SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Chance Update
Sorry to share that Chance is not feeling well and had to see Dr Hannah yesterday for an emergency visit. He did not seem to be himself on Wednesday and volunteers reported that he was not moving around much or interested in food. Yesterday morning we discovered that his elbow was significantly swollen and giving off heat. Hannah came out to examine him and found that he had spiked a fever and…
ASPCA Equine Welfare Professionals Workshop
SAFE Board of Directors members Kyle Putnam, Sara Hall, Jeanette Parrett, and Debi Shatos recently attended an all day seminar hosted by the ASPCA. The Equine Welfare Professionals Workshop provided an opportunity for our Board members to learn about effective Board structure, fundraising, and best practices. A segment on coalition building provided an opportunity to discuss ways that animal…
April
The story of how April came to be a SAFE horse is a sad tale: she lived alone in a small muddy pen, her owner barely cared for her, and often she had nothing to eat but stale bread and potatoes. Her living conditions had already attracted the attention of Animal Control, but it wasn’t until she got tangled up in barbed wire that her owner finally surrendered her to the authorities. The barbed…
2013 Q2 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: April 5, 2013 Kai (trade between SAFE and Pony Up) Intake Date: June 7, 2013 Ginger (owner surrender) Intake Date: June 18, 2013 Nora (Buckley WA Sheriff ) Intake Date: June 7, 2013 Portland (Snohomish Co Animal Control) Placed Horses Shiloh JR Charmeon Brandii Bask Opal Zan Euthanization Buckwheat (colic)
June Volunteer of the Month: Ann Amort
Congratulations to our June volunteer of the month, Ann Amort! Ann joined the SAFE team of volunteers nearly a year ago. She has been working the AM Feed/Chore shift on Fridays. For the last couple of months, Fridays have been occasionally understaffed. Ann is an exceptionally hard worker and she never complains. Ann was actually nominated for Volunteer of the Month by a co-worker who was so…
New Intake: Portland
Portland is a 16 year old Thoroughbred gelding who was seized as part of a neglect case by Snohomish County Animal Control and signed over to SAFE late last week. Portland was removed from his owner with a Body Condition Score of 1 (out of 9) meaning that he was very close to starving to death when he was seized. His owner is now facing 1st Degree Animal Cruelty charges in Snohomish County.…
A Visit with Khianna
It’s been a while since we’ve updated everyone on Khianna. If you recall, Khianna “flunked out” of training after our trainer advised us that she would need extensive one-on-one work after she displayed a tendency to bolt under saddle. She went to a foster home for a period of time with the hopes of being adopted as a pasture pet, but she proved too unpredictable for that situation, so she ended…
Skye Training Updates
Friday, June 21 Skye has had an easy day of roaming the round pen full of scary stuff. Dave said that she was a little wound up early on but by the end of the day, despite the tarps, barrels and the Cowboy Curtain of doom, she has calmed down. She got a chance to nibble on grass outside the pen. Then it was time to shut down for the evening and go back to her paddock for the night. Tomorrow is…
A new start for Skye
Skye has come a long way from the horse she was when she first came to SAFE. Back then, she was so accustomed to being shut up in a stall all the time that the relative freedom of a stall with an outdoor run was very strange and scary to her. Everything scared Skye at first, even the sound of velcro would make her jump out of her skin. She had to learn the simplest skills, like walking on a lead…
Lucky training update
Bucky B Lucky was moved into foster care with Helga Roberts at Dutch Mills Farm to continue his dressage training. We just got this wonderful update from Helga and we’re really pleased that he’s doing so well for her! SAFE is so fortunate to have Helga working with our horses and we know that Lucky will benefit immensely from working with her. Lucky has been here now for just a little over 2…
Zanadu — Adopted!!
A very dear and special SAFE horse was just officially adopted, and we could not be happier about this match. Congratulations to Karen on your adoption of Zanadu! Karen originally contacted SAFE in October of 2012. She was interested in Zan, but open to other horses. She wasn’t quite ready to adopt at the time, just starting to think about it. She and her husband had put an offer in a property,…
Nora Intake Photos
Ginger’s “Tail”
Ginger came to us with a tail that was best described as a “baseball bat” — a thick solid tangled mass, unlike anything any of us have ever seen before. Valiant efforts were made to save as much of it as possible, but in the end, a large section of the tail could only be removed using scissors. Poor Ginger lost 16″ of solidly matted hair that would not respond to products or soaking or any…
Logan Update
Logan has left SAFE Harbor Stables and is now residing at one of our very best foster homes where he has a large grassy pasture to enjoy and a wonderful caregiver who takes excellent care of him. A few weeks ago we were very concerned that Logan’s condition was deteriorating, but with the arrival of warmer weather, he seems to have perked up quite a bit and has let us know that he’s still…
Pretty Miss Skye
Skye’s summer coat has come in very light brown, and she has shed a few pounds, so she’s looking really pretty! She’s headed out to a new foster home pretty soon where she’ll be starting groundwork training…not a moment too soon! She’s a very big gal who’s gotten a lot more confident since arriving at SAFE. We should have some great updates to share about Skye really soon as she starts the…
Jewel is making progress!!
