SAFE Horses
SAFE News and Updates
Special Guests at the SAFE Benefit Show
The Seattle Police Department’s Mounted Patrol will be stopping by Donida Farm to put on a special demonstration during the SAFE Benefit Horse Show!! The demo will take place at the start of our Exhibitor Party on Saturday evening at 5pm. The Patrol horses and their riders will demonstrate their amazing skills using tarps, road flares, and, of course, the gigantic inflatable horse ball that’s…
Problems with Kat
Over the past month or so, we’ve been noticing that Kat has been tripping more and more, both under saddle and even when being led. It’s gotten to the point where we’ve decided to pull her out of training with Brittney until we can have a vet examine her and possibly do a neurological exam. Our attempts to treat this problem through shoeing have not yielded much change. We’ll have updates on…
Photos from the Open House
We had a great time at last Sunday’s Open House with lots of folks stopping by to meet the horses and enjoy a grilled hot dog or two. SAFE supporter Margaret C took these gorgeous photographs and was kind enough to share them with us.
Moonshine Training Video
Moonshine started cantering under saddle this week without a lead pony! He’s doing great!! Here’s a video taken the week before last of his first ride off the lunge line. Look closely and see if you recognize the horse that he’s working with in the arena…it’s Delilah!! A rescue horse helping to train another rescue horse! How cool is that? Great work, Andrea and Co.!!
Lucky Training Update
Lucky continues to do well in his work with Helga Roberts at Dutch Mills Farm. Recently she had this to say about his behavior and his attitude: “Lucky has been at my barn since the beginning of June and has not shown ANY bad barn behavior. He gets turned out every day, from 7am until about 3pm, he is super friendly with the other horses, respects the hot wire and has been nothing but a good boy…
Strider…Mystery Solved?
Strider has been puzzling us for months with an on-again-off-again urinary tract issue. His only symptom was random bouts of leaking urine. Sometimes he would “dribble” significant amounts of urine, splashing himself and making a mess of his stall. Other times, he would go outside, stretch out and relieve himself with a completely normal urine stream. Each time the unusual urine dribbling was…
Cameo is now wearing a saddle!
Cameo wants everyone to know she has been wearing a saddle for a few weeks now, but today was the first time it was put on while she was standing in the cross-ties. You’ll notice that Cameo is wearing a chain in the photo. That’s because she is still learning how to lead like a polite little lady. When she leads nicely, no pressure from the chain is applied to her nose because Brittney leads her…
Nora the Poster Girl
Nora’s lovely face graced the advertisements we sent out for tomorrow’s Open House. Isn’t she the cutest?
Portland Update
Portland’s condition is continuing to improve, but he is still very thin. He’s also covered in bites, scrapes, and scars — evidence of the life he was leading before he was rescued. His coat is improving and he has shown us some glimpses of spirit and energy, which is wonderful to see In his previous life, Portland was very much on the low end of the pecking order in his herd, which is partly…
Checking in with Nora
Everyone is pretty much in love with Nora. She’s a doll, just sweet and loving and really, really pretty. Her physical condition is slowly improving and while she still needs to put on more weight, she’s looking healthier and her coat has improved. Nora’s biggest problem is the condition of her hooves. She doesn’t have much in the way of hoof wall so she’s pretty much walking on her soles, and…
Ginger meets new friends…
A new foster adventure for Chip
Chip has spent the past four months in foster care with three other geldings where he has learned a great deal about getting along with other horses, now that he is no longer a breeding stallion. It hasn’t always been easy for him, but he worked hard and eventually won the respect and friendship of his herd mates. Through it all, he was a good boy for his foster mom: easy to handle, friendly,…
Open House this Sunday at SAFE Harbor
On Sunday, July 14, SAFE will be celebrating its one year anniversary at SAFE Harbor Stables in Woodinville with an Open House that day from Noon to 3pm. Come by and meet the horses and have a tour of the farm. We’ll be grilling hot dogs for lunch and selling cupcakes, candy and more. We’ll have several vendors joining us as well, selling everything from tack to handmade cards to horse treats…
Ginger Photos
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…
