Lunar New Year Celebration
Sunny D & Shasta were greeters at this year’s Westminster Chapel’s celebration of Lunar New Year. SAFE was asked to be this year’s special animal guests because 2014 is the Year of the Horse. Sunny and Shasta were wonderful greeters to the more than 1,500 people who came to this year’s celebration of Asian culture and arts. Sunny & Shasta got to pose for photos and also meet some of the…
Another Challenge for Jewel
During the major windstorm last weekend, SAFE horse Jewel was injured. We discovered a 2” laceration across the back of her left hind pastern. The cut was deep enough to warrant an emergency vet call, and Dr. Penny came out to take a look (driving around multiple downed trees to reach SAFE Harbor!) Fortunately, there was no tendon involvement. The wound was clipped, cleaned and treated. It was…
Taste the Rainbow!
We have a new horse to introduce to everyone! Her name is Skittles, she is an 18 year old Arab mare who is supposedly trained and able to be ridden Skittles was seized by King County Animal Control several months, and placed at Northwest Equine Stewardship Center for rehabilitation. She came to NWESC underweight, but as you’ll see from the photos below, they did an excellent job of returning her…
Cowgirl Kat!
It’s been a while since we updated you on Kat. We’ve seen a definite improvement in her tendency to trip over her front feet, and we suspect that the addition of vegetable oil to her diet has helped with that. Volunteer Sara E has been working with Kat under saddle and after a great ride last night, Sara had this to say about the little redhead: “Kat’s doing great! I think she likes the western…
Oscar, returned to SAFE
We have an old friend back among the herd at SAFE Harbor…the Arabian gelding El Johar Jamaal, formerly known as Oscar the Grouch, currently known as Oscar the Sweetie Pie. SAFE has elected to allow Oscar’s owner to return him to us to be rehomed, as we strongly feel that taking him back is in the best interest of everyone involved. We are currently reassessing Oscar under saddle, and hope to…
Jewel: Checking in on our little missy
I have continued to work with Miss Jewel on her ground work to establishing respect and good social behaviors. A lot of the work includes leading and positioning along with catch and release game. She is a surprisingly very smart little girl who really enjoys doing a job well. She will lick and chew when she has done it right and of loves getting lots of praise. Jewel reacts well to voice cues…
Portland medical update
We’re happy to say that Portland’s recovery has continued and he’s now officially up to a good weight (4/9 as determined by Dr DeWard) and looking healthy. Now that he’s got plenty of good food to eat and no mean horses beating him up, he’s truly enjoying life again, which is wonderful. We had Portland examined by Dr Bob DeWard and asked him to evaluate Portland as a potential riding horse. SAFE…
Bridgit was *not* on Santa’s Naughty List
She was a very good girl this year, so Santa brought a special gift for Bridgit…GrownUpClothes! She got her very own Pony size surcingle. Here she is modelling her Big Girl outfit. Isn’t she adorable? (the angle of the photo is exaggerating her current slightly butt-high build). Bridgit continues to learn and grow. She now straight ties and cross ties with confidence. She stands (mostly)…
Training Update for Bucky B Lucky!
Lucky has had a recent change of scenery, moving from Dutch Mills Farm up to White Birch Farm, where he will continue his under saddle work with trainer Melonie Rainey. We would like to thank Helga Roberts at Dutch Mills for everything she’s done for Lucky during his stay there. She’s been his trainer, his advocate, and his friend, and we know that she will miss him a lot. We’re also grateful to…
Marta & Shay update
Marta and Shay continue to thrive under the careful care of their foster mom, Eileen. With their blankets on, it’s hard to tell who is who, they are such peas in a pod! Both mares continue to be easy keepers on restricted diets, but they are getting to enjoy a brief reprieve from their grazing muzzles during this very barren January. These two would be a great pair of companion horses!
Misty at a ‘big girl barn’
An update on Misty from Lisa: Misty enjoyed a trail outing on New Years day, to our usual spot at Rattlesnake Lake/Snoqualmie valley trail. She was very well behaved on the trails, and didn’t balk once! Even though we arrived and parked among other horse trailers and horses (it was busy that day) she stood quietly for tacking up and tolerated the activity quite well. We ended our trail ride with…
Catching up with Zanadu!
It’s always a happy day when we get an update on Zanadu. We like to think that all of the adopted SAFE horses are loved, but when it comes to Zan, there is no question that she is adored, treasured, and beloved. Karen sent this update: Zan and I are doing spectactularly well! She is a delight and quite the character. Zanadu is such a wonderful girl — I saw that in her from the moment we met. I…
January training notes: Sasha
Sasha seems to be showing signs of discomfort, especially tracking to the right on the lunge line. She does a lot of chewing and moving/opening her mouth…it almost looks as if she were sucking on her tongue or cheeks. She can’t hold the right lead canter without swapping her hind and cross firing. We’ve been doing light groundwork and lunging to see if strengthening helps.
2013 Q4 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: October 6, 2013 Sasha (returned to SAFE) Intake Date: October 7, 2013 Phoenix (sold by adopter, surrendered to SAFE by new owner) Intake Date: October 19, 2013 Kai (returned to SAFE) Intake Date: November 2, 2013 Savannah (sold by adopter, surrendered to SAFE by new owner) Intake Date: November 19, 2013 Oscar (returned to SAFE) Placed Horses Maggie Chance Miah Moonshine…
Ginger is cantering under saddle!
