Winter
2014 Azteca/Lusitano Mare
Type of Rescue: Owner Surrender
Intake Date: 5/24/2024
Date Deceased: 2/20/2025
Length of Time with SAFE: 10 months
Winter came to SAFE as an owner surrender. She had a history of being handled when her people first got her, but a number of years had passed, and she had become reluctant to be caught. As a result, she was behind on vet and farrier care, the latter being the most immediately apparent. In addition, Winter was severely overweight and in need of a diet, something that certainly wasn’t helping the splayed out condition of her hooves.
During her time at SAFE, Winter came a long way in terms of being gentled. She had her feet seen to regularly, returned to a healthy weight, and made many friends, both human and horse. Sadly, we lost winter in late February to an impaction colic. Winter was a joy to know and to be around, and her memory will live on with us all.
Rest in Peace, Winter
These are the posts that we never want to write. It is with deep sadness that we inform you that we lost Winter to a colic last week.
During her time here at SAFE, Winter made good friends — both human and horse. She gained a great deal of confidence in herself, bravely facing many new obstacles alongside her human companions. She enjoyed naps in the sunshine, romps in the outdoor arena, and a warm Sweet Water on a cold day. Winter came to enjoy grooming sessions, and stood very well for the farrier. Despite not feeling her best at the end, she remained brave and kind, allowing us to try to help her up until the point where there was nothing else we could do but to help her pass on.
Winter was a soft, sensitive soul who had a tremendous amount of depth, and who knew a massive amount of love during her time on earth. She will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.
It started on a Sunday night, when Winter showed disinterest in her night check hay. Administering Banamine perked her up, and restored her appetite somewhat, but even on the Banamine, she was not quite herself. While she had some interest in food, it was minimal, and she was not wanting to drink much (not even sweet waters) nor was she passing much manure. But she didn’t seem to be in pain or distress. Even her heart rate, which can be an indicator of pain when elevated, remained normal. On Tuesday, when she was still not better, she was seen by our vets, who thought she might be having a sand colic, and instructed us to treat her with psyllium to help pass the sand and keep on with the Banamine. For the next two days, Winter would perk up a little from time to time, sometimes eating a little of what was offered. While she was calm, there was clearly something amiss, and we continued to be troubled by how little manure she was producing.
On Thursday, our vet did a rectal exam and was able to feel an impaction, which was essentially a blockage in her system .She was tubed with fluids containing electrolytes for hydration as well as psyllium for the sand, and the plan was to continue doing this daily until the impaction passed.
Winter remained mostly the same for the remainder of the day, and had her evening dose of Banamine, which had been keeping her comfortable throughout the night earlier in the week. But by night check, she had started showing signs of greater discomfort. While our vet had told us that some increased discomfort was to be expected as the impaction began to break up, what followed was abnormal. Her heart rate was elevated, she was pawing, and she had no interest in food. Soon after, she was trembling all over and breathing quickly and audibly through her nostrils. When the vet arrived, she had spiked a fever and her heart rate was even higher. This was a very bad sign. She began sweating profusely. A quick blood test revealed a spike in lactic acid, and an ultrasound showed that Winter had fluid entering her abdominal cavity. At that point, there was nothing that could be done for her, except to set her free from her pain. She passed very quickly, and almost seemed relieved that it was over.
Prior to the vet’s arrival, Winter’s dear friend Lise, along with Bonnie, spent time comforting her with petting, light brushing, and soft words. Up until the very end, despite her pain, she was a good girl. She was very brave, and very sweet.
Winter.…you leave a huge hole in our hearts and you will be missed terribly. But you will never be forgotten. Rest in peace and fly free, sister golden hair. Much love to you.
Winter’s Workout
October Joel Conner Clinic Report: Winter
Paige N has been spending some time working with Winter, and has the following to say about their time spent together over the last two Joel Conner clinics:
“Over the past two Joel Conner Clinics Winter has made phenomenal progress both mentally and physically. Winter is such a sweet horse that has a tough time trusting the outside world.
