Cooper

Cooper came to SAFE at a time when every human in his life had failed him. As we uncovered his past, we learned how unfortunate his early interactions with people had been. Likely around two years old, he was wild-caught off the Yakima Reservation and pushed into the auction pipeline. A family with no horse experience purchased him at a local auction, but they were unable to handle him. From his reactions with us, it’s clear they tried, failed, and unintentionally taught him that he can run or fight his way out of getting caught.

We understand the challenges of gentling horses. Of all the skills in horsemanship, it may be the most demanding and takes a tremendous amount of experience. It lays the foundation for a horse’s entire future with humans. Even in the toughest cases, including Autumn’s, we were able to make first contact on day one and get a halter on. It wasn’t easy, and some needed repeated introductions, but within a day or two, we could approach them freely. Though they weren’t truly gentle yet—that takes months—the first touch was achieved.

Cooper, however, has told us every day for 17 weeks that he does not want to be touched. With years of dedicated effort, we might be able to halter him. But even then, we question whether he would ever reliably accept vet or farrier care. To complicate things further, Cooper is not completely sound, and we’ve witnessed recurring lameness that we are unable to diagnose or treat. And if a serious illness or injury were to happen to him, helping him would be exceedingly difficult since he can’t be caught or held.

Cooper is a horse that may never be safe around humans. This puts us in one of the most difficult positions in rescue. As a small urban organization, our mission is clear: to rescue, rehabilitate, and retrain horses facing neglect or abuse and provide them with the best opportunity for a permanent home and a lifetime of safety. We love every horse that comes through our doors and give them as much time as they need to heal and prepare for a new life. But with a capacity of only 30 horses, every adoption makes space for another life in need.

Our role is not just to house and feed the horses who come under our care but to ensure they are safe to handle. We work hard to match companion and riding horses with the right families, giving them the best chance at a successful future. And while SAFE provides a safe place for troubled horses, their success outside our environment is never guaranteed.  Gentling Cooper will take years, and the chances of finding an adopter with the skill and patience to take him on are slim.  Most adopters seek safe, well-mannered horses. Placing even moderately challenging horses is difficult—Cooper’s prospects are far more uncertain. Even among experienced homes, few are equipped to take on a horse with such deep-seated fear.

Over the past four months, Cooper has made some small steps forward. He now allows us to enter his paddock twice a day for cleaning and doesn’t react as much when we feed him over the fence. As long as he can keep his distance, he tolerates our presence. However, any added pressure or attempt at confinement quickly escalates his fear response. He has not shown aggression, but we have been very careful not to put him in a position where he feels forced to fight. For safety reasons, only staff and experienced volunteers work around him, and we take every precaution to limit risk.

SAFE is simply not equipped to provide lifelong sanctuary for a wild horse like him. While we do everything we can to meet his needs, his life here is isolated and, frankly, sad. Cooper needs a different path.

Our commitment remains the same: to do the best we can for each of our horses, while placing them into permanent homes to make room for other horses who need our help. We are actively seeking a sanctuary that can provide Cooper—a wild, untouched stallion—the opportunity to live safely without human interaction. If needed, we have the means to sedate and geld him before transport to facilitate his transition. But our efforts thus far to find a sanctuary have not been successful. The ones we’ve worked with in the past are regretfully too full to accept a new horse. We are trying not to get discouraged, but it is difficult.

The reality is that not all wild-caught, troubled horses can find sanctuary. In some cases, euthanasia is the most humane option. It is never the ending we hope for, but it can be an act of kindness in a world that does not always have a safe place for a deeply troubled horse like Cooper.

We’re just getting to know Cooper and working to assess his personality as we prepare him for halter training. Upon arrival at SAFE, he showed signs of soreness, and unfortunately, he seems to have a soundness issue. Because he isn’t halter-trained yet, we haven’t been able to conduct a full veterinary exam. However, we’ve consulted with veterinarians and agreed that our first step is to slowly introduce haltering, allowing us to offer him better care as he begins to accept handling. Some of his soreness might improve as he gains strength, and we may also consider corrective shoeing if needed. For now, he’s receiving Equioxx to help alleviate discomfort, though it doesn’t completely resolve the issue.

