SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
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!
Valor, Renee, and Zoe Take a Field Trip
About a month ago, a company that puts on continuing education seminars for veterinarians reached out to us to see if we had any horses they might be able to use for an upcoming course at Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in September. The topics were centered around sports medicine and orthopedics, and they were looking for horses with various levels of lameness issues. We decided to send Renee, who…
The Limelight Pet Project Features Lacey
Thanks to The Limelight Pet Project for featuring Lacey! The Limelight Pet Project is a campaign local to Washington that shines a light on harder to adopt pets and the people who help them. We’re delighted they chose Lacey to share this month on Q13 FOX. Here’s the video from The Limelight Pet Project on Facebook:
Limelight Pet Project: Meet Lacey!
POSTED 9:59 AM, SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 Link to article on Q13 website: https://q13fox.com/2019/09/10/lime-light-pet-project-meet-lacey/ SEATTLE — If you love horses- and are looking for one- this gorgeous mare may be the one for you. Q13 is partnering with the Limelight Pet Project to help get Lacey adopted. She is a five-year-old mustang looking for someone who to love her and that’s dedicated to…
Redmond Reporter: More than 100 horses are being hoarded by a nonprofit in Puget Sound
Under guise of nonprofit caring for rescued horses, allegations of animal cruelty arose. By Aaron Kunkler and Ashley Hiruko Friday, September 6, 2019 8:30am No one really knows how many horses Sharon Hunter has. Hunter, who owns and operates the Hunters Wind Wild Horse Rescue, had as many as 120 horses in two separate herds at one time. She stowed them on properties in Puget Sound counties.…
Marta Gets a Forever Home!!
We are excited to announce that Marta is ADOPTED!! She is now living in a lovely home in Issaquah with a younger Arabian mare named April. Her adopter, Ginger, loves her sassy side and visited Safe Harbor a number of times to get to know her before finalizing the adoption. The two connected and we are thrilled that such a great match was made. In one of their final getting-to-know-each-other…
Lacey’s New Riding Partner
I’ve been Lacey’s riding partner for the past couple of months and can tell you that this mare is a ton of fun! She has loads of personality in a little package. When I first started riding her, I worried that I might be a bit on the large side for her 13.3 hands. But she’s stout enough that she tolerates my 5’ 5” and full tack with ease. And once you’re up there, she really doesn’t feel that…
September Volunteers of the Month: Ginni Guest and Sarah Vecchi
This summer we have been so fortunate to have the inspiring support of two special volunteers. These women bring a smile to the farm every day they are here (and let me tell you, it is more than once a week). They spread sunshine and love to all of the humans and horses of SAFE. I’m talking about Ginni Guest and Sarah Vecchi. Ginni not only works a chore shift, but she keeps our garden and…
Mina’s Next Step
Mina has now fully recovered from her umbilical hernia surgery. She has graduated to regular turnout, and we’re working on building her strength back up so that she can get started under saddle. She’ll be going to training in September. Mina’s a smart mare so we don’t expect it to take her very long to take to ridden work. We’re excited to finally be able to get her to this next chapter and see…
Getting To Know Cassidy
Cassidy is opening up more each day and her personality is coming through now that her herd bound issues have been addressed. In the beginning, she was so worried about being away from Moon and Slim, we were concerned she might even colic if separated too quickly. With the help of groundwork, we taught Cassidy to feel the support and comfort of a person so she didn’t always have to rely on…
Honeycutt and Sinatra Update
Honeycutt and Sinatra have settled in to life at Safe Harbor Stables. They reside in the paddock closest to the gate where they can watch people come and go. From the far side of the paddock they can see lots of other horses, and watch our volunteers at work.When the boys first arrived back at SAFE, they seemed astonished to see other horses again! They are living next door to an old…
Valor’s Lameness Puzzle
This sweet guy can’t seem to catch a break. A recent lameness has Valor sidelined once again, and we are waiting on more diagnostics to tell us what’s wrong this time. He became very sore in his back during ridden work at the end of June. Dr. Meyer of Pilchuck Vet Hospital did a chiropractic adjustment on him and found that much of his spine and both sacroiliac joints were out of alignment. All…
Teddi Makes Progress
Teddi recently had a recheck exam with Dr. Fleck and it looks as though everything is healing the way it should. Her bones are still healing so she still has a limp if she trots, but that’s to be expected at this point. She has graduated to a slightly larger turnout paddock and is keeping up the daily handwalking routine. Teddi continues to handle this rehab like a pro. We will have another…
Fall City Forty: the Full Story
We’ve had to stay pretty quiet about the situation with the Fall City Forty for two reasons. One, because we were being threatened with legal action for our involvement in this rescue mission; and two, because we were holding out hope that we would be allowed to return to the Fall City property and continue caring for these horses. We feel it’s time to let our community know what happened, and…
The Babies are Growing Up!
It’s hard to believe how fast our little foals are growing up. It seems like just yesterday that they were trying to figure out how their legs work. Today they are three confident, adventurous, happy-go-lucky fillies who are ready to take on the world. And they’ve finally grown into those long legs. All three babies have now finished their series of initial vaccines, had a few visits from the…
