Lakota. a new arrival at the Rescue!

Meet Lakota! He is an Appy, T/B, & Belgian cross. He is about 7/8 years old & is a rescue from the PMU industry!! Lakota has been boarded at a facility in Red Bluff, Ca. for the last 6 years! His owner had high hopes of getting him transported back East, where she is currently living, but due to health reasons beyond her control, she had to face the fact, that dream could no longer happen for the two of them. She contacted Safe Haven to ask us to take him, so the boarding facility did not take him to the Auction, as she could no longer afford his board!  Linda & Volunteer Jamie loaded up the trailer & off they went to get him & Ta-dah.........here he is in a pen at Safe Haven! Linda Richards is showing me that he is a little scared & standoffish, but we know that he will come around after a couple of weeks at the Rescue, while 'we do what we do!'

See...he is all ready being So Brave! Lakota came over to me to have a close-up pic taken! What a handsome guy, he is! He is all fuzzy with his winter coat, so he looks all white but Guess what! He has little black spots all over him!!!! I am so looking forward to Spring to see what he will shed out to be!!!! Be assured that will be a Blog!!!!! This was on a Thursday......wait till Saturday big guy, & you will meet....Bonnie!

Yep, it is Saturday & Bonnie wasn't at the rescue for very long before she had Lakota in the round pen for a meet & greet! She worked him in the pen for awhile to see what he could do, when she was happy with the results, she decided it was time for a little brushing! Lakota is checking out the brush & he is a little worried, but again is being so brave!

Lakota is not too sure about this brushing business as his ears &  facial expression shows! Bonnie kept brushing, & Lakota decided.....................................

I LIKE IT!!!! Look at that face & ears now! What a handsome handsome guy you are!!!! Lakota will be allowed to settle in at Safe Haven for a couple of weeks, (our standard procedure) & then we will have had time to assess him & will then let you all know, what kind of Home would be best suited for this big Guy! Stay tuned for the up-dates on Lakota & all the other horses at Safe Haven Horse Rescue!  

Bye for now,
Linda C.

Cori & Sam riding in the arena.

Last Saturday at Safe Haven Horse Rescue, Volunteers Cori & Daughter Samantha went for a ride on two of their favs! Cori is riding Cowboy, a nice old gelding that was a personal rescue for Cori. She saw him on the way home every day & when she saw he was Not eating but standing in the corner of the Pasture, wasting away to nothing, she stepped up to the plate & looked up the landowner! Of course he swore the horse was Not his, & offered to shoot him right then & there or at least by days end!, so Cori squelched that idea & began to feed Cowboy herself twice a day, until there was room for him at Safe Haven! Good job Cori! Cowboy is no longer depressed & is finding he is quite Loved!

Samantha is riding Zebi, a little 1/2 Curly that came in with Smokey the Buckskin, & the big bay mare Reba. The story here is in reverse of the first one! This little curly girl has taken Sam under her 'Wings of Love' & has Sam back in the saddle every chance she gets!!!!! That is so Awesome! 

When you volunteer at Safe Haven Horse Rescue, you do not get paid in cash, you get paid in life touching experiences!!!! A Nicker here, A snuggle there, it all so good for rejuvenating the soul! YOU also can come out & see who will be the one for you! Hope to see you soon! If you cannot come out to the ranch personally, you can help us support the horse of your choice through our Sponsor Program! All the details are on our website www.safehavenhorserescue.org! You can also find Safe Haven on Facebook, to keep up with all the activities!

Bye for now,
Linda C.

For the Love of Horses' Whinny & Wine event

 Safe Haven Horse Rescue, would like to Thank Everyone who participated in making the evening a huge success!!!! We are very grateful for your support! Cori M. & Linda C. were on hand to get the party started w/ ticket sales!!!

 The room was quite full of guests! New faces & old familiar faces!

 Denise & David Derk are avid supporters to Safe Haven fundraising events! They have participated in the Play Days & the dinner fundraisers! We, at Safe Haven, Love to 'dish it' out to Dave...cuz he can dish it right back!!!

 Sherrie & Larry, & then Paula also come to compete at our Play Days! Thanks, we appreciate your loyalty!

