SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Alumni Update: Atticus
Here are a few photos we received from Atticus’ adopter. What a sweet boy!
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Barb
Here’s a clinic report from Sarah V who worked with Barb, one of the Fall City 40 horses: I’d never worked with Barb before Thursday of the clinic, but was really excited to have the chance. I was onsite in Fall City in July of 2019 when we were trying to separate some of the mares and foals from the 9 studs they were sharing a pasture with. The unhandled herd spooked and started racing around…
Joel Conner Clinic Update: Sienna
Thank you to Sue C. for this clinic report about her work with Sienna:I had the opportunity to work with Sienna at the November 2020 Joel Conner clinic. It was a great chance for me to take a step back, review, and work on my feel. Sienna knows the moves, is happy to do as asked if I ask correctly, and tries to fill in when I don’t. That said I can see the difference in her…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Anderson
Here’s a report from Scott B who worked with Anderson in the November clinic: I got to ride Anderson last weekend at the clinic. He has clearly been well trained and is super talented. I really enjoyed the weekend as my first time getting to work with Anderson. The Good: He is easy to handle “in hand.” He ties very easily and stands well while being groomed. Super easy with his feet being…
Zoe is Adopted!
We are so excited for this spunky mare to find her new family! Zoe not only has an amazing human family, but also a new herd mate, a mare named CanD. CanD was rehomed through SAFE’s Community Outreach Program, and the timing ended up being perfect because Zoe needed a companion in her new home. Eric has been working with Zoe regularly and rides her while the kids ride along on CanD. Zoe goes…
Alumni Update: Bubbles
Bella (formerly Bubbles) is doing really well living with her best friend, Thunder, in North Carolina. She has a new found love of trail riding and will have her forever home with Mary who adores her.
Successful Surgery for Flynn
Errol Flynn returned home to SAFE yesterday afternoon after a successful surgery to remove his eye and the tumors that were growing there. Pilchuck Vet Hospital reports that they got a good look at the tissue surrounding the mass, and were able to remove it cleanly. They also said he “jumped right up” from the anesthesia. All good news! Back home, he seems comfortable and very receptive to being…
Banner is Adopted!
Banner is thrilled to be home with his adopter Casey! He has a new best friend named Rowdy and he seems to have settled in well. Casey is a small animal vet and is very happy to have both horses living out their senior years together on her home property! “Banner has settled in well to the new routine,” Casey tells us. “He’s such a cute, grumpy old man. He pins his ears initially to almost…
Jasper’s Journey Ahead
This one is a little bit of a heartbreaker. Jasper has entered the horsemanship program at SAFE and it is clear from his reactions that people have not been kind to him in the past. Jasper’s difficulty with changing eyes and his tense, upright posture show how troubled he is about human interaction. We’ve made some progress, but it seems like this will be a long road to undo that damage that was…
A Boone for us all!
Boone has quickly become a volunteer favorite! This sweet little guy seems to be very adaptable to different situations and loves scratches and attention, especially if you have a snack for him! We have started doing a bit of groundwork with Boone and he has taken to it very quickly. This is one smart mini. He seems to enjoy having a job and has a lot of try and interest. Boone was turned out…
Nova, the Stunner
Nova is growing into a stunning young horse! She’s got legs for days and looks a lot like her mom. Nova is definitely lower on the filly totem pole than Pippi or Rae, but this little herd is all best of friends! When Jill joined the filly paddock, Nova was the only horse that welcomed her in, so Jill was attached to Nova at the hip for a while. Now though, if you look over toward the fillies,…
Piper’s a Riding Horse!
Piper is a riding horse! While she’s still technically in training and on hold, Piper is proving herself to be quite a capable riding partner. In the beginning of her training, Piper was a little dull and didn’t move forward very easily. She has since overcome a lot of these tendencies and has become more sensitive and forward. One of the reasons we have not wanted to work and ride her too much…
Pippi is Growing Up
Pippi is growing up right before our eyes! In the last clinic, Pippi got her first real taste of groundwork. It’s clear that she is quite herd bound and since she’s been surrounded by people her whole life, has little respect for human personal space. During the clinic, Joel called this a “city horse” issue: growing up with so many people loving on her, she not afraid of anyone and thus had no…
Lacey Starts Fresh
Lacey Lacey Lacey…what a difficult pony you can be! Lacey participated in the recent Joel Conner clinic and gave the small, social-distanced audience quite a show, bucking and squealing away at the rope. It looks like it’s going to be a long journey for Lacey to overcome her ticklishness at the rope and things touching her hind area. While we’ve been riding Lacey for years, she always had this…
Merry is a Riding Horse!
