Meet our adoptable horses
Prior to being “cleared” for adoption, horses in our care have completed a 2-3 month evaluation process which allows us to learn their personality, herd ranking, and quirks once they settle in to a foster family’s home. Adoptable horses have received vaccinations, deworming, farrier care and have a current negative Coggins, in addition to a training evaluation and riding/driving time dependent on their soundness or limitations. Horses continue being handled or ridden throughout their time in rescue and lead, load, tie and have basic ground manners regardless of whether or not they are able to be ridden.
Please note: We require an approved adoption application prior to scheduling a visit with the horse you are interested in. As a foster-based rescue, this is out of respect for our fosters’ privacy and time as well as yours. Please visit our Adoption FAQ if you have questions.
Western Toro
Toro is a 17 hand, 15 year old pacing-bred gelding who’s been off the track since 2020. He spent the past 4 years as a pleasure-driving horse (primarily driven indoors) until a non-horse-related injury forced his owner to find him a soft landing.
Toro has taken right to riding. He will be looking for an adopter who is either willing to keep him in training, or is a rider (or driver) comfortable handling the occasional green horse moment. His “spook” is a stop and look, so he needs someone confident enough to move him forward to investigate when he is unsure.
Toro is sound with no known limitations, although due to an old, cold calcification on his left front, he is NOT recommended for endurance, jumping, or other high impact activity. He prefers to gait under saddle, but he will offer some trot steps, so at this point, he could go either direction based on his adopter’s desires. He could be your perfect gaited trail horse, do some western dressage, or continue a pleasure driving career. *Toro’s former owner taught him to trot in harness, so that part is already done!
He is up to date on vaccinations, Coggins, farrier, and deworming, enjoys baths, fly spray, and a bit of pampering if you care to indulge. He is fine stalled or outdoors in a small herd. He is used to being blanketed in cold weather and as it is his first winter in Tennessee, he will likely require a bit of support in this way. We recommend a gelding-only lifestyle as he likes to flirt with the girls.
Toro has had approximately 7 weeks under saddle and is continuing to be ridden in his foster home as weather permits. He is ready to go to a riding or driving home with a rider/driver who has the skill to continue working with him. Please note: the child rider in the photo below is an advanced beginner with approximately 18 months of formal riding instruction. He was extremely careful and gentle with her from initial catching, through riding, to turning him out. We feel he would be fine for a child in this situation with adult supervision (and tack-up assistance due to his size!)
Please review our adoption FAQ and complete an application if interested in meeting him.
Adoption fee: $2000
Buttercup
Buttercup is an 18 year old (estimated), 14.2-ish hand grade mare, likely a Paso cross as she does show a Paso-type gait and has many of the personality traits those who love the breed would recognize.
Buttercup is fairly straightforward to handle, but she does look for a quiet confidence in her handler. Her best match is someone willing to listen and meet her where she is. Buttercup has some special considerations important for a prospective adopter to understand:
1) She was a pet for her first 8 years, started under saddle with somewhere between 30-60 rides, and adopted in succession to two homes that were inappropriate for a quite green older horse, neither of whom understood that additional training and lessons would likely have solved their confidence issues (and honestly, no one in charge at the rescue during that time period understood that either, and so here we are all these years later).
2) She very likely would have been a candidate for a spay as a young mare. She comes into heat just from being pastured next to a gelding or from a change in her environment, and she is more sensitive/reactive while in heat. As a teenage mare, Regumate, Depo, or marbling would be options someone could explore. This is also why we recommend a MARE ONLY environment.
3) Paso experience is strongly recommended. She is sensitive, "flight" minded, and has absolutely no use for someone who trains with force, "flooding" or hard hands - and remembers the person in her past who did.
4) She is a horse that needs daily or close to daily handling. You can't turn her out in a field for 4 days and expect to walk right up and catch her on the 5th. This is due to the years she simply wasn't -get her in a routine, and this will likely get better as it has in her current foster home.
She has been assessed by a professional with the following: If someone had a couple months to invest in her, she'd likely come around and be fine to ride again.
As a small organization, we simply do not have $2-3,000 to invest with the expectation we miraculously find someone who will take her on from there and continue her training/riding, and so we are offering Buttercup with two options:
1) Foster to adopt: Adopter is either a qualified "training level" rider to continue her training, or is an advanced-level rider who will place Buttercup in training with an APPROVED, qualified professional for 60 days of training (to include lessons with the adopter); at the end of 60 days, adoption becomes official or can decline to move forward.
2) Sanctuary foster: Buttercup can go as a companion mare to a sanctuary foster home with an appropriate set-up in consideration of her needs outlined above. Safe Harbor retains ownership and will cover the costs of her annual vetting as well as end-of-life if/when needed. Sanctuary foster farms are required to file monthly check-ins with photos, and are located within the radius of one of our regular veterinarians. This is an excellent option for someone who wants a companion horse but may not want to "buy" another, or who wants a built-in support system.
