Blanche’s Glamour Shots
Sweet Blanche has been settling in at SAFE nicely, having a nice mellow (and quite mild!) winter. She and Dorothy love to kick up their heels in the arena together, and when she’s not hanging with her buddy, Blanche is always eager to greet you at the gate or the hay net. She really is one sweet mare. She took the time to pose for a few photos on a rare winter day, modeling how well purple looks…
Introducing Champagne and Theo!
We welcomed two new faces to our herd this week, Theo and Champagne! As they both arrived at SAFE early in January 2024, they are our little babies ‘New Year.’ The name is quite fitting, for while not technically babies, they are likely both under 4 – close enough. The two were part of a large animal control seizure in Island County, and were held in foster care for almost a year, which is why…
Artie Loves Sweet Water
What drink comes to mind when you are asked to conjure up the most refreshing, thirst-quenching beverage? Is it a gallon bucket of water with a handful of senior and a little bit of salt? No? Well you must not be a horse then! We give ‘sweet water’ to our horses in a variety of situations. When the temperatures drop, often does the horses’ desire to drink water. A warm sweet water, however, is…
Domino’s Electric Pedicure
Every 6 weeks, our horses get pedicures. They are accustomed to the nip of the clippers and the shhhk shhhk of the rasp as it passes over the growth of their hooves, trimming them down to a healthy length. Some try silly little maneuvers on occasion, pulling their feet away or refusing to rest them on the stand, which requires our kind and patient farriers to hold it between their legs. Most…
Lancelot’s Buddies
A stallion’s life is often a lonely one. Most of the time, aside from instances of unregulated group turnout, a stallion is kept apart from a herd. When we first met Lance back in May, he was separated from the other horses on the property, tucked away in a back corner with perhaps the most narrow of views to his nearest neighbors. While we were relieved he was not running free amongst the…
Roy and Mirana’s Arena Time
When we close our pastures for the winter, we switch instead to arena turnout for those horses not in a larger herd paddock. While there may not be grass to much on, the arena has its own list of pleasures, including soft dry sand and a wide open space to run amok in. Roy and Mirana met over grass last summer, and have been neighbor buddies since then (Roy’s grain-only feed situation makes it…
Playful Veronica
Horses are, for the most part, rather boring to watch most of the time (c’mon horse people, you know that objectively, it’s true). When they are not eating, be it at a hay box or with their heads dipped out on pasture, they are usually just standing around. Occasionally they will go down for a roll, or for a more extended period of time to take a little nap. But when you think of a horse in…
January Volunteer of the Month: Bill Conquergood!
Congratulations to our January Volunteer of the Month, Bill Conquergood! Bill has been sharing his time, hard work and super friendly spirit for just over a year and a half! He is an AM Chore Volunteer Extraordinaire, showing up not only weekly on the Thursday morning team, but also filling in for other shifts that are shorthanded, as he is part of our Emergency Fill-In Volunteers. We should…
2023 Q4 Impact Statement
New Horses Intake Date: October 18, 2023 Cookie (Owner Surrender) Intake Date: November 6, 2023 Dorothy (Animal Control Seizure) Blanche (Animal Control Seizure) Placed Horses Cookie Harper Gabby Pippin Euthanized Horses Tanis
Itches From Above
Nova Nova Nova, no longer a baby and, indeed, making that known. I’ve spoken before about Nova’s hormonal struggles, the willingness and sweetness that can flip on a dime to something unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. She is a horse who wants attention and affection, but whose biology fights back against it (with the occasional smattering of conscious effort, a bit of nature versus nurture…
The Saga of Harissa’s Swollen Face
Imagine, for a moment, a slightly better than worst-case scenario that might occur at a horse rescue. Your mind probably jumps to something medical, right? Nothing life-ending (that would be more on the worst-worst-case scenario side) but something dramatic enough that there are some elevated cortisol levels associated with the event. What about something like a mostly untouchable horse who…
Alumni Update: Rae
December 2023 Check your surroundings… the holiday shenanigans may sneak up on you when you least expect it — just ask Rae!
The Night Before Christmas: A SAFE Story
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the barn, not a creature was stirring, because horses do not keep the same Gregorian calendar that us humans do, and therefore are primarily governed by their biological rhythms. And actually, I take that back, they were stirring, but in the quiet way that a content horse will do. Those in stalls hang their sleepy heads out their windows, or sink…
Pippin Is Adopted!
