SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Edward Making Strides
Edward is a silly monkey! He is both a joy and a troublemaker all wrapped up in a handsome package. We’re approaching 60 days of nebulizing treatments for Edward. He manages these exceptionally well, given how green and untrained he was just a few months ago. We have slowly decreased the amount of medication and now do treatments a few times a week. If all goes well, he will be able to…
Domino Likes His Buddies
What a sweet boy Domino is! He has been a gentleman for everything we have asked of him at SAFE. His only troubled spot is that he is very herd bound to his paddock friends, and calls continuously to them until they return to be with him in the paddock. Even if he is calling out for his buddy, Domino remains mindful of the people around him and does not become ill-mannered. He and Mac…
Darling Daisy
Daisy has been doing well with the transition into winter and continues on her daily 10 pounds of senior feed and free choice alfalfa. Her weight is excellent and she seems to enjoy the other horses near her pen. As we move into spring it will be nice to get her out on our grass pastures and introduce her to some friends. She is a very social girl and we think she will enjoy the companionship of…
Darla on the Mend
Poor, sweet Darla has been suffering from a bad hoof abscess over the holidays at SAFE. Despite starting treatment (soaking and Epson salt poultices), her pain level became more severe. We called our veterinarian, Dr. Renner, for a visit. X‑rays showed a significant hematoma had formed in her front left hoof, putting a significant amount of pressure on her coffin bone. We don’t know what caused…
Brandy + Bandit = Brandit for Short
We’ve spent quite some time getting to know these two mares since their arrival at SAFE in October, 2021. We’ve observed that both have a “been there, done that” wisdom about them. They seem like two old ladies chuckling to themselves about days gone by and all the mischief they had gotten into together. Brandi is definitely the herd leader and Bandit is completely happy to follow her lead. They…
Goodbye Arigato
Some of these are just harder to talk about than others. I’m so sorry to let you all know we had to let Arigato go. She was diagnosed with severe degeneration of her right hind coffin joint and navicular bone resulting in ongoing lameness issues. She was euthanized due to a grave prognosis for life without significant pain. The disease was likely the result of a previous infection before she…
January Volunteer of the Month: Jill Marcell
Congratulations to Jill Marcell! Since starting on a PM shift in August 2019, Jill has been a kind, reliable team member, working hard to take care of our horses. Even recovering from a surgery couldn’t keep her away from SAFE. Within a few weeks she picked up a shift prepping the horse’s grain baggies until she can return to her original team on Wednesdays. We are very lucky to have Jill…
2021 Q4 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: Oct 1, 2021 Topper (Owner Surrender) Brandy (Owner Surrender) Bandit (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: Dec 5, 2021 Cramer (Animal Control) Otto (Animal Control) Placed Horses Jasper Echo Topper Euthanized Horses Merry Aubrey Arigato
Cold Weather is Coming!
Our Alumni’s get the best treatment! With the cold temperatures going into winter, we’ve had some cute photos sent to us with horses all snug in their mid weight blankets. In their previous lives, many of these horses had to fend for themselves during harsh weather conditions. Now they have wonderful families who add a little coziness to their lives which not only keeps them warm, but warms our…
Sundae left on Sunday
But not necessarily forever. Sundae headed to a foster home where she will providing comfort to another horse and loving family. The family had to make the hard decision to euthanize their companion pony and wanted to have another four legged friend to help their other horse, Lawrence, through the sad transition. We’ve already heard that Lawrence is smitten with Sundae and how could you not with…
Barb at the Joel Conner Clinic
Candi, a volunteer rider, recently worked with Barb in the Groundwork Clinic in November. Here is what she had to say about her. “Barb is not a Barbie Doll! Barb might be small, but she is smart and strong. She may be a ranch horse in the making with her quick moves. Barb and I worked together for the first time in the groundwork session of the November Joel Conner clinic. It would be an…
Echo at the Joel Conner Clinic
One of our volunteer riders, Candi, recently rode Echo on the last day of the Joel Connor Clinic. Here is what she said about Echo. “One look into Echo’s eyes and you see a sweet mare who is finding her groove once again. In the last month she has been introduced into the horsemanship program by Kaya. In November, Echo participated in the Joel Conner clinic. On the third day of clinic, I was…
Sad News
Last Saturday, Aubrey slipped on a wet stall mat at her foster home. When she got back up, she was not putting weight on her right hind leg. Dr. Fleck examined her and found that she was very sensitive in her pelvic area. He was fairly certain that she has sustained a fracture to her pelvic bone but could not confirm with x‑ray due to the thickness of this area on a horse. At the guidance of Dr.…
December Volunteer of the Month: Paulette Green
Paulette joined the Thursday PM team in January 2020. It wasn’t much later she shared with me that she lived close and could fill in on shorthanded shifts. Everyone knows that is my dream come true! Paulette has a horse of her own, Gyspy, and has access to that “horse time” so many of the volunteers and staff are looking for at SAFE. Even though she takes care of her own horse everyday, that…
Three New Horses
Brandy, Bandit and Topper all arrived at the beginning of October. Sadly, their owner had terminal cancer and was in hospice care. One of their last wishes was to ensure that her horses were safe and taken care of. Their friends helped them locate SAFE, we were able to help so we headed to Port Orchard to pick them up. Brandy is a little shy about being haltered so we set up a little shoot to…
Pepper at the Joel Conner Clinic
Pepper was quite busy during Joel’s last visit to SAFE, for not only was she my companion in the groundwork portion of the clinic, but she was also present in the colt start. Because she’d worked so hard in the days prior to our groundwork sessions, she was a little bit sore on her right side, but throughout the weekend we still managed to get quite a bit done tracking mostly to her left. Last…
Questions from Kindergartners
Recently a teacher from a near by elementary school reached out because she had a few students who wanted to learn more about horses. Terry was happy to help educate our little budding horse lovers. Check out their questions and Terry’s answers and see if you also can learn a little about SAFE! What do horses do in the summer when it’s hot? They generally look for shade under trees and here at…
Alumni Update: Remy
Here are some great photos of Remy sent to us by his adopter, Jessica. Remy loves to play with other horses and teach them about toys. Here he is with his best friend, Soldier.
