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…
The SAFE 2021 Annual Report is now available!
The 2021 SAFE Annual Report has finally been completed! In each of the last 10 years, SAFE has released an annual report to recognize our donors, share success stories, review our financials, and provide an overview of some of the year’s accomplishments and highlights. The 2021 Annual Report will take you back through Year Two of the pandemic and how this rescue organization fared with your…
Alumni Update: Bubbles
Bubbles, now named Bella, is doing awesome! She absolutely loves trail riding and really enjoys hanging out and horsing around with her brother rescues, Thunder and Jax. Bella recently got a gold star on her annual vet exam!
Training Update: Otto on the Fence
As part of a well-rounded education, our horses are put through paces that include more than just learning to wear a saddle. A class they must take and pass is learning to bump up to the rail. This serves several purposes, including but not limited to: learning to pick a rider up off the fence (not all of us can mount from the ground!), getting used to someone up above them, and learning to be…
Alumni Update: Teddi, Coco and Minnie
Pure cuteness of “Aunt” Teddi, Coco and Minnie! Such a wonderful success story! “All is well in Lakebay!! The weather is warming up and I imagine that feels good for them after all the rain!! They sure love being out in the pasture on the weekends!! The Littles are fun to watch and run around like crazy when they first get out there — FREEDOM 😄” ~Marti and John
Artie’s Second Chapter
When a horse leaves SAFE for its new home, we hope that there is a ‘forever’ tacked in front, but this is not always the case. But our commitment to a SAFE horse is lifelong, and when Artie needed to return to us, we welcomed him back with open arms. Artie had left SAFE as a companion. This was not always our intent for him – an able bodied young gelding like Artie was more than capable…
June Volunteer of the Month: Andrea Leger!
Congratulations to our June Volunteer of the Month, Andrea Leger! Andrea has volunteered on both the Wednesday and Thursday PM shift for over a year and a half and also helps with grain baggies and Barn Assisting on Wednesday PM. She is always willing to jump in with help and we are extremely lucky she How and when did you first get involved with horses? I took many years of riding lessons as…
Ezra Gone Too Soon
I am very, very sorry to have to tell you that we lost Ezra last Saturday. All seemed fine earlier when the breakfast mule came around, but about 30–40 minutes later, he was rolling on the ground, in major distress. A volunteer alerted our Barn Staff, Trudy, who called Lily who called me, and the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew we were dealing with an extremely severe colic. Ezra had already…
Alumni Update: Topper
Such an amazing friendship! Topper loves his home and family, especially his best friend in the picture.
Blazing New Trails
One of our Volunteer Riders had this to say about Veronica: You could say Ms. Veronica is “Walking on Sunshine” as a whole new world has opened up to her beyond the main gate of SAFE Harbor Stables. Just a few weeks ago Veronica and I prepared to make a trek to the great unknown. Well really it is just the trails the connect from SAFE to Farrel-McWhirter Farm Park, but it sounds more…
Alumni Update: Khianna (AKA Kiki)
Khianna (AKA Kiki) has been spending her time hanging with her horse friends and new companions, miniature goats! They are quite amused by the goats bouncing off the barn walls! Kiki’s adopter, Stanalee, reports that Kiki has had a lot of sarcoids (non-cancerous tumors) and had to have one removed from her leg and is doing well. Stanalee spends a lot of time brushing her and just sitting out…
A Great Horse is Gone
It’s with a lot of sadness that we share that one of the great SAFE horses is gone. Earlier this week, after a severe colic, Bucky B Lucky was humanely euthanized. To his wonderful adopter Ruth, our deepest sympathy to you, and our most sincere thanks for the life that you gave him. Lorenzo has left us all far too soon, and we are so sorry for everyone’s loss. But especially yours, dear Ruth.…