Managing an untouchable stallion presents unique challenges. Cooper was visibly agitated in his new environment, calling and pacing whenever he saw or heard other horses. This behavior has lessened, but he still moves frequently, especially when other horses are nearby. Some of his soreness could be due to this increased movement, on top of what we suspect may be a pre-existing issue that may have been aggravated during his “romp” around his neighborhood before intake.

Currently, we’re observing him daily, taking note of his movement patterns, comfort levels, and how he appears after any activity. Each day, we assess his baseline soundness and recovery time, all while working patiently to build his comfort with haltering. Although he’s shown no signs of aggression, Cooper’s natural instinct is to retreat from people, which is not unusual for horses unfamiliar with handling. We’re careful to respect his space and avoid putting him in situations where he feels cornered, aiming to build his trust gradually. With each step, we increase our approach only to the extent he can manage, helping him relax and find calm in our presence.

Over the past three weeks, Cooper’s comfort level has grown significantly. Initially, he was only comfortable with us at a distance across the 60-foot round pen, but now we can approach within inches. He’s even reached out and touched my hand a few times, though he still startles afterward. He’s learning that contact with people doesn’t harm him. We suspect he may have previously learned that he could avoid people, especially on his right side—the side where someone may have once tried to halter him. Despite this resistance, we’re committed to starting from where he is and building trust step by step.

It’s clear that Cooper’s journey with us won’t be quick or easy. His situation underscores the importance of halter training and gelding as fundamental aspects of responsible horse ownership. Stallions and untouchable horses pose risks to both people and themselves when they are left without training. But if you’re reading this, you probably already understand why this work is so important. Thank you for supporting Cooper’s journey to a better life

About two weeks back, a couple in the Maple Valley area awoke in the middle of the night to find that there was a loose horse in their yard, sidled up to the pen beside their own horses. In the morning, they took to local Facebook pages, “is this your horse?” Though his body was in decent condition, his long tangled mane and standoffishness told a story of a horse who was reluctant to be caught. His owner, when he called us seeking help, expounded upon what we could already assume from the photo.

This is Cooper, our newest SAFE horse. Around two years ago, he was picked up from the auction as a two year old, before which he’d been living out on the Yakama Reservation as a wild horse. Recently, he had begun challenging the fencing where he lived, which is how he found himself in his most recent predicament. His owner was in over his head — an untouched stallion (did we mention he was a stallion?) who was now escaping is a lot to manage, even for those with experience. Though there were some who expressed interest in taking him, there was no true follow through, and he needed a place to land, stat.

So we loaded the panels on our stock trailer and took a Sunday morning drive down south. He had been corralled into a round pen on the neighbor’s property, and had a curious brightness about him as we began building a chute and running through how ushering him into the trailer would go. Turns out, very well. This is a soft and sensitive guy, and it took us longer to talk about the ‘what-ifs’ and worst case scenarios than it did to load him. Back to SAFE we went, a new horse in tow. He unloaded just as easily into our covered round pen, with high immobile walls. Not to say that one couldn’t escape it, but it would be quite feat to do so. And so far, so good.

The excitement of all the horses (mares! mares!) had Cooper worked up into quite a tizzy the first few days. Calling, pacing, overstimulated by all of the excitement. But he has since begun to settle into the motions and routines here. Also, despite his testosterone and the wide berth we are giving it (and him), he has yet to show us any signs that he is dangerous. If anything, he seems curious.

We look forward to continuing to get to know him, and getting a halter on him sooner rather than later. We can’t wait for Cooper to start the second part of his life here as a gelding — and all of the wonderful opportunities that will open for him. Welcome, Cooper, to SAFE.