After 30 days of professional training and working in SAFE’s horsemanship program, Merry is now a riding horse! She is still very green and can have a bit of an attitude at times, but she’s progressing quickly through training and is ready for an advanced rider who is experienced with green horses. We’ll be introducing Merry to some other horses in the coming weeks, so we’ll be able to see how…
Artie Shaw Crescendos to New Heights
Little mister Artie sure is becoming a gentle little gelding! While he still has quite a ways to go in his training, the amount of improvement that Artie has shown is incredible. It wasn’t that long ago that Artie was the wild stallion kept in the round pen because he couldn’t be led out. Now he comes into a stall for the night! The same horse that couldn’t handle a rope going over his ears is…
Introducing Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn is a POA pony in his mid-20s who was surrendered to Animal Control by his owner who could no longer care for him. Flynn’s right eye is badly infected, and vascular mass is growing over his cornea. Unfortunately, this has gone untreated for the past year. Dr. Renner from Rainland Farm Equine did an assessment of Flynn just after his arrival. He examined Flynn’s eye and assessed his…
Sienna’s Stone Bruise
Recently, Sienna showed up lame at the walk. Assuming she had an abscess, we soaked her foot and kept it wrapped in an Epsom salt poultice. When she seemed to stop favoring that foot at the walk, it appeared that she was still off on her front left at the trot. With advice from our farrier, we determined it was a stone bruise and continued wrapping in an Epsom salt poultice and duct tape boot…
Darling Teddi is Feeling Better
Sweet, smart Teddi seems to be doing well, despite some complications from her previous surgery. Over the summer, it seemed that her lameness was much worse and noticeable at the walk even. Since then, Teddi has been on “stall rest” in her small paddock and seems to be improving! She doesn’t appear to limping at the walk anymore and loves coming into her cozy stall for the night. We’re hopeful…
Billy Settles In
Billy seems to have settled into his new life at SAFE. He’s so quiet in his stall, you could walk right by him with noticing he’s there! He loves his salt block, his meals of timothy and doesn’t seem to mind that volunteers are always fawning over him through his stall window. Billy is still a little timid and he gets very uncomfortable about changing eyes on people and anyone going near his…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Alder
from Kaya M. Alder continues to impress me with how accepting he is of new experiences and learning new things. I think I have been underestimating him! I was a little nervous about the clinic because we’ve never ridden with so many other horses or horses from outside SAFE, but he was a champ! Casey and Fancy helped us both get through a little of those nerves. Alder and I rode up to Fancy and…
Joel Conner Clinic Report: Barb
by Kaya M. Sweet Barb is coming along so well with her training! She started the last clinic weekend a little dull and Joel explained that she needed to get her feet a little freer so that she could voice her opinion. We worked a lot on freeing up her feet and changing eyes. We also did a lot of rope work, including roping all four feet and leading off of them. Towards the end of the clinic Barb…
Poor Rae Rae
Rae recently was seen limping on her front right leg. We had our vet out to look at her and she was diagnosed with white line separation. We treated Rae four times a week with Venice Turpentine, but when out farrier came out a week or so later, she noticed a large and sensitive stone bruise in Rae’s right front hoof. With this diagnosis, we began wrapping Rae’s foot in an Epsom salt poultice…
Hay Bank Update
by Debbie M, our hay bank admin The Year 2020 is going to go down in the record books for a number of reasons. One of those reasons, unfortunately, is the record number of job losses due to layoffs or shutdowns during the global pandemic. This has put countless well-meaning people in our communities in difficult financial positions. If these people are also horse owners, they have to struggle…
Welcome Hazel!
We were asked to help with Hazel just a day or so before we lost Callista, so she is part of the SAFE herd in Callista’s memory. Hazel’s 70 year old owner passed away, leaving his 90 year old mother responsible for his estate and his horse. She lived on 20 acres, and was nearly impossible to catch, so she didn’t receive any vet or farrier care for a long time. Hazel is a big-bodied black and…
Amelia is gone
We are literally heartbroken to tell you that early Saturday morning, we lost our dear Amelia. She had a bad bout of colic that started midday on Friday, and nothing that was done for her could relieve the discomfort and pain she was feeling. Every effort was made, but in the end, we had to make the difficult decision to do what was best for her and let her go. This has been deeply painful to…
Banner is Home
Banner made it safely to his new home where he met his new friend Rowdy! The two are getting along great and Banner has settled in nicely. Banner’s adopter Casey is a small animal vet and is very happy to have both horses living out their senior years together on her home property! Here’s an update from Casey: Banner has settled in well to the new routine. He’s such a cute, grumpy old man. He…
November Volunteer of the Month: Kristina Oden
Congratulations and huge thanks to our Volunteer of the Month for November: Kristina Oden!! Kristine came to SAFE as an adopter in 2017, and stayed on as a volunteer, using her photography skills to document the progress of our rescued horses! Let’s get to know her better: How and when did you first get involved with horses? I’ve grown up with horses my whole life. My mom loves horses so I…
Welcome to SAFE, Billy!
Billy came into SAFE last Tuesday thanks to the help of driver Jane Ostrom Millar and pony wrangler Ian LeFae. He is a 2002 model (18yrs old). Pony type, brown and white paint 10.2h gelding. His R right eye has a blind spot, not painful. He has vision and manages well. He has no medical history so he will get all his vaccinations and have them boosted a month afterwards. This week he had his 1st…
A Sad Goodbye to a Special Horse
There’s just no easy way to say this…we had to say goodbye to sweet Callista this evening. 💔 When we first met Callista, we were immediately concerned about the severe muscle atrophy in her right hip. An ultrasound didn’t reveal a fracture, but the amount of arthritis was an indication that some kind of trauma had taken place. We decided at intake to give her 30 days and monitor her…