When Pippin arrived at Sarah’s to foster back at the beginning of the year, she was a small, sickly thing. Her overall affect was flat, and despite her youth, she did not behave in the way that a young horse should. The curious, playful personality that typically accompanies youth was dampened by a rough start to her life, some underlying medical issues, and general lack of care. But to land at…
Brunch with the Gals
Ciara joined one of the mare herds recently, making new friends with Fancy, Frosting, Bijou, and Inula (who was already a known quantity to her, being her daughter and all). Ciara is a good herdmate in that she is the opposite of meddlesome. In fact, at the first sign of a potential altercation, she is removing herself immediately and with haste. She respects a leader and does not care to…
Training Update: Violet
After a relatively uneventful first ride here at SAFE, Violet has been going well under saddle for the past few months. She had been started in her youth, but because a good deal of time had passed and we knew little about what that start looked like, we took things nice and slow. Aside from some initial general misunderstandings (“what do you mean I have a hindquarters?”), and an overall lack…
Training Update: Jupiter
Getting to know Jupiter has been a pleasurable experience. Beginning his training journey here was not starting from scratch — he had some experience being saddled and ridden in the past — and while that doesn’t always mean that things will be easy (often it means the opposite) it did give us some sort of foundation to build upon. One of the first things we noticed about Jupiter was that on…
Cozy Montana
Who’s that chill guy with his head out his stall window? Could it be Montana? Indeed it could, and it is! This fuzzy, fluffy head spends the majority of its time (when not eating, of course) lazily draped outside into the barn aisle, watching the evening’s proceedings with a mostly disinterested gaze. Who could have imagined that this once completely nervous nelly would be one of the most mellow…
Autumn Beginning to Settle
If this image had a sound, it would be a ferocious snort. Even from a respectful distance, Autumn remains incredibly wary. It is clear that this girl has some serious trust issues, and while we knew she would need time, we always wish we could fast forward to the part where she has an understanding that we’re not out to get her. There have been areas of progress, to be sure. She was a picky…
Jacob on Equioxx
Handsome Jacob is, as the kids are saying these days, ‘built different.’ StayHipp.com defines this term as a description of a person or thing that is on another level. While this isn’t exactly untrue of Jacob, I meant it more in the literal, physical sense. Jacob is rather oddly put together, a little frankenstienian in his looks from certain angles. His narrow front end makes him appear to have…
Working with Barb: A Reflection
Barb is a little bay lightning bolt, electricity on four fuzzy legs. I see Barb every day, but it was not until spending a few concentrated hours with her over the course of a few days that I was reminded how much personality lives in that petite body. Some might call a horse like Barb silly (on a good day) or frustrating (on a bad one), but the truth of it is that singular adjectives do not do…
Poppy for Adoption
If Poppy arrived at SAFE as a flower, it was as the first little green tendrils that come poking up through the dirt. Poppy was the shy little shadow to her near-twin Moshi, evasive about being caught and touchy about being handled. She had a bit more trouble to work through than the majority of her Graham counterparts, and unlike a fair number of them, had no experience under saddle. But like…
Arrow Thrives at Foster
Over the hill and through the woods, Arrow is living his very best life at his foster home. He has a vista of rolling hills to look out at from where his shelter sits, friends to share his hay with, and plenty of cozy places to nap in. Nap time is a sacred time for Arrow, who is often spotted having a lie down when not participating in his other daily horsey activities. Recently, in an effort to…
Dorothy’s Family Tree
Dorothy has no white markings. Her coat is comprised of a spectrum of browns, ones that Pantone labels as ‘shaved chocolate’ and ‘molé’ and ‘ganache’ — rich, chocolatey adjectives. However, if you were to curl up her top lip, you would find the mark that humans have left on Dorothy, a faded, blown-out tattoo that identifies her as a race horse. The legibility of thoroughbred tattoos varies. In…
December Volunteer of the Month: Kirsten Lints
Congratulations to our December Volunteer of the Month, Kirsten Lints! Kirsten has been sharing her time, hard work and love with our horses for almost 3 years now! She started on a morning chore shift and moved into the role of Friday Barn Assist. As well, Kirsten is part of the horsemanship team, where she dedicates many hours to not only helping horses like Bandit, but showing up with an…
Cookie and Harper are Adopted!
A big happy ending for two little horses — minis Cookie and Harper have been adopted! Since early April, these two mares were in holding with us for Island County Animal Control at our dear friend and foster Sarah’s place, where they got back on their feet, so to speak. When they finally became ‘ours’ officially, following the closure of their case, they were more than ready to meet their…
Harissa’s Progress
For us, it begins in a muddy field. Harissa stands with her herd, four mares total, perhaps aunts or cousins or sisters, bound if not by blood then by the unfortunate nature of their circumstances. They squelch through the muck as they approach us, curious, wary. While some can be haltered, none allow themselves to be led, and we must usher them to the trailer loose, a 16-legged unit…
Alumni Update: Henry (James)
James over the past month. He’s been making some friends at the barn.
Alumni Update: Rae
From Christina: Rae says pre-dinner/post-ride snacks hit different on these chilly fall days (especially when your friends aren’t invited to the buffet and are jealously thundering around their paddock!)
Guard Pony Lacey
Trudy, our wonderful Saturday barn staff, recounts an interaction that she and our sweet (and brave!) little Lacey had recently: “It’s arena turnout season… Where some of our sweetest pairs of horses get time playing together in the squishy sand footing. They get a chance to roll, frolic, and stretch out in bursts of free cantering. This is needed, because a fair handful of our grass paddocks…
