SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Rowan: Week 1 Photos
We are hoping to chronicle Rowan’s transformation from BCS score of 1 to a beautiful healthy mare! Here are the photos from her first week at SAFE.
Butterscotch: Intake Photos and Assesment
Butterscotch has been with SAFE for just over a week. She is settling in, eating well and has been very gentle to handle. Below are her initial medical assessments and week one photos. Butterscotch is approximately 28–32 years old, a grade mare. She is 15.2hh and weighs 1005 pounds. She has melanomas on several areas of her body, which is not surprising for an older grey horse with dark skin.…
Positive News about Rowan
ROWAN UPDATE: Our little friend seems brighter and more comfortable in her ICU stall here at SAFE. She delighted her 6am feeder with a happy whinny this morning, which seems like a really positive sign. Her bloodwork came back yesterday with nothing alarming to indicate, which is a huge relief because we worry about organ failure in horses this emaciated. She’s being fed every four hours, which…
Rowan Arrives at SAFE
Rowan is a mare who is approximately 12 years old, all black except for a big star and a snip. She is extremely emaciated (BCS 1), so to prevent refeeding syndrome, she is being given a pound of alfalfa every four hours round the clock. This morning, she greeted her 2am feeder with nickers, and seemed rather surprised and pleased that she was being treated so well. The amount of hay Rowan is…
Fancy’s First Clinic
Fancy is growing into a beautiful young mare with tons of potential and promise. She is will continue working with SAFE to establish the foundational riding work before being made available for adoption. These early months of riding are key to laying the groundwork to insure a future without trouble. Casey has done a masterful job guiding this mare through the process and she’s created one…
Skittles, rest in peace
We received this tragic news from Skittles’ adopter Susanne M. My sweet Skittles left us sometime last night. She does not appear to have colicked or have been distressed; she looked like she just lay down to sleep. I pray she didn’t suffer or know any fear. Skittles had such a big personality. She greeted everyone who came into the barn and took an interest in everything that went on. Sometimes…
Fancy Miss Fancy
Casey has good things to share about Fancy: Fancy has been coming along really nicely, and she did amazingly well in her first clinic setting in September. Though she did get a bit bothered when the energy picked up around her, I was able to keep her out of trouble. Moving her hind quarters is soft, and she’s really developed fluidity when she comes across in the front. She is a very forward…
Stella’s Busy Summer
Stella’s regular rider Casey had this to report: Stella had a busy and productive summer! We had the great fortune to ride with Buck Brannaman in Ellensburg, Nick Donahue in Arlington, and Joel Conner at SAFE. Stella did well in all settings, and, of course, we learned a lot. The last month has been a real period of growth for the two of us, and I’ve made some significant changes to the way I…
Stella Update and New Videos
Casey has done an exceptional job helping this sensitive mare direct her energy in positive ways. Just watching her, you can’t fully appreciation the amount of skill and tactful execution it takes to support this talented mare. We jokingly referred to Stella as a little sports car when she was started. But honestly it’s not a bad metaphor. If you’re used to driving a big ol’ honking truck and…
Spotlight on Lacey
SAFE was honored to be invited by Pet Connection Magazine and Dirtie Dog Photography on an exciting new television project called the Limelight Project. Their goal is to bringing more exposure to rescue organizations to help adoptable horses find families while increasing awareness about the work of the rescues interviewed. SAFE chose Lacey to spotlight for the interview. Here is the wonderful…
A Gentle Wind
Horses are remarkably resilient animals. Time after time, we’ve seen horses who are able to recover from terrible neglect, pulled back from the brink of death to transform back into the strong, healthy creatures they were always meant to be. These horses inspire us and give us the strength we need to keep going when things seem hopeless. And then there are horses who need more from us. The ones…
Sienna, Making Progress
Sienna has made some excellent improvements since we took a little extra time with her groundwork training. Our friend Joel Conner felt that Sienna started out training holding so much trouble inside of her that once she started to free up her feet, her residual anxiety started to come to the surface. This may explain why she did so well in the first months of training and then became so…
Anderson aka Mr. Personality
Anderson continues to do well working with Kaya. Here is a little update she wrote about him: Anderson is so much fun! As I work with him more, his adorable and ridiculous personality is really showing itself. He loves a good face scratch and playing with the water from the hose. Even though he sometimes has a nasty expression when asked to transition upward between gaits, it really does seem…
Filling Holes with Cameo
Cameo has been doing very well in her horsemanship training this summer. We realized that there were still some holes in her training, especially issues with her blind spots, and began concentrating on these areas. Cameo was not fond of having ropes touch her hind quarters or wrap around her hind legs. This blind spot can be a scary place for horses and it can be difficult for some horses to…
Adoption Announcment: Dottie!
