Project Report
| Sep 21, 2026
The Ones Who Stay
By Kim Mosiman | Executive Director
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The Ones Who Stay - Flash
We realize that some of these horses have been quietly existing in the background for years. The truth is, we have always had a small group of long-term horses in our care who, for one reason or another, are unlikely to be adopted.
We don’t talk about them very often. Partly because we worry that highlighting these horses will lead to even more requests for us to take on horses with similar needs. And while we wish we could help every horse who needs us, becoming a sanctuary would dramatically reduce the number of horses we are able to rescue.
So we walk a careful line: helping as many horses as possible while making sure the ones who need to stay have a safe and loving place to call home. Meet Flash, he is 28 years old. And after eight years with Sound Equine Options, he has finally found the place where he gets to stay.
Flash's story with us began in 2018 in a way that is hard to imagine. An elderly woman in Sandy, Oregon, came home from a doctor's appointment one day to discover that someone had dumped a horse in her pasture. That horse was Flash.
2018 — Flash came to the SEO barn, where he received veterinary care, rehabilitation and a chance to begin again.
2019 — We started training Flash through our Lucky 7 Training Challenge, hoping that someday we could find him a riding home. But during his training, we discovered a back injury. Riding wasn't going to be part of Flash's future, so he moved into our Companion Horse category and spent a year in foster care.
2020 — Flash was adopted into a loving home, where he spent the next four years.
2024 — When his family moved out of the country, Flash returned to SEO. Later, he was adopted again, but sadly returned after a death in the family.
We then placed Flash in a long-term foster home, where he has been ever since. He settled beautifully—and quickly found a new best friend. And at 28 years old, we made a decision. Flash has been moved around enough. He deserves to stay.
He doesn't need another new beginning. He needs the comfort of knowing that this is home. So Flash has become one of The Ones Who Stay—horses who may never have another adoption story, but who deserve to spend their remaining years safe, comfortable, loved and surrounded by people who care about them. For Flash, staying isn't giving up on adoption. It's giving him something even more important: stability.
Your recurring gift helps us give these horses something they may not have known enough of in their past: a safe place to simply enjoy being a horse.
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