Health Update: Banjo
While at Cedarbrook, Banjo is getting a special treatment on the Theraplate. This type of therapy helps increase circulation and promotes healing of hooves. Lisa, Cedarbrook’s office manager, reported: “Banjo had his first Theraplate session today and he did well. He was a little wary at first, walking on and off multiple times, but finally decided it might be okay to stand there for a while.”…
Lola is going Fabulously!
It is so exciting to be riding Lola again! This spunky little mare is doing great and she’s an absolute riot to ride. She is ready for her forever home and to be with someone who is looking for fun. We have been working on light aid transitions and some walk-canter departs. This girl is athletic and smart; if Lola sticks around much longer, I’ll have to start teaching her flying changes! …
Our Resident Comedian Ben
Some pictures are worth a thousand words, and some, like these, a whole bucket of laughs. Ben is a big goofball with as many expressions as that of a great stand-up comedian. We love hanging out with this big guy as his antics always put a smile on everyone’s face. Jolene, a volunteer rider, enjoys working with Ben and understands his personality well. Jessica, another volunteer, snapped some…
Finding the Feel: Update from Jewel’s blog
Claire Crist, a volunteer at SAFE, is doing her senior project by helping horses get trained and adopted at SAFE. Her blog, Finding the Feel, documents her work with SAFE horse Jewel. Read more at http://learning.safehorses.org. Here are some videos from our ride on Saturday. Jewel’s canter under saddle is improving so much, and she is really getting the hang of turns on the haunches. She’s…
Health Update: Banjo
Recently, I visited with Banjo, who is still under Dr. Hannah Muller’s care at NWESC. He is doing well and will hopefully be ready to be released shortly. Daphne Jones just completed Banjo’s second trimming and she reported that his deep fungus shows signs of improvement. Still, we think it will take quite some time for a full recovery. Generally, he’s been cooperative about receiving his…
KPLU Public Radio: One Woman’s Drive to Save Neglected and Abused Horses
One Woman’s Drive To Save Neglected And Abused Horses by Jennifer Wing Broadcast on Oct 15, 2015 Radio Interview and Full Story at http://www.kplu.org/post/one-womans-drive-save-neglected-and-abused-horses Anyone who is remotely interested in buying a horse should talk to Bonnie Hammond first. “Caring for horses is expensive,” says Hammond. Hammond is the Executive Director of SAFE, otherwise…
Banjo Vet and Farrier Update
Banjo had his dental done Tuesday evening. It took a lot of work and he had one tooth that had to be removed. It was infected deep into the socket. He is on bute for a few days to help with the pain. Hopefully this will help him start eating a bit better. Banjo got his feet done over the course of a few days, with Daphne alternating fronts one day and hinds the next. Here are photos of his…
Cameo: Health Update
It has been 3 months since Cameo’s torn hamstring injury. She has been doing well for her rehab and time off. She was allowed out of her stall rest and put into a stall with a run. We have steadily increased her hand walks to 30 minutes. She also has been quiet enough to take some walks out to the grass and enjoy some time outside. As long as she doesn’t get walked too far away from the other…
Jewel’s new shoes
Jewel has doing well in her training and riding work with shoes on for the last 6 weeks. Our farrier Marla Karabinos was out yesterday to put a new set on. We discovered that she has a pretty significant bruise along the outside of her right front foot under the shoe. This is her high angled “club” foot and was the reason she got shoes on when we found that the hoof was causing her discomfort.…
2015 Q3 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: July 11, 2015 Scarlett (returned to SAFE) Intake Date: July 27, 2015 Hickory (Snohomish County Animal Control) Mesquite (Snohomish County Animal Control) Intake Date: September 1, 2015 Maggie (returned to SAFE) Intake Date: September 11, 2015 Craspedia (owner surrender) Intake Date: September 18, 2015 Banjo (owner surrender via City of Snohomish AC) Placed Horses Einstein…
September Volunteer of the Month — Chris Trimmer!
Chris Trimmer has been a SAFE volunteer for about a year now. He doesn’t do a weekly chore shift but is still an integral part of the barn. Chris is our guy with a truck. He will and does haul, transfer, carry, move just about anything that SAFE asks him to. Chris is our go-to guy for transporting horses. His meticulous attention to detail and love of horses assures us that they are in good…
Karma: Health Update
We got some exciting news from Dr. Fleck on Karma’s recheck ultrasound. The check ligament is laying down new tissue and healing well! Part of the rehab for this injury will be to begin to “load the leg” by slowly increasing Karma’s work. We’ll begin by adding 5 minutes of trot to her 30 minutes of walk over the next 10 days. Then we’ll add 5 more minutes of trot each week until we reach 25…
Scarlett: Health Update
Scarlett has continued to be a good girl for her handwalking rehab. She shows signs of being very stiff in her hocks. We are continuing to monitor her through her rehab and look for ways to make her more comfortable. We recently had a new set of shoes put on Scarlett and Marla Karabinos made some wonderful changes that are already helping her feel better. Because her hocks were sore, Marla had…
New Maggie Photos!