Jill at the Joel Conner Clinic
One of our volunteers, Sue Coulter, worked with Jill in the clinic a few weekends ago. This is what she had to say: “I was fortunate to work with Jill during two days of the groundwork portion of the Joel Conner Clinic, November 2021. Jill is a young mare, very soft, and well trained in groundwork, so all in all a pleasure to handle. I was able to work on and improve the angle to achieve hind…
Daisy Gets a Massage
Recently we had someone donate a massage to Daisy and this is what she had to say: “At first, Daisy felt like she was tolerating me for a bit, but then something shifted and she relaxed into it. Par for course being I was totally new to her and she was eating lunch etc. After releasing her, I hung around so I could observe any movement while charting. She wandered off, seemed to think about…
Taking A Walk On The (not so wild) Side
When many imagine an active horse, they envision great feats of athleticism: horses cavorting around courses and launching themselves over jumps taller than children, horses dancing around arenas with grace and finesse, horses racing around barrels with speeds reaching mach 1. They might not picture a horse on a leisurely stroll, with no saddle, bridle, or rider, merely a human friend to walk…
SAFE Holiday Cards are now available!
Front of cardThis festive holiday card set featuresSAFE horse Bowiein the snow. Bowie was rescuedin 2018 and lived at SAFEfor eight months before beingadopted into his forever home in 2019.Each card set is $28, packed in a clear box (great for gifting) and includes fifteen cards, fifteen envelopes and FREE SHIPPING! With a folded size of 5″ x 7″, this card mails at standard first class postage.…
Alumni Update: Pyrrah and Farley
Check out the photos sent to us by Pyrrah and Farley (now Zelda) adopters. Those are some fancy braids!
Lovable Freya
Freya is a sweet and lovable Morgan type mare, and for a gal in her 30’s, she is very healthy! When our vet got a first look at her teeth they were impressed! That means she still gets most of her nutrients from the hay we feed her and doesn’t need to live off of grain like a many senior horses. We do give her a little seniorfeed, just for the nutrients, but overall, this lady is on no…
Coco is Weaned
Coco blew out the candles on her 6 month cake at the end of last month, ushering in a new era of her young adulthood. Coco: the baby, is still visible — those high-pitched whinnies and acrobatic feats that come especially easy to young things remain front and center — but there is also Coco: the pony, who has stood to have her feet trimmed and has been haltered to have her mane (no longer just…
Montana Progress Report
We have started the gentling process with Montana. He is friendly but gets very worried about hands coming near the top of his neck where we need to tie off the halter. He has obviously had interactions with people in his past that did not go well. He is very stuck in his feet so his fear is exhibited in a “bottled up” expression, ready to blow at any moment. He was good to be roped and not…
2021 Q3 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: July 2, 2021 Echo (Animal Control) Intake Date: July 28, 2021 Freya (Owner Surrender) Nyx (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: Aug 20, 2021 Cameron (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: Aug 21, 2021 Edward (Owner Surrender) Esme (Owner Surrender) Jacob (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: Sept 26, 2021 Daisy (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: Sept 7, 2021 Aubrey (Returned to SAFE) Intake Date:…
Sweet Arigato
What great changes we have seen in this young mare over the last weeks. She is easily haltered now and able to safely walk out of her paddock and into the arena to work. Changing eyes remains a challenge for her so it is very important we keep working to help her free up and move across the front without panicking as she changes eyes. Ari is now fully vaccinated and has had a number of very…
Veronica’s Training Continues
Our major goal for Veronica is to help her to be responsive instead of reactive. Over the next weeks we will work to get her feeling 100% confident with the saddle before anyone needs to ride her. She is working on relaxing into a one rein stop from the ground and doing so without a brace. She needs to accept people walking up to her and her feeling like she’s grandma’s horse rather than…
New Adventures for Barb
An update on Barb’s training progress from Kaya: Barb has been gaining new experiences on the ground and in the saddle. We took a hand walk out on the trails and have been ground working on different parts of the property. While Barb initially has many opinions and doesn’t believe me that she can rely on me to look out for her, we eventually get to a place where she understands that she doesn’t…
