This Adorable Little Donkey - Redwings

16 Redwings Adoption Club
Cute and cuddly young
lady with big ears seeks
a special friend…
Adopting lovely Esther is a great
way to support Redwings!
How could
anyone resist
Esther This
adorable little
donkey is the
latest addition to
our Adoption
Club and is
already proving a
very popular young
lady with all our
supporters.
Everyone who
meets her can’t
help but fall
head over
heels in love!
With her fluffy,
chocolate
brown coat, little white nose and dreamy eyes she is
absolutely irresistible!
You will probably have followed Esther’s journey from
her rescue as a foal at Spindle Farm, Amersham in
January 2008 to today, when she is a happy and
beautiful young donkey living in the safety of Redwings.
Adopting Esther can be lots of fun and you will be
helping Redwings provide a caring home for other
horses, ponies donkeys and mules at the same time!
You can adopt Esther from just £12.50 a year. Your
adoption Nosebag will include a beautiful A5
photograph, adoption certificate, Esther’s story and
information about how you can visit her at our Caldecott
Visitor Centre in Norfolk. Plus you’ll receive an update
with a new photograph just before Esther’s birthday in
ESTHER’S PROFILE
October, with an invitation to her party!
Esther is an adorable little donkey, but we also have
another 20 equally lovable horses, ponies and donkeys
that you can adopt. To make your adoption, or for more
information, please call us today on 01508 481000 or
visit www.redwings.co.uk/adopting
Want more for
your money
REDWINGS
Adoption Club
Occupation : Lovable Adoption donkey
Favourite food : Ginger Biscuits
Pastimes : Running around with all my
donkey friends in our field at Caldecott
Visitor Centre
Height : 9.1 hands high
Age : 2 years
Eyes : Brown
Star sign : Scorpio
Find out
more about
the Amersham
horses on pages
14 and 15
Our exclusive Online Adoption option offers you
even more ways to stay in touch with your adoption
friend. Regular blogs and
photos keep you up to
date with their life at the
sanctuary, plus our
interactive game lets you
groom and feed them too (well
virtually at least!). To find out more contact us on
01508 481000 or look for yourself at
www.redwings.co.uk/adopting
R545/AHP/8.10/165k
Redwings
Horse Sanctuary Newsletter
The
Spindle Farm
story, from
beginning
to end
AUTUMN 2010
The
Enfield
Five, how your
calls can help
us rescue needy
horses
Life
at the
Sanctuary,
it’s never been
busier
Will
you
help feed
our toothless
residents
Redwings’
Autumn appeal...
The Charity’s purpose is to provide and promote the welfare, care and protection of horses, ponies, donkeys and mules.

2 Welcome News Update 3
Help
feed our
Toothless
Residents
this Winter
Toothless horses, donkeys and ponies like Tommy
who cannot eat long grass or hay need a special
diet. In Winter they need even more frequent
feeds to help them cope with the cold conditions.
We care for over 30 horses, ponies and donkeys
who suffer from tooth loss and will need up to
eight feeds a day each this Winter. That is a lot of
buckets to fill and a lot of mouths to feed.
We have struggled to raise the funds we need this
year to continue to care for our horses and we
know that Winter will be especially hard, so please
help us if you can.
If you would like to donate to our
Toothless Appeal to help feed our
elderly horses and donkeys this year
please call 01508 481000 or visit
www.redwings.co.uk
Read more about Toothless Tommy and
friends on pages 8 and 9.
EVERY LITTLE MORSEL HELPS!
£5-sack of High
Fibre Cubes…
£10-feed a toothless
Shetland pony...
£20-feed a toothless horse!
Welcome to our Autumn 2010
Newsletter with news and tales
from around the Sanctuary.
This year is proving very tough for
us. We are experiencing a state of
crisis with the number of horses who
need to be admitted and are also
finding it harder to raise the money
we need to do our everyday work.
We are therefore asking you,
if you can, to help us feed some of our more special care
residents. Our elderly horses and donkeys often suffer from tooth
loss - helping us provide the extra feed they need to stay well and
healthy through the cold months is a simple but vital way you can
support us.