Here are some photos of Gingers ride today. She is doing well and a lot of fun! She is a green walk, trot, canter. Steering is optional. =)
December Volunteer of the Month: Megan Wilson
December is such a festive month. There are so many reasons to be happy and so many things to celebrate. December Volunteer of the Month, Megan Wilson, is one of the reasons we’re celebrating this month! Megan has been volunteering at SAFE since April. She is at Safe Harbor every Sunday morning (except when she is called away to take care of a sick patient or deliver a baby!!), doing chores and…
Happiest holidays from Strider & Chip!
Strider had to leave his Monroe foster home with Sheridan and Austin with the onset of winter weather, since Sheridan’s barn has still not been rebuilt. We are so fortunate that our good friend Heather, who’s already fostering Chip, offered a place in her lovely barn for Strider to stay the winter. Strider and Chip hit it off immediately, and Heather’s barn cam shows the two friends chatting…
A Home for the Holidays for Moonshine
Most of us have probably wished at one time or another for a pony under the tree on Christmas morning. Well Moonshine won’t be going anywhere near the Gable’s Christmas tree but he’ll be there in spirit as this wonderful family celebrates the holiday. It gives us great happiness to announce that Moonshine has been adopted! He left SAFE Harbor yesterday for his new home at Gold Creek where he and…
Dottie update!
Dottie has had a bit of a rough time since the onset of colder weather, including a couple of scary bouts of colic. We had to call the vet out on one occasion but fortunately the colic resolved itself. We watch her closely and give her extra sloppy mashes and electrolytes. She also gets hand walked for 20–25 mins each day. We wish knew what is going on but its still a little mystery. Dottie is a…
We knew this day was coming…
…so we won’t say goodbye, we’ll just say good luck!! It’s been our good luck and good fortune that Brittney Stewart has been part of SAFE over the course of 2013. And even though it’s time for her to move on so she can concentrate full time on B&D Sport Horses, the positive effect she has had on so many of the SAFE horses is something that we won’t forget any time soon! Brittney came on…
A wonderful Cameo training update
It’s been a while since we’ve provided an update on Cameo’s progress in training, but it’s not because things haven’t been going well…quite the opposite in fact. Things with Cameo have been going SO well that we can hardly believe it. When we dropped Cameo off at Half Trak Farm to begin her work with Andrea, we saw a major regression in her behavior. She had made a lot of progress working with…
Fun with Honeycutt and Sinatra
Boys will be boys, and these guys play rough…Honeycutt has some scary-looking moves, but he doesn’t actually do anything to hurt Sinatra.
A home for Miah!
We’ve been waiting with growing eagerness to share some fantastic news with you, but being a superstitious bunch, we didn’t want to jinx it until we knew for sure. Miah has been out on trial, pending adoption, for the past month with a wonderful horsewoman named Heather who’s been looking for another trail horse to add to her herd. Now when Heather says she’s looking for a trail horse, she means…
Moonshine update!
Moonshine is pending adoption, and has been on trial with his potential new owner at SAFE Harbor, taking lessons with Brittney and learning to jump! He’s doing fantastic, we could not be more proud of him. During his pre-purchase exams, a mass was discovered in the vicinity of his boy-parts, and it was recommended that it be removed in order to make him more comfortable. Moonshine’s tumor…
Summer update
Summer: the ol’ girl keeps on kickin’! Kyle dropped two additional blankets off for the grande dame so her foster caretakers can mix and match as needed. Kyle says that Summer came out to meet her just as bright eyed as she imagined she can be. We’ve been very concerned about Summer over the past few months, since she has not been eating well, and she’s had a few scary episodes of reluctance to…
Atticus is finally getting Fat-ticus!
Atticus had an vet exam today, and Dr. Penny feels he is nearly up to weight. He has a fat pad at the tail head! She drew blood for a follow up liver enzymes test, and we should have results tomorrow. She checked his mouth and found nothing unusual to explain his lack of desire to eat timothy hay…of course, he eats alfalfa just fine…go figure!!
November Volunteer of the Month: Emily Olson
November is the month for giving thanks, and we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our November Volunteer of the Month, Emily Olson! Emily has been working nearly full time at SAFE Harbor Stables while she waits for the Army to process her application for Officer School. We are very grateful that she selected SAFE to support with her volunteer efforts. She is…
Black Mare Friday!
Misty celebrated Black Friday with a trail ride! Here’s an update from Lisa: My friend Victoria invited me to go on a spontaneous ride on Friday. When she pulled up, Misty got very excited and pushy. This has become a bit of a pattern and ironically Cindy Akdeniz, the trainer I have been taking some lessons with, showed up at the same time to give my neighbor a lesson, so I took advantage of…
From the Horse’s Mouth: The Opposite of Shadow
If you follow Honeycutt’s blog, you know that he shares a lot of secrets about horses and their interactions. Today’s update on Sinatra comes straight from the horse’s mouth… Now if you were to look out and see me, you would see something white right next to me. If you looked again a little while later, you would see the white thing again! The white thing is called Sinatra, do you know that…
