companion!
2022 Q2 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: April 7, 2022 Bliss (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: May 11, 2022 Ruckus (Returned to SAFE) Artie (Returned to SAFE) Intake Date: May 13, 2022 Ezra (Animal Control) Sparky (Animal Control) Intake Date: May 16, 2022 Echo (Returned to SAFE) Intake Date: May 23, 2022 Tilt (Returned to SAFE) Valentine (Returned to SAFE) Placed Horses Freya Nyx Bliss Echo Daisy Euthanized Horses…
July Volunteer of the Month: Carrie Sjaarda
Congratulations to our July Volunteer of the Month, Carrie Sjaarda!! We are unbelievably lucky to have Carrie’s positive and “jump in and help with whatever” attitude. She hit the ground running as soon as she started. Quickly changing from one chore shift, to helping out all day. Thank you Carrie for working so hard to help our horses, we couldn’t do it without you. Learn more about Carrie…
George is a Carrot Man
Did you know dewormer is flavored? Apple, usually, though I’m not about to test that personally. Still, flavor or no, there are certain horses who prefer the tube not even enter their sight, thanks very much. George is one such fellow, who recoils at the merest brush of plastic against his lips. If he spoke english, we could enlighten him as to why proper deworming practices are so important,…
June Joel Conner Clinic Update: Tilt
One of our horsemanship volunteers, Sue, had this to say about working Tilt in the most recent Groundwork Clinic with Tilt: “I was happy to have the opportunity to do groundwork with Tilt at the June 2022 Joel Conner Clinic. Tilt is a young mare, one of the Fall City 40, who was adopted to a greathome, but sadly had to return to SAFE due to family circumstances. She had probably not done a lot…
Freya is Adopted!
It’s not everyday we get a horse like Freya, who is not only sweet, but also writes letters! When Manuela adopted Freya and picked up her up last month we had no idea Freya would be the one who would keep us up to date on how she was doing. I’m not sure why we were so surprised, Freya quickly was a favorite among many of the volunteers and staff, so we should have seen this coming. Here’s…
Barb, the Houdini
If you know horses, you know their proclivity for finding themselves in less than ideal situations. Barb, a mare too smart for her own good, recently got herself into one such scrape when she decided to liberate herself from her paddock by tunneling beneath her fence. It sounds quite impossible a feat, but the acrobatic feats horses are capable of really know no bounds. Unfortunately for Barb,…
June Joel Conner Clinic Update: Pepper
One of our volunteer riders, Sue, had this to say about riding Pepper in the most recent Joel Connor Clinic: “I was so excited to get to participate in the riding portion of the June, 2022 Joel Conner Clinic at SAFE. It was my first chance at this, and I was very fortunate to ride Pepper, who really made it all possible. She is a young mare, a bit green, but with a ton of try. As a long time…
Chip and Dale Update
Some miles from SAFE, nestled on a little slice of paradise, Chip and Dale continue to thrive at their foster home. These two sweet boys spend their days cavorting around their dry lots, luxuriating (under careful supervision) on green grass, and being doted upon by foster mom Laura. Dale has a mane that could rival any lion’s, a truly disproportionate amount of hair for his tiny frame. It is…
Bliss is Adopted!
A year and a half is the average time a horse spends with SAFE before being adopted. Bliss, our sweet, blind mare, was in our care for 5 weeks before being adopted to the absolute perfect family! Emily and her family had previously adopted SAFE alum, Beauty, but had sadly lost her in January this past year. We were delighted when the family wished to welcome another SAFE horse into their home…
Alumni Update: Phoenix, King and Sinatra
SAFE friend and 3‑time adopter, Lauren, shared some recent photos of Phoenix, Sinatra and King. The picture around the round pen looks like they are planning their next prank to play on the cattle!
SweetHearts of the Rodeo is Underway!
The Heart of the Horse “SweetHearts of the Rodeo” campaign is underway! We’re going to raise $40,000 for the horses at SAFE in the most fun way possible! Twenty one SAFE horses are competing to be named “Rodeo Queen”, “Rodeo King”, and “Rodeo Clown” for Heart of the Horse. Each horse has a Team. Help your favorite win by joining their team then get busy raising donations and awareness about SAFE…
Gabby Picks Up Her Feet!
Foster parent, Trisha, has made huge strides with SAFE’s first mule, Gabby! Here’s what she had to say: “Here are some Gabby videos of her learning to pick up her feet. Figuring out the right way to balance has been tricky for her, but she’s catching on. She is doing very well, continues to be fairly reactive at times and always needs a warm up at the beginning of working together, but she…
Alumni Update: Tasara
Tasara and wonderful adopter Sherri are both glad to see that the weather is getting warmer and less wet! Training and exercise are definitely on the calendar to start getting Tasara back into her slim and trim. From the pictures, you can see that both Sherri and Tasara make a perfect pair!
Alumni Update: Rhythm
Here are some photos of Rhythm sent to us by Jimmy, taken in May. Very handsome horse who is doing well and by the look on his face is very happy and curious!
Jacob and Edward, BFF
Although they took their names from the rival love interest’s in Stephanie Meyer’s ‘Twilight,’ our equine Jacob and Edward could not be any closer to the definition of two peas in a pod. If they are together, they appear as one creature, joined at the hip (or cheek)! One could spend hours outside their paddock, just watching the way they interact with one another. But although they are…
Cosmo is in search of a new home
Theo (Cosmo) is a SAFE alumni riding horse, in search of a new home! He is a super gentle, kind boy, who loves trail rides & has a lot of experience with children. He is a 19-year-old, 15.1hh Bay QH. Theo has quite the background! He was shown in 4H & did well in western pleasure and showmanship. He has also competed in ETS (Equestrian Trail Sport) competitions. But ultimately, his true…
Jewel’s Last Ride at SAFE
Since Julie adopted Jewel in November 2017, the two have participated in every Joel Connor Clinic. That’s most likely about 20 clinics! But now it is time for Julie and Jewel’s next adventure in life as they move out of state. It was a bittersweet ending to the clinic as we will dearly miss seeing these two work together, but it gave us the chance to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that…
Tanis’ First Joel Conner Clinic
Tanis participated in her first clinic last weekend and made some huge changes! She has an ingrained reaction to pull back, so our focus was moving forward freely. The extra challenges presented by the clinic (other people waving flags, big open space with lots of horses, audience of people) actually really helped us progress. At the beginning of the clinic, I pretty much had to work constantly…
Alumni Update: Luna
Beautiful Luna is now living in Northern California with her new person, Reegan. They both are settling in together very well with one another and working hard, preparing for an upcoming dressage clinic. Reegan and her mom, Doreen absolutely love her so much! She is a very special mare, so smart, works hard and picking up dressage very quickly.
Joel Conner Clinic: Echo
Echo has gotten right back into the swing of things! After a couple initial restarting rides, Echo is now riding just like she was before she left. She participated in both the groundwork and the riding class in the recent Joel Conner clinic and did phenomenally! We were able to clear up some braces in her front end and really helped her quiet her mouth on the bit. Echo made huge strides in her…
