Moonshine’s first ride in the outdoor arena
Miah at the 2013 SAFE Show
Miah competed in Dressage at the 2013 SAFE show with her volunteer rider, Casey Anderson. They made a lovely pair! Photos taken by Bobbie Climer:
August Volunteer of the Month: Sheridan Jones!
Our August volunteer of the month is the fabulous Sheridan Jones! Sheridan has been a longtime SAFE supporter and has fostered many SAFE horses over the years. After showing SAFE horse Corona at the 2011 SAFE Benefit Horse Show, she fell in love with and adopted the talented gelding. Recently, Sheridan agreed to foster SAFE horse Strider for a couple of months of pasture time. We are very…
Lola’s Amazing Trail Riding Adventures
Turns out all the trail riding that Lola & Brittney have been doing lately was in preparation for a big adventure: a four-day trip to Cle Elum in Eastern Washington! DAY ONE: We meet up at SAFE Harbor Stables to pick up Lola. Her guests on this adventure are gigantic warmblood Odin, ridden by Darby Stewart, and gigantic OTTB Chance, ridden by SAFE ED Bonnie Hammond. Most little five year old…
Charmeon, rest in peace.
Our hearts are aching this morning as we say goodbye to an amazing mare, taken from us far, far too soon. Last night, adopted SAFE horse Charmeon was lost to colic. She fought so hard, and every effort was made to help her pull through, but in the end, her beloved friend and owner Helga had to let her go. We are heartbroken for Helga and her daughter Anna-Lynn who loved Charmeon so much and who…
Does it seem a little quiet around here?
That is because SAFE Executive Director (and website guru) Bonnie Hammond has been taking a well deserved vacation! Bonnie took her personal horse, Chance, on a camping/trail riding trip with SAFE Trainer Brittney Stewart and her husband Darby. Brittney is riding SAFE horse Lola to add some advanced trail riding experience to this talented mare’s resume. Reports are that all three riders and…
Lucky at the SAFE Benefit Horse Show!
Lucky came to the SAFE Horse Show with Helga Roberts and the team from Dutch Mills Farm. Upon his arrival, he found the show environment to be somewhat electrifying, but after about an hour of handwalking to give him the opportunity to look at all the activity, he calmed down enough for Helga to ride him. He did two dressage tests — one in the Indoor arena in front of judge Paige Ruehl, the…
Brandii’s Gift
A high school friend phoned SAFE adopter Kitti L to say that her 90 year old mother had a few things she wanted to do before she died. One was to sit on a horse and walk around; she had ridden as a child and young adult. This lady was a female pilot during WWII and awarded a medal by President Obama two years ago. She stepped off the mounting block onto Brandii with a little loving help. We…
Sunny & Shasta at Northwest Aerials
Sunny & Shasta paid a visit to the kids at Northwest Aerials yesterday. The visit was part of a package auctioned off at this year’s Heart of the Horse and won by Patti Gable, raising $500 for the SAFE horses in the process! Brittney and her friend Judie brought the two mini horses to Northwest Aerials and spent some time talking to two groups of kids, 30 from Cedar Springs camp and 25 from…
35th Annual Woodinville Parade & Basset Bash
Sunny & Shasta, along with SAFE Board members Victoria and Sharman, made an appearance at Woodinville’s 35th Annual Parade & Basset Bash last weekend. Shasta was totally in her element and when she figured out that Victoria was trying to guide her to the side to talk up SAFE and let the little kids, seniors, and people who had never pet a horse before, she starting taking her towards groups of…
Adventures in Trail Riding with Lola!
Lola got the opportunity to go out on not one but TWO trails rides this weekend! First she hit the trails at the Redmond Watershed with Brittney: Then she headed out to the watershed again on Saturday, but this time with Brittney’s husband Darby in the saddle. Darby is a volunteer rider for SAFE and is most often seen riding Sinatra in lessons with Brittney. This was Darby’s first ride on Lola.…
A dry lot for Shay & Marta
Shay was showing some increased signs of lameness last week, so she was seen by Dr Owens of Owens Equine. As we already know, Shay has clearly had laminitis in the past and has a 30-degree rotation in both front feet. Despite being carefully managed (which Dr. Owens said Eileen/SAFE was doing a good job), she may be showing signs of IR/metabolic syndrome. The vet report makes it clear that if…
Portland, looking good!
Portland got a spa day today, thanks to Terry!! Looking good!!
Lola photos by Karen Wegehenkel
These stunning images of Lola were taken by photographer Karen Wegehenkel at SAFE Harbor in July.
