Millie

Mille lives a happy life as the “queen” of her pasture!  Although she is not being ridden, she is able to go on trail rides being ponied behind her pasture mate. She does very well on trails, even when they encounter bicycles, hikers, and other horses. We are so happy to hear Millie is living a great life surrounded by friends and adventures

Seriously, no one saw this coming! Miss Millie is adopted! 

Hollie contacted SAFE looking for a companion for her mare Maddie, who has some hearing loss. Maddie was all alone and needed a friend to help her feel relaxed and content. Millie was perfect! She had proven to SAFE, many times, that she simply loves every horse she has ever met. 

Hollie came to meet Millie the weekend we had our friend Joel Conner visiting and helping put the first rides on her. Being an older start and a very sensitive mare, SAFE’s volunteers had spent a lot of time preparing her for her first ride. Joel was amazing with her and it was great for Hollie to see how he supported her through her anxiety. I literally teared up seeing this dear mare who was so afraid of people when we first met, accepting a rider and finding comfort in the experience. But there are some hard truths about an older sensitive mare getting started. We knew that it would take many months of patient consistent training to help her fully turn loose to the experience of being a riding horse. We also knew that Millie has a TON of value just as she is now: a sweet affectionate mare who now turns to her human and seeks comfort when she is anxious. A true transformation, and a testament to the horsemanship foundation she received at SAFE. 

Horses don’t have to become riding horses to leave SAFE. Knowing that Millie has the training and is easy to handle protects her future. We also known that she will be cared and loved by Hollie and her family is more than enough. We are so thrilled that Millie and Maddie are fast friends — together they will have a very happy life! We will miss your kind eyes, Millie, and we are better for have known you. Thank you for trusting us to become your friends and allowing us to watch you blossom into the beautiful mare you are today.

Back in March, The Limelight Pet Project featured Millie in a spotlighted video, and we wanted to share the full story of Millie’s transformation, as told by Terry. (You can see the Q13 news segment here.) Lovely little Millie is looking for adopters to show her the next steps in training. If you think you may be a match for her, fill out an application!

Thanks to The Limelight Pet Project and Dirtie Dog Photography for visiting SAFE and sharing this video.

thank you to Dirtie Dog Photography for these gorgeous photos!

Millie has been doing great! She was worked in the Horsemanship clinic at the beginning of November and was a star. Joel used her in a round pen “join up” demonstration and showed how to help her be more accepting of the rope. Very simply put, he would swing the rope then walk backwards to take off the pressure. When she looked at him, he would stop swinging and release. This way she learned that by joining up and bringing her attention onto the person, the thing that worried her went away. She gained a lot of confidence from this exercise. 

During the clinic, Joel also helped us saddle Millie for the first time. The preparation work helped her accept this pretty well, but once the stirrups started moving, they worried her and she tried a few times to kick at them. We helped support her by putting the rope around her to let her get up and going but then help her come back down and not continue to be upset. This worked very well and she got better each day!

There is a ton of things we can get done over the fall and winter to help her preparation for a first ride. She’s made great progress in other areas such as learning to stand tied and coming into a stall at night. Our little frightened mare has already come so far. She is available now as a companion and we hope to make her available as a riding horse next spring.