It’s been a while since we updated Jewel’s page, and last time we reported about her, things were not going perfectly for this little gal. She was having a rough time getting along with other horses, and she was showing some conformation issues that had us a little bit worried for her future. But things have improved for Jewel over the last several weeks, and we have some more uplifting news to…
Bridgit Update
Bridgit has moved to a new foster home with SAFE President Debi Shatos in Snohomish where she shares space with Debi’s mare, Summer. Bridgit is a confident youngster, but she has wisely decided that Summer is the boss mare and she needs to be respectful. With that established, the two girls are getting along quite well.
Chip the Happy Gelding
Chip has made such great progress in the past few months and I can’t help but be proud of all his accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem. When he first came to my farm, he was very timid. He seemed to have some difficulty getting along with the bigger horses, not because he was behaving aggressively towards them, but because they were pushing him around. But given time, he has forged…
Sinatra Update
What can we say about Sinatra that hasn’t already been said? He’s lovable, he’s laughable, he’s one of a kind. The Vitamin E supplements he’s been getting continues to help his proprioception issues, and under saddle, he seems to be feeling pretty good. Which for Sinatra means that he’s taking the opportunity to act out a bit in his riding sessions…nothing that Brittney can’t handle, of…
Miah’s First Trail Ride! (With Kat!)
Miah took a big step today with her first ever trail ride as a SAFE horse — possibly the first of her life — and she did great!! It’s only just recently that she’s gotten to a point where she was ready to hit the trails, and she was a very good girl. To be fair, she did snort for the entire two hour trip, but she was also very brave, crossing bridges and dealing with a lot of new stimulation.…
Welcome to SAFE, Ginger!
Ginger is a very pretty 9 year old bay Arab mare in fairly good physical condition who has recently found herself homeless. Her former owner is an elderly woman who developed Alzheimer’s and has just left her home to go into an assisted living facility. Ginger was purchased from the auction seven years ago, and has been kept as a pet since she was two so she has no training beyond basic handling…
Chance and Kat go on a trail ride!
Chance went for his first trail ride as a SAFE horse today, accompanied by Kat. Chance has a lot of experience as a trail horse but it’s been a little while since he’s been out in the woods, so he started his journey into the Redmond Watershed by doing a fair amount of jigging, but after about 5 minutes, he settled down and started walking in a relaxed manner and kept his cool for the rest of…
Cameo photos
Opal — Adopted!!
Exciting news to share!! Opal has been adopted!! Congratulations to Lys H and thank you for offering this lovely mare (now named Bella) a wonderful new home! We hope to see you and Bella at the SAFE show in August!! Update (August 3, 2013) Bella & Lys did indeed join us at the SAFE show this year, competing in some of the English green horse classes and mounted trails!
May Volunteer of the Month: Jeff Frazzini
This month we are recognizing our outstanding volunteer Jeff Frazzini! Jeff has volunteered with SAFE for over two years. He does feeding and farm chores every Sunday morning. Recently, he started assisting Facilities Coordinator, Victoria Guy, with maintenance and repair projects on Sundays as well. He has been a regular at our Fall Work Parties. He also frequently makes his truck (and…
Moonshine’s big day!
It’s a big day for Moonshine! He’s climbing aboard the trailer and heading up to Arlington to start training with Andrea Lucianna at Half Trak Farm. Andrea will have her hands full with this sassy young man as he learns to adjust to a life where he doesn’t get to do absolutely everything he wants at any given moment! We wish them both the best and look forward to updates on his progress!
Chance Update
Brittney’s had the opportunity to work with Chance a few times since his arrival at SHS, and she likes what she sees so far. She says he’s a good boy, and she’s even tried having one of our volunteer riders hop on him and he did very well for her too. He’s pretty unfit, so he’s crossfiring in the canter and getting himself a bit discombobulated, but with more work, she’s confident he’ll work…
Summer, looking good!
We were delighted to receive these photos and updates from our friends at Jackson Valley Ranch who foster Summer: Here is Summer out in the round pen for a little lite exercise. Everyone here (staff & horse owners) all know Miss Summer, and stop by her stall/paddock often just to say hello. She is the “Grand Dame” of Jackson Valley Ranch, as well as the S.A.F.E. foster program. Here is Summer…
Marta and Shay Update
Here’s an update from Eileen who is fostering Marta and Shay at her lovely Fall City Farm: Their daily lives are very straight forward and routine. They have grazing muzzles to keep them on a strict diet because they only need to look at food and they gain weight. Shay has intermittent bouts of being “off.” It doesn’t appear to be anything related to eating grass. I have spoken to the vet a few…
Kai and Maggie go on a trail ride!
Kai’s first trail ride! His companion was the cute SAFE Maggie pony and volunteer rider, Kyrany. There was a busy running event taking place at the trail head with flags and banners hanging from the trees and tents, but both horses were great about it. They saw bikes, deer, lots of runners, and crossed numerous bridges. Kai had a few “Bambi on ice” startles (i.e., spooking in place) but since he…