Funny, but not funny
I was awake, but hadn’t yet gotten out of bed around 7 this morning, when I heard an unusual racket from outside. Something was on my front porch, something bigger than a raccoon, something…white? With hooves? Sinatra, is that you? You see, Sinatra has learned a new trick in the past 48 hours, and that is that if you stick your head through the fence and just keep moving forward, eventually…
The Second Happiest Strider Update We Could Hope For
Since our move to SAFE Harbor Stables back in July of 2012, life hasn’t been entirely easy for our friend Strider. For several months after the move, the burned area on his back still needed to be protected from sun and rain, so he lived in a covered enclosure next to the indoor arena, which was good for his healing process but hard because he had no nearby neighbors to socialize with up close.…
Bath time for Ginger!
Ginger let us give her a real bath! She was a little upset at first but I told her it was to help the itching and she seemed to understand. She did great! Fly spraying and baths will soon be easy! Xoxo Ginger Rogers!
Misty is back to work!
Foster/Trainer update on Misty to share: Misty is just coming out of about three weeks off work due to a splint. She wasn’t lame, but we thought it best to rest her for a bit. (Unfortunately, we missed the show!) During her time off she was so sweet and personable, the perfect patient for the icing and DMSO. I also began bringing my daughters to the barn to spend more time with her and she…
Champion SAFE Pony: Maggie
We’re so proud of all the SAFE horses who competed at the SAFE Show this year, but one of them in particular put in an especially impressive performance. Along with her young rider, Miss Kirann Gable, our Mustang pony mare Maggie was champion of both the Trot Poles and Cross Rails Hunter Divisions, took Seconds in both of her Dressage tests, scoring 70.5% at Intro C and 62.292 at Training 1, and…
A positive Chance update
Great news…Chance’s drain came out today. Brittney reports that his wound is closing up nicely, so in a few days we can hopefully release him from the high-line in his stall so that he can lie down again if he want to. He’s been getting SMZs to fight infection in the wound, and those are fed to him by hiding them in a mash, which he loves. He’s been a very, very good boy for his twice-daily…
Rehabilitated horses thrive thanks to SAFE rescue
Rehabilitated horses thrive thanks to SAFE rescue By Denise Whitaker Aired on Aug 2 2013 WOODINVILLE, Wash. — There’s been an increase in horse rescues in recent years and the KOMO 4 Problem Solvers have been there to help in several cases. But what happens after a horse is taken away from an abuser or a neglectful situation? In the case of Corona, a 12-year-old thoroughbred, he was nursed back…
Lola Photos by Karen Wegehenkel
These lovely photos of Lola were taken by photographer Karen Wegehenkel at SAFE Harbor in July.
Maggie Photos by Karen Wegehenkel
These lovely photos were taken by photographer Karen Wegehenkel at SAFE Harbor Stables this past July.
Another setback for Chance
Chance’s shoe boil blew up again and Dr. Hannah was called out yesterday to look at it. Dr Hannah was initially going to just try another round of antibiotics, but after examining it decided that because there was a tremendous amount of fluid and that it should be lanced and drained. She also installed a drain to help us keep it clean and keep it healing correctly from the inside out. So, Chance…
Teaching future vet technicians
Today, a group of Vet Tech students from Pima Medical Institute took a field trip to SAFE Harbor Stables. The goal was to practice doing a physical exam, venipuncture, and administering dewormer. In exchange for providing the opportunity for the students to gain hands on experience, SAFE received free fecal floats, blood tests, and deworming for 12 horses. We are pleased to be able to…
Ginger & Sinatra = BFF
Ginger and lover boy Sinatra are joined at the hip. She was much more relaxed having a buddy in turnout. They were eatting this close the entire time. Two needy horses found each other and I mean both of them! I thought he wouldn’t leave her but SHE was stuck to him like glue! Literally had to walk them into their stalls together! Awe young misguided love lol! @ SAFE
Congratulations to River & Jenny!
We are thrilled to announce that River has been adopted! If you’ve been following his story, you know that he went into training with Andrea Lucianna at Half Trak Farm, and after a bit of a slow start while this young horse gained his confidence, he graduated from under saddle training with honors. River won a lot of hearts at Half Trak Farm, with his flashy looks and his sweet, sensible…
Ginger update
Ginger is settling in pretty well at SAFE Harbor. She’s got some things to learn, but we’re taking it slow and making good progress. She came to us with bad dermatitis along her mane and tail dock that has to be treated, so she is learning how to take a bath. We’re thankful for the recent hot weather, as this makes things more pleasant for everyone.We haven’t had any success turning her out with…
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…