 A beautiful bracelet was made by Tail Spin Bracelets for the Live Auction, & one was made for Linda Richards, Founder & President of Safe Haven Horse Rescue! Cori went around to ALL the horses currently at Safe Haven & gathered a tail hair from each, for Linda's bracelet. Cori then gathered tail hairs from the 3 Secretariat descendants that we have & that one was put in the live auction! Very nice gift!

 Cori then presented the bracelet to Linda R. & Yes, Linda is trying very hard not to cry!!! Good job Cori!

 Big Thanks to Alpen Cellars of Trinity County! They came a long way!

 Big Thanks to Dakaro Cellars!!!!

Big Thanks to Lassen Peaks!

 Big Thanks to Matson Vineyards! Lynette on the right, has adopted 2 horses from Safe Haven, Buster & King!!!!! Matson Vineyards also donated a beautiful Wine Gift Basket that used as the 'door prize' of the evening! Awesome!

& last but not least! Mt. Tehama Winery was serving up some of it's very best!

Be sure to check out 'The Scene' page of the Record Searchlight tomorrow to see more pictures from the Whinny & Wine, & I'll post more pics also in another blog. Safe Haven would like to Thank Mike Killingbeck of L&M Equine Photography for all the hours he has donated to the horses also! The Derks bought his $100.00 gift certificate of any picture of your choice mounted on canvas, in the Live Auction & have all ready picked out which one they want!!            THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

 Bye for now,
Linda C.

Drifter’s tail!

                                           This is what Drifter’s tail look like in April 2010.
This is what someone has done to his tail! It was done sometime this month, we noticed this a few days after the Oct 1, 2011 Play Day we had! This is just heart breaking!!!!! We at Safe Haven are very upset! The 2 horses on either side of him had NO evidence of his tail in their pens, & there was NO tail hair caught up in the clamps of the pen!
Needless to say…….a police report has been filed & we WILL pursue this issue to the fullest! There has been other cases in other states of someone doing this to horses in the last 6 months! If you have any clue to who is doing this Please contact Safe Haven @ 530-347-4941. Everything will be handled with complete anonymousness! Thank you so much!
Bye for now,
Linda C.

Kaliffe's Adopted Mom sends an UPDATE! AWESOME!

Hi Linda

An update on Khalif (you pronounced him Cuu-Leaf),

Besides being completely healed - He’s Perfect!!!! I love him so much, and I know he feels the same. His energy and personality is just what I hoped for, but never thought I would have again after the passing of my life-long best friend last thanksgiving.

Okay, gotta gloat a little about what Khalif and I just did last week! We went on vacation in Humboldt County, and camped along the way from South to North. I’m attaching just a few of the pics – my dial-up is sooo slow. If you would like to see any more, just let me know and I can send you a CD.

We started in Cueno Creek State Horse Campground in the Avenue of the Giants, and rode in the ancient redwoods, (FYI - $35 per night, 2 small pipe corrals per campsite, pay showers). The trail takes you to Bull Creek near Albee Campground, where there is the most living bio-mass, measured in tons per acre of land, than any other place on the planet!!!! I swear the horses were looking up at the giant redwoods as much as us humans!  Khalif even saw a bear 20' off the trail before anyone else did.  It was laying down, and I only saw it just as we were directly across the trail from it.  It lifted its head to look at us, and then went back to hanging out.  Whew!  What good horses!!!!

Then, we went to the beach (free!) and rode in the surf on the South Spit near the old light house in Lolita. It was actually sunny – very unusual for summer in Humboldt. Khalif was great, and cruised though the sand and loud surf – no problem! We went slow, and stayed on the hard wet sand to help my mostly blind 27 year old Russian arab mare. Khalif could have run all day, and thoroughly enjoyed himself! He only spooked once at a piece of driftwood (at a walk) I love arabs! The horses stayed at a local ranch that night, Hillcrest Stables, in acres of beautiful pasture (free!). They didn’t want to leave!

 Then we trailered up to Orick and stayed at the rodeo grounds run by the chamber of commerce, ($10 per horse, per night, camping is free, big wood stalls on a 1^st come 1^st filled basis, no showers). The entire camping area is low grazed, green, green grass, and is bordered by Redwood Creek. The gravel is small, and the creek wide, so you can run in the river on the horses! But, the real reason to go is the adjacent trail up into Redwood State and National Park. It has a ride-in redwood tree that Khalif went right into – no issues!!!!! The ferns and thimbleberries are taller than the horses! And the redwoods are HUGE!!!!!!!!!! The fog was thick (normal), and we used blankets on the horses at night. What a difference from our hot summer up here in Hayfork!