I am working with Winter on making sure she knows she is protected from the scary outside by giving her the confidence to move her feet freely in any direction at any time. This helps Winter from always having to keep her walls up and allows her to let go. Winter has started to become so soft on the halter rope and has so much try! Over the past two clinics Joel has helped me help Winter gain confidence with the flag, especially in her blind spots. I practice using the flag all over Winter’s body both stationary and in movement. Winter had a huge breakthrough when Joel sat on top of the round pen panels with a flag and I asked Winter to go in between me, on the ground, and Joel, on the panels, with a little bit of pressure from the flag. She was very nervous at first and quickly started to relax into the exercise and became very comfortable moving through the confined space freely. Winter is not a horse that shows a lot of outward emotion and likes to bottle everything up, however, during this exercise, she finally felt comfortable letting it all out and was licking and chewing constantly and her body completely softened.
Winter and I also had the opportunity to join a group groundwork class in the covered arena with multiple other horses. Despite the increase of energy around her, it did not take very long for Winter to relax and let down in the group setting. Winter and I got to practice the half circle exercise and really focus on shifting her weight back and freeing up her feet. This exercise provides Winter with a lot of confidence and it is so much fun to watch her soften and relax both mentally and physically.”
Barbie Dream Horse
Barbie’s Dream Horse was named Prancer, and technically she was cremello. But it’s hard not to look at these beautiful pictures of Winter and not conjure up images of the toy you’d bring to show and tell. If one thing is true about Winter, it’s that she is calorically dense eye candy.
Winter is seeing big changes here at SAFE too. After learning the basic ropes, she is now getting more experiences with volunteers of various skill levels, acting as both teacher and student, and growing more gentle by the day because of it. She is still getting accustomed to it all, but she is learning to be caught by more people with different feels, and in a big field at that! She also has her little herd of mares (Tiva and Wren) who she is very protective over.
It has been great to see Winter let down a little, and in the coming weeks and months we are looking forward to watching her come into herself even more! But in the meantime we will oo and ahh each time we see her, because this is one beautiful mare!
Winter and Wren, Sitting in a Tree
Hoof Handling Progression with Winter
The journey of 1,000 instances of picking your hooves up for the farrier begins with a single lift. There was a time in Winter’s life when she had seen the farrier for hoof care, but it had been a number of years, so high on the priority list for her was getting those hooves tended to. Luckily for us, Winter is a supremely intelligent lady, and after overcoming her initial hesitations, was amenable to having her legs (front, that is) pet and her hooves lifted. At her first vet appointment we were able to have her seen by the farrier in addition, where she allowed for a good chunk of her toe to get lopped off. But with overgrowth like hers, it would take time for her hooves to come around. Luckily, we were able to have our farriers out several more times in quick succession, which allowed us to make good progress on the rehab of her hooves. At her most recent visit, she was able to have her hinds trimmed as well – the first of many times to come!
Haltering Progression with Winter
Winter had lived for a number of years out on pasture without being caught. She remained curious of humans, but wary of their intentions, especially when it came to anyone handling her in a way that wasn’t on her terms. We were able to get a breakaway halter on Winter before she exited the trailer at SAFE, but it was clear that it would take patience and time before she was ready to let just anyone catch her. But day by day she grew more accustomed to pets on the face, and being ‘caught’ over the breakaway. It wasn’t too long before the breakaway could come off entirely and she was allowing herself to be haltered. Just in time to make the move to a new paddock!
Taking Care of Winter
A little less than two weeks after she arrived at SAFE, Winter met with the vet and the farrier for the first time in years. When we’d first booked the appointments for her, we did so tentatively, unsure if she would be far enough along in her handling to be seen to. But Winter is a tremendously bright mare, and over the course of the week following her arrival, made huge strides. Each day, multiple times a day, Terry would go out to catch her, and each day it became a bit easier. She remains a ways off from being truly halter broke or letting just anyone catch her, but her forward progress has been exponential.
