Rae

Christina provided a couple of new photos of Rae. She wrote:

Hard to pic a favorite… but I can always share more later.  Looking back at photos from the March 2024 to August 2024 clinics at SAFE it’s no wonder some folks had to ask if it was really Rae! She’s growing up FAST, but still has the sweetest face.

We have one more adventure on the books before we call it for the year, and what a year it has been!

Our Alumni team recently checked in with Rae’s adopter Christina. Here’s what Christina had to share:

I think Rae is still settling in nicely. Oddly enough, she has been stretching her “Boss Mare” muscle a bit which has been both hilarious and aggravating, depending on the day. My old girl Mocha is still the undeniable lead mare.

Currently, we are dealing with a lot of pent-up energy as we navigate a period of “time-off” due to her losing a shoe and her hooves not having enough growth for new shoes and boots are back ordered for months.

Rae is a sweetheart, we love having her around, even if she is more of a pasture pet at this current moment. She is so gentle with the nieces when they visit and love on her. We’re looking forward to scheduling a spot in one of Joel’s clinics this year.

December 2023

Check your surroundings… the holiday shenanigans may sneak up on you when you least expect it — just ask Rae!

Cute, fuzzy, Baby Rae

Our nest at SAFE is never empty — when one leaves the coop, another one (or several!) are waiting in the wings to fill their spot. But for babies born at SAFE, the empty nest syndrome is perhaps a bit more acute.

With Nova off at training, Rae was our last SAFE-born baby on the property. But like any young adult, she was ready for the next step. Rae had been to clinics both on and off property. She had ridden outside. She was gentle in so many ways. The only thing missing from her life was a forever home.

Rae and Christina

Until Christina. Christina came to see Rae while she was under saddle with Terry at an on-site clinic. She watched a full day of miss Rae, and wanted more. The second time she came to visit, it was to make proper introductions and put a ride on herself. Rae has historically not been the most motivated horse when it comes to moving out, but with Christina, her expression stayed pleasant and she got — and kept — going.

It was quite set after that. Rae’s sweet velvet head (along with the rest of her) would be going home with Christina, who would provide her a most loving home alongside new horse siblings, and some chickens.

After some work trailer loading, Rae was ready to go. The big day came, and Rae put on a brave face and loaded without too much fuss – the human who wants to anthropomorphize in me says any hesitancy in her could be attributed to the fact that she was embarking on her biggest journey yet, how could you not be a little nervous? But after some practice loads to really get her comfortable, the doors were shut behind Rae, and she was off to her new home.

Since then, Rae has been settling into life with her new family very well indeed. When the chickens clustered at her feet, she did not fuss. And when her new sister, Mocha, wanted to share a hay pile, Rae said “sure.” Our little baby, who had at times struggled to fit into a group, was now the belle of the ball.

What a lucky match Rae has made! We couldn’t be happier for our sweet girl to have found such a soft place to land amongst two and four-legged friends alike.

Our sweet, velveteen Rae is ready to find her forever home! This sweet-as-pie mare has come a long way from being baby Rae, and we are looking forward to get to share what makes her so special with adopters.

Rae is exceptionally brave, and would likely make a wonderful trail horse because of it. On her first ride outside the arena, she conquered many obstacles – puddles, bridges, cats and dogs – with barely a blink. Like a seasoned pro, she took these new experiences in stride with a can-do attitude and nary a sideways glance at things that might have startled even some of her more outdoors experienced cohorts.

She has trailered off property several times, and has participated in multiple clinics, both on and off site — a real jet setter! Even in new environments surrounded by new horses and lots of activity, Rae keeps her cool. She stands well for the vet and farrier, and is great to handle on the ground – any adopter will have to promise to give her kisses on her nose, as she loves them. She is currently in front shoes, and will need to remain shod as she is prone to tender-footedness when barefoot. Rae will also need allergy shots on a monthly basis to help with her summer itch – but don’t let this scare you, never has a horse been more compliant or gentle for her monthly pokes! 

Rae will nicker at you when you come to take her out of her stall in the morning, and plays well with other horses during turnout. She’s a big sweetheart with a lot of love to give. She looks forward to meeting potential adopters! 