Linda - Thank you for all of this. I truly appreciate what you did for Khalif, and for bringing us together. Khalif has found his happily-ever-after home because of you – and I feel good knowing I didn’t support the horse breeding industry while so many are being euthanized.

Take Care & Long Live Safe Haven!

Sincerely,
Jamie Levitan & Khalif

The Baby's education Begins, on Aug 4th, 2011

Mid afternoon on August 4 was just a typical day for the un-named Paint Filly, she was just 'hangin out' with her Mom, Kisses, being Very Cute! Little did she know that her basic education was going to start in an hour or so when Linda R. & Ashley Ewing would get back from picking up TONIETTA! Yes, Tonietta the big T/B mare is back to Safe Haven, but that is for another blog! Ashley brought her friend, Cassie, along too. Moving Tonietta went very smoothly as Ashley, our Trainer really knows what she is doing, so back to Safe Haven at an early hour......it was time to put a HALTER on the Filly!

With the help of the Unmovable tree, the Filly was soon CAPTURED by Ashley & Cassie.

The halter is ON! But we decided it was just way too big, we did not want to take a chance of her getting her foot caught up in it! Hold on to her Girls, I'll be right back!!!

There we go! All haltered up & time for some human hands to rub rub rub! You'll see, she looks so much better in Blue!

Well, the rodeo is not over yet! Even tho there are encouraging words & soft nurturing noises, little baby filly is Not going for any of it!!!

Kisses, the 7 year old, Not halter broke, or ever ever handled, was very good through the whole 'haltering' of her baby! She stayed close but did not offer to attack or anything!!!!

Yep, the Baby Filly decided to throw a fit & Ashley kept a firm grip on the short lead rope & just let her back up into the panel, no baby neck was injured! As you can see Kisses is right there too!

Well, the tantrum is over for now, at least & we are looking good in that Blue halter! Quite sophisticated actually! Good job Ashley!

Cassie has a hold of the Filly now, & she has pretty much done wore her little self OUT! See Kisses, right there close but not freaking out! Ashley & Cassie would pet the baby down her back & then slowly put their hand to the mare, but she was not going for any of that!   Well, I'll share with you, that I have another blog to write on these two from yesterday, & I'll just say.......Cathy H. has figured out what makes Kisses very Brave! Wonder what it is???????????

Bye for now,
Linda C.

Pretty, Painted, & LEERY, New Arrivals!

Kisses & her 3 week old Filly arrived at Safe Haven on Tuesday, August 2nd. They were offered on Craig's List for $100.00, Maggie's Mom called her & told Maggie if she could find them a place to go, she would pay the $100.00 so the Untrained Brood Mare would not end up at the slaughter house. So, you can figure out the rest of the story!

Kisses is a Registered Homozygous Paint, she is quite leery of people, but we think she will come around after a whole bunch of FOOD, LOVE, & COOKIES!

The little filly is so cute, & she NEEDS a NAME! Got any suggestions?? The color on her ears, covers both ears but not the pole, so I'm wondering if she qualifies for being a Medicine Hat? I will be looking that up shortly.

What you see here is; The first step in the 'people are a good thing' process! We put some cookies in her feeder, as she will not come to take them from your hand. She Will some day soon tho! I'll be sure & let you know the Day she does! It's Amazing just how many horses we get in, that Don't know what Cookies, Apples & Carrots are!  

The little filly really liked the salt block with the selenium mineral in it! she was at that over & over again!

After all that Salt, she needed a Drink! These two will be out at Safe Haven for quite awhile, they are in the 'settleing' in stage, as Safe Haven always keeps the horses for a few weeks just to settle in, before they are evaluated as to what they know, & if they are sound, or if they have any issues, & just what they are trained for! If you have a couple of hours to spare, you are Welcomed to come & Volunteer at Safe Haven to help us take care of the horses! HORSES are the BEST THERAPY around! Hope to see you soon!

Bye for now,
Linda C.