Stella is one FUN ride!
Stella has been a doll to work with in training at Safe Harbor this past moth. I have been her primary rider but recently I asked volunteer rider Casey to ride her a few times a week. Stella was absolutely great for her new rider. This was a really important test to see that her disposition and work ethic doesn’t change with a different rider. Even though our aids maybe slightly different,…
Banjo Update
Banjo is doing well at NWESC. He was a bit sucked up in his flanks on Friday and they think it was from de-worming. He’s been given some Probiotics and Banamine to help. He is also on a little bute to help with his hoof pain. He is soaking in apple cider vinegar each day and getting the triple antibiotic/ athletes foot cream injected into the deep sulcus of his frogs. He is not eating well and…
Lola keeps on going strong!
We have been steadily adding riding time to Lola’s workouts and she is doing great. She has been easy to start up again with no big issues and acts like she didn’t miss a day of work. We continue to stay on the rail or do big circles so we don’t over stress any recovering tissues. She has been very sweet and willing to work. She just needs a little reminder to go forward in the beginning of the…
Finding the Feel: Jewel
We are all very excited that for her senior community service project, volunteer Claire Crist chose SAFE! Here is a little about her first project with Jewel. You can follow her progress online at: http://learning.safehorses.org “My name is Claire Crist. I’ve been volunteering at a local horse rescue called Save A Forgotten Equine (SAFE) since January 2015. SAFE is a truly remarkable…
Ben & Oscar — An Unexpected Friendship
A few weeks ago, we had a wonderful group from Microsoft come to SAFE for a Day of Caring. All the horses had to be out of the barns since the group was pressure washing and replacing gravel and mats in the stalls. So we were a little short of places to put all the horses while the work was going on. I decided to see if Ben and Oscar might be able to co-habitate in the arena together for the…
Phoenix shines in training!
Volunteer rider Jolene Duncan has been spending some quality time with Phoenix. When we talked about project horses Jolene could concentrate on, I was very happy she was willing to take on training with Phoenix. We both agreed that what this beautiful boy needed was a lot more consistency in his riding and training. With Jolene working him four times a week, her hard work is really paying off.…
Ben: Follow up Bodywork
Dr. Christin Finn came to see Ben on Friday for his third bodywork session. Each time, the work has made changes to how he moves and even the shape of his back. This time it was clear that we needed to push through some very tight back and pelvic muscles. While the adjustments and acupuncture in the past sessions had helped loosen a lot of this area up, Dr. Finn suggested we speed the process up…
Anderson: Training update & Video
Anderson is coming along well in his training and shows every indication of making a great riding horse partner. Here is a video of his first ride with a saddle. You can see he is very cautious about this leather thing on his back but once Darik sits on him he had little problems accepting the saddle. After this video was shot, I held Anderson while Darik trimmed his feet and he was a very good…
Sophie Update
Volunteer trainer Laura McCorkle has been spending some time with Sophie over the last few months. Here is a little about what Laura has to say bout this young mare: “Sophie is a lovely, willowy, long-legged teenager — with all the good and sometimes aggravating qualities that implies! She is athletic and willing to try new things, but like most teenagers, she can be a bit short on attention…
Hickory & Mesquite: Training Update
All reports have been glowing for our new riding horses, Hickory and Mesquite. They are both in training with Joel Conner and are coming along well with the work. As expected, Hickory has been fairly easy with only minimal issues. He is the younger of the two and never really displayed much studdish behavior after being gelded. Hickory will be returning to SAFE with about two months of…
Annabelle is looking for a Foster home!
Sweet Miss Annabelle is healthy and ready to move out of SAFE Harbor to a foster home and help us make room for new intakes. We are looking for a foster who can take in this arabian girl and give her a quiet place to be a companion non-riding horse. She is still extremely herd bound so the ideal home would be somewhere she can see her buddies all of the times. She is a good girl, easy to groom…
Nala: Health Update
Nala has been very well behaved for her rehab, stall rest and hand walking. Three weeks ago we took off her shoes and balanced her feet in a bare foot trim. Farrier Marla Karabinos will be checking her this week to see if she is foot tender and if she will be needing the shoes back on. So far she looks happy in with the changes made. Last Friday Dr. Christen Finn from Equisport Medicine, came…
Phoenix Beauty Shots
Playful Brigdit!
Rest in Peace: Craspedia (2007–2015)
It took just a moment to fall in love with him, but it will take a lifetime to forget him. We met Craspedia in a field, a tall handsome fellow with a kind eye who stood calmly and quietly while we said hello to him. His owner had contacted us a few days before, concerned that his new horse was getting thin. It had been two months, he told us, and he did not understand why his horse was not…
New SAFE Intake: Banjo
Banjo was surrendered to SAFE by his owners on the recommendation of City of Snohomish animal control officers, who discovered the gelding had not received basic vet or farrier care for more than five years. The horse had gone unhandled for many years as well, making it tricky, but not impossible to catch him. He was immediately sent to NWESC to be evaluated. Banjo’s hooves were terribly…
