Emily & Kat
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 assisting Barn Manager Terry Phelps in a variety of projects around the farm. Thank you Emily!
Here is a little more about volunteer Emily Olson:
I’ve been in riding horses since before I could walk. My sister and I both grew up riding and showing, mostly hunter/jumper, and my family was fortunate enough to own two horses when I was young — Annie and Phoenix. In high school, I put horseback riding on hold to pursue the sport of rowing with Sammamish Rowing Association. From SRA, I was recruited to row in college at Cornell University, where I was a four-year member of the Varsity Women’s Rowing team and I double-majored in History and Government. At Cornell, I wanted to find an activity to supplement my rowing practices and academic classes, and riding was the perfect “stress-buster” to my busy schedule. I started taking jumping and dressage lessons again through Cornell’s PE Equitation department, where I was also able to work as an instructor for the “Beginners Equitation” lessons. I enjoyed instructing other students almost as much as I enjoyed taking my own lessons. It was wonderful to see the progression the students made — from never having been on or around a horse before to cantering independently by the end of the semester.
During the fall of my senior year, I studied in Washington, D.C. and interned at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, a policy and research think tank. At the Wilson Center, I met several members of the armed forces who were concurrently working at the Center doing academic research for the military. I had never known that a military career could be combined with academic and scholarly research, but I was very intrigued, as I had always been interested in the military as a possible career path — when I was in 3rd grade I thought that I was going to go to the Naval Academy and become a fighter pilot. I spent the rest of my senior year researching careers in the military and after graduating in May I submitted my application to the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School. I am currently waiting to hear back on my OCS application, but I hope to pursue a military career in Intelligence.
I’ve been volunteering at SAFE for a little over a month now and it has been an absolute blast! I mostly help Terry with afternoon turnout, the mid-day chores, lunch feeding and exercising some of the horses. I love that while there is a routine for some things like turnout and feeding, there are always new projects to work on and every day has something new and different.
One of my favorite parts of the day at the barn is when we turn the horses out for the afternoon. A lot of the time, the horses will go running off in their paddock, kicking up their heels and tossing their manes. It’s so wonderful to see them playful and happy, like they know they’ve been given a second chance at life because of SAFE.
I decided to start volunteering at SAFE because I have always wanted to work with rescue horses. Once I found out that the Army would be taking longer to process my application than I initially anticipated, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my free time. When I was looking for rescue stables online, I found SAFE’s website and was impressed by the professional quality of the site. When I visited the SAFE stables for the first time, I saw that same professional quality reflected in not only the barn itself but also every one of the volunteers I met, and I knew SAFE was a place that could make a lasting impact on the lives of these horses.
It is so hard to play favorites with the SAFE horses because they are all so wonderful! But, if I had to pick, I’d probably say that Kai is my favorite. He is a big and tall horse, but that is such a juxtaposition to his sweet and mellow temperament. I call him my “big teddy bear” and I think he gives the best hugs of any horse in the barn.
