SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Flynn is Adopted!
When Flynn’s new family first visited Flynn at SAFE, he walked right over to their daughter, Olivia, and nuzzled her. On their second visit, Olivia and Flynn played Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light. She even made up her own colors for turning and trotting. He was so good with her and didn’t mind anything she did while in the saddle. Olivia then brushed him and put him away in his stall all…
First Ride on Kayla
Here is what Terry recently had to say about Kayla: “Kayla has been a lovely mare to get to know. She came to us with a great foundation and was ready to get to work right away. Our first goal has been to strengthen her for riding since she had a few months off prior to coming to us. Her balance and strength, especially at the canter, does need some work. She is a forward and sensitive mare, so…
Merry in the Round Pen
Here is a video of Terry working with Merry in the round pen at SAFE. Merry is a terrific horse with a sweet personality. It won’t be long before someone takes home this wonderful mare.
Caramel Learning to Trust
Caramel is working on trusting people to handle her hooves. These videos are the result of a ton of patience and relaxed feel with Trisha lifting her hoof. What amazing progress this mare is having with her kind foster mom! No expectations and no timelines. Everything for the horse and what this special mare needs to find trust as a domestic horse. Thank you Trisha for providing the…
Frosting Arrives at SAFE
Witness Frosting’s first moments at SAFE after Animal Control dropped her off. Having Veronica as her neighbor was a highlight for this young mustang who makes sure Veronica knows she is a baby by clacking her teeth.
Alumni Update: Whiskey
We recently got an update from Whiskey’s adopter Marie and she says that Whiskey is doing great! They both travel a lot to the mountains, and even took a trip to Montana. Whiskey is 25 years old now, and is a sneaky lady. She still has a lot of life, running around, bucking and rearing sometimes. Marie says Whiskey is just so perfect and it would be nice to clone her. They both still have lots…
Mac’s First Couple Months
Mac has only been at SAFE for about two months. He is a sensitive boy with sweet eyes. So far, we are working on getting Mac conditioned and building more muscles. He is learning that moving forward is the answer. He braces when he is asked to go back and is head shy at the poll. For this reason we do not think he should be tied up. Mac is very sound and even though he has a little sway back, we…
A New Horse at SAFE: meet Frosting!
Frosting is an 8 month old Mustang filly who was one of four horses seized by Animal Control due to neglect. Having just taken in seven ponies from another county, SAFE was not able to take all four of the horses, so one went to Pony Up and two went to a private rescuer. Frosting, being so young, will likely be with SAFE for a few years, since we prefer to start horses under saddle before…
Whisky and Shortbread are Adopted!
We are so excited that Whisky and Shortbread have found their forever home with Sherry, Rick and their 27 year old Appaloosa mare, Windy. Whisky is very interested in Windy and really wants to be friends. Windy isn’t quite sure about this yet, but Rick and Sherry are sure she will come around eventually. Whisky and Shortbread are getting excellent care at their new home. Sherry and Rick say that…
Caramel is off to Foster
Today was a BIG step in the future success of Caramel. She is headed to a foster home where the views are fantastic and she is surrounded by other horse friends. Trisha, who is now fostering Caramel, adopted one of the Fall City 40 horses, Hazel, last January. She did such a great job gentling her that we are thrilled that Caramel will have the same opportunity to learn. Trisha will be able to…
Veronica Out and About
SAFE’s volunteer, Candi, has been a huge part of Veronica’s gentling process. Her kind and patient feel has been key to the successful haltering of this extremely sensitive and touchy mare. We have slowly gained her trust and she is allowing for basic grooming and picking up her hooves. The first video shows Veronica’s first walk outside of her paddock. As you can see, she was very nervous, but…
Billy Has Come So Far — Foster Video Update
Billy has come so far in the 8 weeks he has been with his foster family. Julie has been hard working hard. Here is a couple videos she sent to us. He is ready for a family to adopt him who can continue the great work he has been getting with SAFE. He is not suitable for kids, is shy at being caught and loves other horses.
Q13 Pet of the Week: Razin
Volunteer of the Month: Josie Weiss
How and when did you first get involved with horses? I owned my first horse when I was six years old — a Pony of America (POA) named Fiesta. That same year, my mom, sister and I moved into a house on a property whose owners boarded horses. I was responsible for helping to care for and exercise the horses. My favorite horse, Little Joe, was a Quarter Horse / Thoroughbred who was definitely not…
Fundraiser for Razin
Razin has been with SAFE for over a month and recently has been diagnosed as a cryptorchid, which means that he needs a more complicated procedure in order for him to be gelded. While a little more invasive than a typical gelding, this procedure will cost SAFE between $2,000-$2,500. Now that we are aware of Razin’s unique situation, we can act. His procedure is scheduled for March 4th and SAFE…
The Three Little Horses
Razin, Sundae, and Breve have been doing wonderfully at SAFE. All three have progressed greatly and are learning what it is like to be loved and to have human friends. Their haltering skills are continuously improving, and they even did well for their first farrier appointment! Breve only got two of the four feet done, but it is a great start. We were impressed with how well Sundae and Razin…
Cyrus Is On The Mend
Cyrus has come such a long way since he first arrived at SAFE, and soon he hopes to be making friends with a few other SAFE geldings. Before he gets the chance to spend the day with the other boys, he is working on recovering from a minor injury he received on January 14, 2021 in his paddock. As he returned to the barn from his day outside, we noticed he had an abrasion high up on his hind left…
Beauty in the Big Arena!