Buttercup stands to be groomed, lowers her head to be haltered and seems to enjoy attention. She is excellent for the farrier. She has typical Paso rock hard, beautiful feet. She is up to date on all routine care (vaccinations, Coggins, deworming, farrier care), and is a fairly easy keeper on 1 scoop of Purina senior AM & PM and appropriate amount of hay for her body size and type. If you are interested in becoming Buttercup's person as outlined in one of the options above, please complete an application.
We deeply appreciate Chasing the Son Farm and Yvonne Lucius, APF-i for assistance with Buttercup’s monthly care costs.
Horses will be added to the website as they are cleared for adoption. This means they are a BCS 4 or better, have been fully vetted and rehabilitated, and have had training evaluations on the ground and under tack as appropriate.
You may apply to adopt at any time, even if we do not currently have a horse that fits your wish list. We often network horses into new homes through our Friends Helping Friends program, and we always reach out to approved adopters first when our horses become officially available.
Currently in intake…
Horses in the intake process take on many forms. Oftentimes, initial vetting and farrier care take place prior to transporting to a foster home. Once fosters commit and transportation is arranged, horses are brought in and spend several days or weeks settling into their new situation, learning new routines, and being evaluated for basic manners, temperament, and “good citizen” knowledge.
If you would like to help us cover the costs associated with intake, please visit this page.
Native Speed joined Safe Harbor via a partnership between SOSS, another rescue, and his racing owners, who had placed him in what they thought was a safe home several years ago. Unfortunately, that home didn’t follow through and he ended up with the Amish, who figured out he couldn’t do long distances on the road so he was sold down the road. He somehow arrived in Tennessee with a horse trader too lame and underweight to sell at auction. In a series of events, we received a phone call asking if we could possibly help him. Volunteers sprung into action and lined up transportation and a quarantine spot with one of our veterinarians. As of November 1, “Ben” has been vetted, vaccinated, is in a supportive shoe for a bad abscess/injury to his right hind hoof that is growing out beautifully, and currently weighs in at 1120 pounds.
We’re allowing him to gain just a bit more weight before any under-saddle evaluations, and his foster has started some light ground work to help him regain some muscle tone. Once evaluations are completed, he will be available for adoption to a skills-appropriate home.
Strapping Beauty is a 21 year old, trotting-bred off-the-track mare who won less than $1,000 in her brief racing career. It is assumed that she went from track to Amish, though she does not have any registered foals on file and the middle of her life is a mystery. She was purchased as a riding horse in 2020 and was trail ridden off and on. She had a slight weak stifle that was described as “ride her and it will get better”, and she had an old injury to her left eye. She is said to be walk/trot safe for just about anyone, although she rides “green” without lots of fancy buttons.
She was surrendered to Safe Harbor when her owners failed to sell her privately and needed to reduce their herd going into winter. Her immediate intake costs included enucleation (removal) of the left eye, which had recessed into the socket, lameness exam, and updating of her vaccinations. We are currently giving her some time to heal and will begin ground work soon (December, 2024).
More Details About Our Process
- We adopt within 200 miles of zip code 37048, Cottontown TN, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions include 5 years of documented ownership, references, and photos of current equine and facility.
- We require an in-person meeting to ensure an appropriate match between horse and adopter.
- You must go through our approval process, including submitting references, prior to meeting the horse or ‘test rides’ – this is out of respect for everyone’s time. Providing complete and accurate information helps us process your application faster and match you accurately with available horses.
- Horses are up to date on routine care including vaccinations and Coggins, and complementary therapies if our team feels they are needed (IE massage, chiropractic, MagnaWave, acupuncture, etc.)
- PPE’s from adopter’s veterinarian are always welcome. We will work with you but do ask that vetting is done within 7 days of committing to adopt whenever possible.
- Our adoption agreement is a lifetime safety net with no breeding, no auction, no slaughter terms. We will always take back or assist with re-homing any Safe Harbor adoptee.
- Nearly every horse in our care is available for sponsorship. Full sponsors have the option to meet their sponsored horse. Go here for sponsorship or email us with questions.
Courtesy listings will be shared in this space.
Safe Harbor “Friends Helping Friends” is an owner-assistance placement program for horses seeking new homes. Owners may share on our Facebook group and email us, and we will network the horse here, by email, and to our social media audience.
Safe Harbor “alumni” seeking new pastures are noted as such. All courtesy listings require an approved adoption application. Safe Harbor alumni require our transfer of ownership contract. Others are noted as to owner’s desires.
Safe Harbor makes no claims or warranties as to the soundness or suitability of any courtesy-listed horses.
These horses are not in our care or custody. Owners set their own fees.