A truly wonderful thing has happened: Dottie’s foster family has decided that they can’t live without her and made her part of their family permanently! She is comfortable and very happy with her home and all the animals living with her. She has constant companionship at the farm, a calm and peaceful environment where she has been able to truly relax. There are many things that make this a…
Asha Is Home in Redmond.…But Not For Long!
Asha recently completed her training with Nick Donahue and is back at SAFE. She had a slow start in training because she got a sinus infection before starting work and needed antibiotics to get rid of it. Once she was well, Nick took some time on the ground to help her accept the saddle and find more comfort with new things. Once Nick began riding her, she did very well with the work and they…
Adoption Announcment: Kat!
Adoptions are always wonderful to announce but this one has a very special joy around it. Lovely Kat has found a forever home! Long time volunteer and alumni manager Shar has opened her home and family to give this very deserving mare a safe and loving home. We are all very thankful this adoption could happen. Kat was so thin when she returned to us earlier this year and while it took some time…
Adoption Announcment: Moon!
We are excited to announce that Moon has found a wonderful forever home! During her time at SAFE, Moon received needed medical and farrier work, but unfortunately, she was never 100% sound on her front left hoof. While she is very comfortable in turnout, we decided the best home for her would be one where she would not need to be more than a lovely companion horse. When Beth contacted SAFE she…
Conversations: Radio Interview with SAFE Executive Director Bonnie Hammond
Aired Sunday, September 29, 2019 on 5 Entercom radio stations in Seattle
Three New Intakes at SAFE
SAFE welcomed three new horses to the herd today. These horses were badly neglected, starved, and in desperate need of veterinary care when they were seized from their owner by Pierce County Animal Control. A fourth horse that was also seized with this group was humanely euthanized due to her poor condition. The horses were transported to SAFE from Pierce County, where they had been held…
Valor Gets a Bone Scan
Valor took a trip to Rainland Farm Equine Clinic for his bone scan procedure at the end of September. It was great to be able to get some concrete answers and know where his lameness issues really lie. The trouble with a bone scan is that it can reveal a large number of potential problems, and someone with an un-trained eye might assume that all of those potential issues are true trouble areas.…
Slim’s Hoof Saga Continues
Slim has been battling osteomyelitis in his coffin bone for a couple of months now. We thought we were seeing improvement but then he hit a snag with another recurring abscess just below his coronary band. No matter how much soaking and pouticing we did, the abscess just kept draining and Slim continued to be mildly lame on that leg even with pain medication on board. Dr. Fleck decided that he…
An Answer for Amelia: Health Update
Troubleshooting Amelia’s stomach problems has been an ongoing struggle since we got her. She’s only had one minor colic episode, but she has had off and on loose stool from the get go. We’ve tried all sorts of things. She’s been on different probiotics, elimination diets, metronidazole, allergy medication, and we’ve had all the recommended bloodwork and fecal tests done.Sometimes we think we’ve…
Someone Loves Orion!
it’s Roxanne, his adopter! The two are doing great!!
A Great Horse Has Gone
We are deeply saddened to tell you that SAFE horse Honeycutt left this world on Monday. His loss has left a huge hole in our organization, our barn, and our hearts. Honeycutt was about 22 years old and already battling Cushing’s Disease when he became ill. And although we did absolutely everything conceivable to help him get better, we made the painful decision to let him go when it became…
Dear Chance, Rest in Peace
Tragic news from Tracy G, who adopted and loved Chance: I can’t believe I am writing this and I don’t even really know what to say… so, here goes whatever. I lost Chance, my fur baby and best friend, on Saturday. We were doing some really great groundwork at liberty (no halter or lead) and I let him loose to run in the arena. He was doing laps, and suddenly slipped and fell, somehow landing…
October Volunteers of the Month: Alissa Ralston and Beth Erkel
We are so fortunate to have outstanding volunteers. In fact, it makes for a difficult choice every month when we pick two volunteers to spotlight. This month we would like to highlight two barn chore volunteers who rock our world with their sweet natures, work ethic, and dependability. Thank you, Alissa and Beth, for all of your hard work and dedication to the horses and people of SAFE.…
2019 Q3 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: July 1, 2019 George (Fall City 40) Intake Date: August 18, 2019 Honeycutt and Sinatra(reclaimed by SAFE) Placed Horses Marta Moon Kat Dottie Asha Euthanized Horses Honeycutt
Anderson: Clinic Update
Here is what Kaya had to say about Anderson in the Horsemanship clinic this past September: This clinic with Anderson was a huge learning experience for me. I went into the weekend feeling confident about Anderson, but knew that we needed to work on having more life and more timely transitions. Joel helped me with this on the first day of the clinic and throughout the weekend. Basically he…
Luna is a Riding Horse!
Luna is doing great in training down in Oregon with Nick Donohue. Here’s a recent video of this former broodmare taking big steps towards a great new life!