This is Beauty’s second time riding at SAFE outside of the round pen. She is coming down off a feel nicely, learning to soften through one rein stops and building trust with her rider. She can be fairly “gate sour” and she would prefer to be ridden alongside another horse, but she’s learning that emotional support can also come from humans. This older mare has come a long way since arriving at…
Meet Marianna Clair, SAFE’s new Development Director!
We have a brand new SAFE staff member to introduce to everyone: Marianna Clair, who joined SAFE last week as our Development Director. Marianna will be taking over responsibility for fundraising efforts at SAFE, as well as planning and executing events, and developing relationships with our donors. She’s an experienced development professional who has raised funds raised funds at a number of…
Flynn’s First Ride at SAFE!
This was the first time we saddled Flynn, bumped him up to the fence, and mounted him for a ride. He did extremely well and felt like a “been there done that” pony! We have only had him at SAFE for 2 months and most of the time has been spent recovering from his eye surgery, so there hasn’t been much time to introduce him to groundwork. But Flynn has clearly been ridden in the past. About six…
Hazel’s New Home
Terry recently dropped off Hazel at her new home. Here is what Terry had to say: “Jackie and I were so blessed to be there the day Hazel was picked up and today we got to help settle her in to her new home at Hooved Animal Rescue of Thurston County. She truly has come full circle from a scared trembling mare to a healthy, balanced, trusting friend. It was beautiful to watch her meet her new…
Piper is Adopted!
We are excited to tell you all that our baby Piper is returning to her wonderful foster mom, Talia, but this time it is for KEEPS! Yep, you heard it right, Piper is ADOPTED! Talia fell in love with Piper two years ago when she opened her herd and heart for Piper to foster and have space to “grow up” and be a kid. At the time adoption was not in the cards, but Talia always kept and eye on her…
Who’s your Valentine?
This week was the first time Terry worked with Valentine in the round pen. She doesn’t appear to have had much formal training and she is very sticky getting her to get on her hind and change directions off the halter lead. She is especially stuck in her right hind. It could possibly be an old injury or lameness. We will continue her rehabilitation and watch for soundness issues. Valentine was…
Quincy Gets His Hair Did
This was Terry’s third time working with Quincy. He is very reactive and afraid of human contact. At a few points during his groundwork session, he leaned into the touch and his eye become very soft. Hopefully with patience and time we will help him over his trouble and find a better relationship with people. We will continue to work on building trust. He’s worth all the effort! Look at…
Greetings from Gig Harbor!
Pepper and Tilt have been spending time in Gig Harbor with a wonderful foster family. Lisa Garr, one of our volunteer riders, lives in Gig Harbor and stops by the foster family’s home to work with the two mares. Here’s what she recently had to say about their progress: “While I have had very limited opportunities to get out to work with Pepper and Tilt since October, the time that their foster…
Alumni Update: Glory
Here are some photos that Glory’s adopter, Melissa, recently shared with us.
Alumni Update: Baxter
Baxter is living a well loved life on 5 acres with a 20 year old gelding as a best buddy. Here are some photo’s that Baxter’s adopter, Mandy, recently shared with us.
No Expectations
One thing I love about SAFE is that we have no expectations or deadlines that our horses have to fulfill for us. We accept them as individuals and recognize that one size doesn’t fit all. As we got to know the Fall City 40 horses better, we found there were many different personalities among them. But there were two mares in particular who seemed far more troubled than the rest of the group.…
Fancy Update
Fancy has been at SAFE for nearly three years. Through the great work by her horsemanship trainers, Fancy has become a trusting and athletic riding horse. As a veteran of both Joel Conner and Buck Brannaman clinics, Fancy has learned to relax around other riding horses. A little birdie said that Fancy has a potential adopter lined up. Stay tuned for further news at Fancy’s next update!
Four (more) new ponies at SAFE
A few days back, we introduced three ponies and a full sized horse who were seized by Animal Control due to neglect and signed over to SAFE. Animal Control found four more ponies hidden on the same property, and their owner surrendered them. One of SAFE’s top priorities is supporting Animal Control agencies so they can be most effective when dealing with animal cruelty. So when asked if we had…
