A Big Day for Owen
Today was full of new experiences for our man Owen. As you know, Owen is a stallion, and it has always been our intention to change him into a happy gelding, as we do with all intact male horses that end up in our rescue program. When we agreed to take Owen in, we were unaware that he was not only not halter broken, he was untouchable, and so gelding him immediately was not possible. Fortunately…
Fun with Oscar!
Photos by Deunan Berkeley
A visit with Strider and Chip!
I had the pleasure of visiting Strider and Chip at their foster home yesterday. Both boys are looking fabulous and enjoying the onset of sunny weather now that spring is here. Their foster mom, Heather, says that the two of them are best buds, and will stand as close to one another as they can, considering they’re in separate stalls. She can’t really turn them out together, because Strider, who…
April Volunteer of the Month: Jane Millar!
The SAFE Board of Directors is pleased to recognize SAFE Volunteer Jane Millar as our April Volunteer of the Month! Jane has been volunteering with SAFE for over a year and a half. She is a trusted PM Feeder on Tuesday nights. A few months ago, Jane took on the added responsibility of leading the orientations for new volunteers. She does a fabulous job, we hear nothing but positive feedback from…
Spray bottle? No problem, says Jewel!
Terry and her team spend time teaching the SAFE horses the small but important skills they’ll need once they’re adopted. Some of the horses still object to the spray bottle (I’m looking at you, Kai!) but Jewel is completely unfazed.
Her Name is Lola…
We’ve been a little quiet on the subject of Lola, but that doesn’t mean that everybody’s favorite Sassaloosa hasn’t been hard at work behind the scenes. Lola’s actually doing really terrific right now and we want to get everyone up to speed with what’s been going on for her. Lola’s training came to a bit of a halt at the beginning of the year when we realized that we didn’t have a saddle that…
From the Horse’s Mouth: There’s Something About Owen
If you follow Honeycutt’s blog, you know that he shares a lot of secrets about horses and their interactions. Today’s update on Owen comes straight from the horse’s mouth… Owen is a new SAFE horse who lives here with me for now. There’s something about Owen that is Different, and that thing is that Owen does not want any peoples to touch him. Maybe you are thinking that Owen is a baby horse…
Skittles is Ready!
We’ve had a lot of good things to say about Skittles since she arrived at SAFE after her rehabilitation at NWESC. Let’s recap: She’s beautiful. A bright chestnut Arab with a big wide blaze and three white socks, she’ll catch your eye for sure! She’s healthy. NWESC did a tremendous job of bringing this mare back from starvation. She glows with health. She’s sweet. Skittles greets everyone with a…
Dottie Belle
Here’s our Dottie, enjoying some bodywork from Pilchuck’s Dr Meyer: photo by Deunan Berkeley
Skittles Training Update
Skittles did very well on the trail ride Sunday. She is very brave, liked to lead, and had a go button. Overall she stayed calm and listened well. She would have loved to run up the hills but I was able to keep her at a walk. She was fine with the other horses too. I had Kirann come ride her yesterday to see how she was with a new rider and she did great. It was nice to see how cute she is now…
Ruby Red
Ruby is a lucky horse who has an entire community behind her, pulling for her recovery! She got a visit today from one of her major benefactors, SAFE supporter Bernice S, who spent some time with our girl in the company of SAFE president Debi Shatos. Debi reports that Ruby’s outlook on life has definitely improved, and she has a sparkle in her eye that was not there last week. Turns out Ruby is…
Good news for Jewel?
Dr King of Pilchuck Vet Hospital came out to SHS and donated her time to give lameness exams to some of the SAFE horses. We asked her to take a look at Miss Jewel, and her assessment of Jewel’s crooked leg was not half bad. In fact, she told us she’s seen perfectly sound horses in full training with much worse looking limbs. Jewel was not lame during the exam, and Dr King indicated she’d like to…
Time off for Oscar
Oscar has been showing some front end lameness since his return to SAFE. This lameness, which appears to be in his right front leg, isn’t noticeable at the beginning of a ride, but seems to get progressively worse as he is exercised. Dr King of Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital donated her time to perform a lameness exam on Oscar and help us get to the root of the problem. X‑rays were clean so we are…
Trail Ride!
Volunteer Sara E rode Kat on a trail ride this weekend along with Terry and Skittles. Sara was able to compare this ride with one she and Kat went on a year ago. Not only does Kat know Sara better now and trusts her, she is also clearly feeling much better in her own body and movement. She was great during the entire ride, even when riding along the road with cars passing and past the alpacas…
Dottie and Eve
Lovely photos taken today of Dottie with her best friend Eve!