As part of her daily handling, Winter was also learning to take oral meds. Thanks to our good friend applesauce, Winter learned that not everything that comes out of a syringe has to be yucky. With this lesson, we were able to deworm Winter, and, on the vet day in question, help get her in a more relaxed frame of mind with a bit of dorm gel. She was nice and relaxed when the vet truck arrived, and while she was still highly aware of the people around her, she let the vet listen to her heart and give her a once over — not to mention some pets.
She wasn’t quite ready to walk into the barn for her appointment, but thankfully our vets at Rainland are flexible, and were willing to come to her for the float. She sedated well, and with the help of some earplugs and a slow start, we were able to get her teeth back in their best working order. She had developed quite severe sharp points that were causing some ulcerations in her mouth, so with those taken care of now, she is surely feeling a lot better during mealtimes. During this appointment we were also able to vaccinate Winter, draw blood to check her insulin and thyroid levels (both in normal range), and insert a microchip.
But that’s not all – we were also able to coordinate it so that our farrier was able to arrive concurrently with our vet. The two chatted about the best plan for Winter’s hooves, and following the completion of her vet checklist, Winter had her first hoof trim in a long time. Just the fronts for now, as she is still uncertain about being touched anywhere behind her mid-back, but that is where the most work was needed. It will take a while before Winter’s hooves fully come around, but this was a great and very crucial start.
These two routine appointments mark the first of many to come now over the course of Winter’s life. One thing is for sure, the future looks bright for this smart mare!
Winter in the Springtime
Winter came to SAFE in the springtime, though a recent onslaught of gloomy, rainy, chill in the forecast does conjure more January than June. That’s Washington for you. But Winter herself isn’t exactly wintry – pairing a horse coat color up with a season would certainly land palomino with summertime, yeah? She is all sandy-coat and bleach-blonde tresses, and even has a little dollop-of-sunscreen star on her forehead.
Winter is approximately ten. When her owner’s first got her, around five years back, she was handled for the vet and the farrier several times. But that handling fell away, and soon enough Winter had learned that being caught was not a mandatory activity if she did not make it one. Any horse owner knows the occasional challenge of going to retrieve your horse from a field, even when it is accustomed to being retrieved. But have a horse who gets away enough times and it becomes an almost impossibility. Winter remained gentle enough to take treats from a hand and follow people in close quarters, but a halter was no longer in the question.
Because of her inability to be caught, Winter was also unable to receive basic care. Notably, her hooves hadn’t seen a farrier’s rasp in some time, and she had developed a pretty severe slipper toe. In addition to her feet, Winter was also in need of a diet. We see a lot of skinny horses come through our gates, but a more rare, but no less worrisome body condition, is the one on the opposite side of the spectrum. On a one to nine scale of body condition scoring, Winter is firmly planted as close to ten as one can get.
So how does an unhalterable mare like Winter get to SAFE in the first place? The first step was building a chute to the trailer and using a line of people as a visual barrier to help guide her in the right direction. Once in the panel chute, we were able to slowly close in the boundaries until it was just a small area between her and the trailer. Then, it was just about waiting for Winter to realize that the direction of the trailer was a peaceful spot, and everywhere else was a little more work. She is a very smart mare, and it did not take her long at all to realize that the easiest option was to get into the trailer, and with just a little bit encouragement in the right direction, she was on.
In the trailer we were able to get a breakaway halter on her, which has put her on a much faster trajectory towards reminding her of her domesticity. We want to get those feet looked at as soon as possible by our vets and farrier, so getting Winter to the point where that is possible is of high priority. But she has already begun to settle in here, showing herself to be an inquisitive lady. Next door to the area where she is living, Sunny and Shasta are her neighbors and friends, our little ambassadors for both horse and human. Winter had goats where she was living, and their passing was just another motivating factor to get her into a place where she could not only get the care she needed, but be around other horses.
Welcome to SAFE, Winter! We sure are happy to have you.
Take a look at the loading process, and Winter’s first steps into her new life at SAFE below.