There is one certainty in this life — time will pass. Sometimes like molasses (often when we are in less than pleasant situations, reclined in the dentist’s chair, or when waiting on an important phone call — the seconds slug along) but more often than not it seems that time is a train car rushing past, leaving us winded and wondering how that thing back there is now here, and now gone.

All this to say, Rae grew up in a blink.

There are those who remember her birth with the clarity of a recent memory, cutting through four years worth of time to recall the exact moments she was shepherded into this world as a dark, long-limbed creature, fantastical in her proportions as all new foals are.
And so to see her now, so well-formed and adult, it is hard to parse that she was ever that gangly little thing, who did not have a rough start herself, but did have her own trials and tribulations as a youngster. Rae was the most accident prone of her two compatriots, and ended up with various allergies and sensitivities that made her an easy target for the moniker “poor little Rae.”

But what feels like a scene from a movie where the bookish, unassuming character metamorphoses into a stunning model-esque version of herself, such was the transformation Rae underwent with the same perceived immediacy as said character removing her glasses and shaking out her ponytail (and why is their hair never tangled, by the way). One moment, Rae was an awkward baby, the least aesthetic of her kin, and the next she was a doe-eyed adult, sleek and beautiful, kissed by youth rather than kicked by it.

Her disposition is, generally speaking, as soft as the fuzz that is beginning to coat her, now that winter is fast approaching. She can have an opinion, as is perceived standard of her nature as mare, but remains more on the sweet side of the sour patch kid — sour for a blink, then full-sugar. She is the perfect horse to pamper, as she shines up like a new penny (or really, more like an oil slick with her sleek black coat). In most every aspect, Rae is pleasant to deal with — her susceptibility to itchiness means that she is a rewarding girl to scratch most of the time, but even if that was not the case, she would be a wonder to pet, soft and sweet.

Rae under saddle is working on life. Like a teenager, she wants to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it. Making something as strenuous as moving out seem like a good idea to Rae holds about the same interest as taking out the garbage most days. The end goal will be to make life, as in upward movement, as exciting as attending an ice cream social — or whatever teenagers are doing these days.

Now, all grown up, Rae is ready for the next step of her life, one featuring a forever home with someone who can watch her grow through the next chapters of her life.

Rae, who was born at SAFE in November of 2018, has blossomed into quite the nice mare! This summer she has been in regular work in preparation to meet adopters — when she’s not out grazing with her buddies Nova and Valentine, she’s in the round pen going over trot poles and learning to guide off of her rider’s leg and respond to their seat, among other things. Check out a snapshot of Rae’s movement below:

Rae is doing very well this winter. She has been a good citizen with a few new members of her turnout herd. Rae keeps “her nose clean” in the herd and is never in the middle when things get energized. She is polite when meeting new horses and over all very easy to match up with others. In the field, as the other horses ran around getting to know the new members, Rae stood on a high spot in the field and kind of watched a bit in bewilderment. I think she decided they were all acting a little too dramatic and thought it best to stay out of their way. Of course, all was settled quickly and was a great example of a fairly well-adjusted herd citizen. She’s been raised well by her fellow horses and the proof is in the fact that she has little to no anxiety around meeting and integrating with new horses.   

Rae is coming up on her 3‑year-old birthday next week, November 1. How fast does time fly! She is just transitioning from being ridden by Joel to Terry as we come into the winter months. Over the past year, she has been worked each month in which Joel visited and ridden a max of 2–5 times each visit. Coming into winter, we will work her lightly her 2–3 days a week with some time off during the holidays. She made the transition to a new rider very easily. These days Rae is much easier to ride than she is to handle on the ground, which is kind of funny. It also demonstrates how skilled Joel is working with young horses under saddle, compared to how easy it is for those of us who are still learning to perfect this horsemanship can leave braces behind and not recognize them. Rae has a bright future and we are looking forward to confirming her has a riding horse and offering her for adoption in the months ahead.

Rae recently was seen limping on her front right leg. We had our vet out to look at her and she was diagnosed with white line separation. We treated Rae four times a week with Venice Turpentine, but when out farrier came out a week or so later, she noticed a large and sensitive stone bruise in Rae’s right front hoof. With this diagnosis, we began wrapping Rae’s foot in an Epsom salt poultice duct tape boot and turning her into a stall at night. Rae handled being separated from her filly herd very well and is a quiet, well-behaved horse in her stall. She seems to be walking a lot better lately, but we’re still being very cautious!