Unbridled Joy
Sara, who is SAFE’s Vice President and Adoption Manager, keeps in touch with many of our adopters through Facebook, and a few days ago, she saw this lovely photo, posted by Karen who adopted Zanadu from us. When Sara asked Karen about it, she received this beautiful explanation: “The name Unbridled Joy is actually the working title of a book I have been writing – I started about two years ago.…
Skye is now cantering under saddle!
We are just delighted to share this video with you of Skye cantering under saddle! Huge thanks to Andrea Lucianna and everyone at Half Trak Farm for this wonderful work. Watch closely in the video and you’ll see SAFE alumni pony River (adopted by Jenny Lucianna) standing by to give his friend Skye a boost of confidence.
Handsome Atticus
Atticus is back at Safe Harbor these days, and he’s looking like a million bucks! He’s an exceptionally handsome Arab gelding, and now that he’s no longer bony and thin, he’s looking really good. He even has a cute little belly! Now that Atticus is healthy again, he is ready for a forever home of his own. The new and improved Atticus is a spunky, playful horse and we are hoping to find him a…
Handsome Kai
The Amazing Owen
Owen had made so much progress since our last update, but yesterday was a stellar day for this fine young man. Owen is now wearing a halter — on his face! But before we tell you how that milestone was reached, we have to say a great big thank you to Jenny M, who you may remember as one of the founders of SAFE and a member of SAFE’s first Board of Directors. Jenny came up from Portland last…
Ruby’s Recovery
Ruby continues her slow recovery at NWESC, where she is getting hands-on care and attention following the birth, and passing, of her foal. She is definitely not out of the woods yet, but her condition has stabilized. Initial blood tests revealed that she was severely anemic with low proteins, which is not surprising considering her emaciated condition. Fortunately, her bloodwork is improving…
Phoenix in Rehab
Here’s volunteer Stephanie riding Phoenix during his rehab session yesterday at Safe Harbor! As of this week, Phoenix is now being walked up to 30 minutes per day. Happily he’s being a wonderfully well behaved gentleman for his rehab…not to mention stunningly gorgeous! Keep it up, Phoenix!!
We named her Grace
Many of our supporters have asked for more detail about what happened to Ruby’s foal. If you missed the beginning of the story, you can read it here. Another busy Saturday night at NWESC had Dr. Hannah Mueller caring for her patients. She passed Ruby’s stall to see the mare standing quietly. When she passed by again after midnight, Ruby was laying down and the foal’s head had emerged. It was…
Saddle? No problem!
Mr Finn was a superstar yesterday! He wore a saddle for the first time since coming to SAFE and was completely unfazed by the experience. Terry says was a perfect gentleman! Way to go, Finn!! As we’ve mentioned before, when we took Finn on as a SAFE horse, we were told that he was not sound for riding due to an injury he sustained when he was started under saddle as a young horse. He has a…
Happy saddle day, Sapphire!
Sapphire wore a saddle for the first time today as a SAFE horse, and she was a champ! Terry was even able to lay across her back and have a volunteer lead her around the arena for a few steps. Great work, Sapphy!!
The Alpaca Gauntlet
Kat, Skittles, and Lola went out for a walk today to see the alpacas, who live right down the street from Safe Harbor Stables. We’re located pretty close to the Tolt Pipeline trail, but to get to the trail, you have pass by the alpaca gauntlet. Some of the horses find this slightly terrifying, but today’s outing was a complete success. So cute!
Groundwork for the win!
When Oscar was returned to SAFE in December, it took nearly two hours to load him into the trailer. As Terry remarked not long after meeting him for the first time, getting the respect of this feisty little gelding would be her first priority. “He is very sweet on the ground,” Terry commented, “but when pushed to do what isn’t his choice the old stallion ego is just under the surface. On top of…
Jewel Videos
Jewel Groundwork Jewel Lunging
April Training Notes: Sapphire
We had a pretty big setback with Sapphire after Sasha’s passing. We’ve been doing ground work with her to gain her trust, and she regressed quite a bit and started showing some aggressive behavior again. But thankfully, by the end of the month, she was getting back to where she’d been before. Sadly she may always have aggressive tendencies, especially around food. It remains very important that…
April Training Notes: Atticus
Atticus has been very spunky and playful in turnout, now that he’s settled back in at Safe Harbor. He continues to have food aggression issues and does not want anyone near his food. Our volunteers are being trained to ask him to back him up before they enter his stall to deliver his mash. He did have a very sizable abscess that popped on his right hind heel bulb. He wouldn’t let me soak it…
