Oynx, a kill pen rescue, What an awesome horse you've become!

Onyx arrived at Safe Haven Horse Rescue in May of 2008! He is just a baby, about 2 in this picture. The white spot on his flank is his hair, but the little white spot on the top of his butt is a sticker with his number on it from the kill pen, he was rescued from!

As you can see, Onyx has grown! He is pictured here with his Adopted Dad, Dave! They have built a beautiful Bond of Love & Trust between them. If memory serves me correctly this was taken last year or year & a half ago! The following pictures I took yesterday!

Look at this big boy now!!!! He is really getting gray! He still has the white spot on his flank, & he has added many many spots all over him!!!

Gosh! Isn't he cute? He's a very quiet guy & is curious about everything!!!! The next picture has a big surprise!!!!!

Look who's broke to ride!!!!!! Dave rode him for quite awhile in the arena yesterday & they both did very well! So that little scared fuzzy baby from the kill pen has had some very key people in his life to get him to where is today! Thank you's go out to; Shirley Puga & her wonderful network of people who helped to save Onyx from the kill pens & transport him to Safe Haven Horse Rescue, Linda Richards of Safe Haven Horse Rescue who made room for Onyx to come in & Ashley Ewing in Corning Ca., who is an awesome Trainer, & Dave who gave his heart, time, & patience to the small little guy way back when & to the fine young horse we see here today!!!!!   You all ROCK!!!   Onyx asked me to tell you; THANK YOU & GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

Bye for now,
Linda C.

Autumn, a kill pen rescue's day last Saturday!

Autumn's day started out with some awesome scratches from Safe Haven's Volunteer, Diane! They are both enjoying the experience.

After the attention from Diane, Autumn was ready for a run in the arena, so Safe Haven's Volunteer, Cindi took over. Autumn definitely liked the romp!

Well, she did Very Good while Cindi put the saddle on her, no bucks, no pulling, no tantrums! SWEET!

Cindi worked Autumn in the round pen for awhile & she did good at that too! We're getting excited now! We are wondering; just how much does this mare really know!

OK, let's try a bridle on her.

The bridle wasn't as easy as the saddle to put on Autumn, as you can see, Cindi could use to be a bit taller!

Cindi was persistent & patient & got the bridle on Autumn! She wasn't too impressed with the bridle, but tolerated it good enough. That's quite the face she's making!!!

Autumn had her lesson & back to her pen, or comfort zone she goes! Cindi has done a lot of working with this mare, & now that we know she is NOT having a baby, Cindi is planning on working her a lot more! She will be up for Adoption one of these days! She is very pretty & is very sweet! There's a special someone out there for this mare, could it possibly be YOU? Come on out to Safe Haven & meet her!

Hope to see you soon, Bye for now, Linda C.

That's a big bunch of dirty horse blankets!

Safe Haven's volunteer, Susan B. has a friend with a new business of laundering horse blankets!!! She is going to clean all of the winter blankets! Wow, we hope she doesn't get 'overwhelmed' when she sees this load!!!! So a big Thank You goes out to Susan B. & her friend!  OVER THE TOP, is giving Safe Haven a discount on all those blankets! So if you need your blankets washed, be sure to take them there & Thank her for helping to take care of the Horses, after all Safe Haven is all about ; FOR THE LOVE OF HORSES!
'OVER THE TOP".
Services: WALK: Basic wash and dry. $12.50. TROT: Wash & Dry with minor repairs. Some sewing. $15.00.CANTER: Wash & Dry, buckle replacement.snaps, some sewing/patches. GALLOP: "THE WORKS' Darn that horse, but the blanket fits so well. Will call with estimates. Call 530-356-5260

Kookie Cokie & Silly Billy

Meet Cokie, she's in her later teens, if not twenty-some by now, she has been at Safe Haven Horse Rescue for a long time. Cokie came from a very nice lady in the area who wanted Cokie to go somewhere SAFE! Cokie is a one-eyed mare, that we think has been very abused in the past. No one really knows how she lost her eye. Trimming her feet, calls for a Vet & lot's of tranquilizer!

We call her Kookie Cokie because......she can be very unpredictable! She will be all loving one day & then totally the opposite the next! If she's in a 'loving mood' she will Hug You UP! She pulls you into her chest & hugs you to her with her head! It can get a little scary let me tell ya!  When she's in her other mood & you give her 'scratches' she will squeal & stomp her front foot & swish her tail something fierce! Linda R. mostly handles Cokie, Thank God!

OK, here comes Silly Billy! When it is feeding time, Billy is a tongue chewing, foam dripping machine! We keep his neighbors feed boxes away from his side of the fence so they don't get drooled on! It is quite amazing actually! Bonnie is his 'handler' cuz he has issues also! When he is in his pen & ALL his neighbors are in theirs, he is just fine & quite gentle. But out of his comfort zone is a whole 'nother story!

Look at Bonnie's body language! It is all she can do to hold him back & keep him in the direction she wants him to go! Yes, that is a stud chain on him & he is still a hand full. He  just gets so 'out of it' when he's out of his 'comfort zone'.

OK, the reason for pairing these two up, is so we can watch & see if they will get along together, & if they do they will be put up on the back pasture. Bonnie has the Cody, the farrier, put front shoes on Billy, & so they will be in this front pen until Cody can come & pull his shoes & trim his feet.  Well, they are in the pen, Cokie stayed close to Linda R. but Billy is off & 'calling' & he went that way..........

Then he went this way...................

& then he went that way! He was all over that pen! Hollering the entire time!

He is quite vocal. He has a sad story too. Billy was boarded down south somewhere & his owner died. The family could not afford to pay the board, so.... the facility Stopped Feeding Him! The Daughter contacted Linda & Safe Haven rushed him in! He was pretty skinny when he arrived. He stole Bonnie's heart right off the bat, & when she looked up his tattoo & found out his registered name is Bonnie's Ole Boy, she was 'toast'! As we got to know Billy, it wasn't very long until we knew he has some Big Issues! I won't even go into what he does to Cody! Billy went to the Vet for blood work, teeth floating etc.......& we came home with psych drugs for him!!!!! OY VEY! Bonnie now buys supplements for him every month, one for his hooves & 2 Moody Mare!! that he gets in his grain at night!

Well, these two did settle down & we decided they would be able to go up on the back pasture & graze to their hearts content! Yeah, a nice change for them! They have been up there for a week or so now & all is well, & Miss 'Pepper' Ann has joined in the mix as she & Cokie  are quite close. Safe Haven Horse Rescue is a No Kill Shelter. We go on the Quality of Life as far as when to put a horse down. These two are a Prime Examples, just because they are Not adoptable or can be used in lessons, they are still healthy & happy & deserve to Live! They both do take treats quite nicely, so come on out & bring them a carrot! Just hand it to them from Over the fence!!!!!!  Hope to see you all soon, Linda C.