So much has been happening at SAFE! We had a busy week after we found out, with less than a week’s notice, that the KCTS‑9 show “From Stable to Table”, featuring Bucky B Lucky, was going to air on Friday night. We had a mad scramble to put together some viewing parties — we had one in Monroe at the Fire Station, one at a barn in Auburn, and Bonnie held a small private one for some of her horse friends in Silverdale. We had quite a few people show up, enjoy some free food, had a couple of raffle giveaways at the Monroe event, and great discussion. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the show. One of the things that was missing from the show was any mention of solutions to the problem of horse slaughter. It is somewhat ironic that Ron Mariotti, owner of the Enumclaw Sales Pavillion, hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that overbreeding was the core of the problem. We just happen to disagree vehemently that slaughter is a humane solution to irresponsible breeding and a careless, throw-away society.
In other news, Corona is doing great! His bloodwork was rechecked and his muscle enzymes which had been elevated previously are now normal, allowing him to be given some bute this week which has surely made him feel more comfortable. He continues to be a very tolerant, good boy for his twice-daily cleanings and she thinks that in another couple of weeks he will be healed enough to return to SAFE and just focus on gaining weight and improving the condition of his feet.
Tia is doing ok.…she continues to be happiest in her stall and gets nervous outside of her stall. Dr. Hannah did a brief dental exam on her and most of her teeth are at the gumline so there isn’t much to be done, a few corners that could be rounded and she thinks she can do it in 5 minutes without sedation. Her left eye is responding well to medication and seems to be bothering her less. However, I am sad to say that it is likely that we may be facing a decision to put Tia down soon. Living in a stall is no kind of life, and Dr. Hannah feels that in addition to the blindness she is suffering from some kind of dementia. She is well over 30 years old, so while making this decision is sad, I feel comfort knowing that we have given Tia several months of good care with lots of love and attention. I hope that at some point in her life she has received that before…and I suspect that she did. She seems like a horse that has known love and human kindness before, and I take comfort from that as well.
I am thrilled to announce that Lexi’s adoption has been approved! She will be leaving for her new home this weekend! Congratulations to Cindy G. of Brier, WA on her adoption of Lexi!!
This will be another whirlwind weekend at SAFE. Today, I will be picking up Deeds at his foster home and he will be coming back to our main facility. Tomorrow, we have a potential adopter coming to take a lesson on Baxter, who returned from training on Thursday. We also have a potential adopter going to look at Delilah on Monday and a potential adopter going to see Sinatra as well! So hopefully we will be reporting some pending adoptions soon!
Last but not least, Nadia has gone into training! Our trainer picked her up from the foster home on Thursday night. She reports that Nadia looks great and that Judy, her foster mom, did a great job getting weight on her. She worked with her a little bit yesterday, Nadia was very nervous so they just did a grooming session with her and are giving her a little time to adjust to her new surroundings. Hopefully I will get some pictures soon.
We are hearing word of a neglect situation involving ~30 Thoroughbreds here in Snohomish County. We are bracing to potentially help with the situation if asked to. If you think you might be able to offer a foster home, please let us know!