Over the past few years we have been called upon to take in more
and more horses in need of our help. We always strive to do
more, but the Sanctuary is full and we struggle to make room for
those who are most desperate. A joint operation to rescue a large
number of horses and ponies from Cumbria in July highlighted
this need, as we were only just able to take 22 of the most needy
animals into our care.
Fortunately, thanks to legacy gifts
Tiny Tim upon arrival
specifically left to us for this purpose, at Redwings
we have recently been able to obtain
some much needed extra land. This
is wonderful news, and although it
will be some time before it will be up
and running, we hope in future the
new site will enable us to help even more horses.
We have taken in some very special horses and ponies recently
such as Gethin and Tiny Tim who you can read about on pages
4 and 5. And, on pages 14 and 15 we tell you about the progress
of the other horses rescued alongside little donkey Esther from
Amersham, some of whom also introduce our Christmas Gift
range in our latest catalogue. There is also the very exciting news
that you can now adopt Esther!
I hope you enjoy reading about these very special horses and that
their stories inspire you to help us however you can.
Thank you for your support,
Lynn Cutress Chief Executive
Our Mission Statement
The Charity’s purpose is to
provide and promote the
welfare, care and protection
of horses, ponies, donkeys
and mules.
Lynn is pictured above
with Bonnie (featured
on page 4) and Thomas
the Hapton cat.
Key Contact Numbers
General Enquiries
01508 481000
info@redwings.co.uk
Horse Care, Advice
and Welfare
01508 481008
welfare@redwings.co.uk
Horse Ambulance – We have
managed to raise an amazing £45,000
towards our appeal for a replacement Horse
Ambulance. Thank you so much for helping
us get this far! Although we believe we have
found the perfect team to make our horsebox
we are still short of our target. If you would like
to help us raise the final funds we need please
get in touch. We can’t do it without you!
Thank you for Vital Equipment
Redwings’ Veterinary Unit is vital to us. Our vets perform
around 90 operations each year from emergency colic
surgery to joint surgery, tooth extractions and
The new
castrations, so it is not surprising that after 12½ years the
operating table
theatre’s operating table needed replacing. The new
operating table arrived in August, and we are so grateful to you for enabling us to
purchase it as it was funded from general donations made to the Sanctuary. Thank you!
A very sad loss
We are very sorry to say that on Friday 20th August we said
goodbye to our beloved retired adoption pony Ben. He was 25
years old. Little Ben retired from the adoption scheme in 2002
after he was diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease, which cannot
be cured but was well managed by our vet team so we were
very pleased with how Ben coped. In the last few years,
however, Ben developed other problems, including age-related
Ben as we
arthritis. He was on medication to help him but recently became
remember him
very uncomfortable and reluctant to move about, so sadly our
vet team had to make the very difficult decision to put Ben to sleep to ensure he did not
suffer. We will all miss this lovely little chap a great deal; and we know you will too.
Additional Land
Our horse ambulance
desperately needs replacing
This news comes with an enormous thank you to some very special supporters. Thanks
to legacies left to Redwings for this purpose, we have recently been able to obtain more
land on a new site. The new site will be in Aylsham, Norfolk, and will hopefully mean we
will be able to help even more horses in need of rescue and a loving home. There is
however a lot of work to do. Legacy gifts enabled us to buy the land itself, but we still
need a lot of help to make it ready for horses. We look forward to letting you know more
about the site and how you can get involved!
We are so grateful to all those who chose to remember Redwings in their Will – it
really is the greatest gift we could ask for and we simply could not have purchased
this much needed land without them. A special thank you to Hubert Crockett, Richard
Grand and Miss June Limb - just a few of those who helped us beyond their lifetime -
please turn to page 13 to learn more about legacy giving.
Visitor Helpline
0870 040 0033
Web www.redwings.co.uk
Address for all
correspondence
Redwings Horse Sanctuary
Hapton, Norfolk NR15 1SP
Thomas
says... “We
can now raise
money from
your used
postage
stamps! Just send them to
us at Hapton!”
This newsletter costs
around eight pence to
print. All the design and
photography is undertaken
by our staff to help keep
our costs low.
Contents
2-3 Welcome & Latest News
An update on life at the Sanctuary
4-6 Recent Rescues
The Enfield Five and the Cumbrian
ponies keep us as busy as ever…
7 Focus on Teeth
Keeping horses’ teeth in good shape!
8-9 Toothless Appeal
Will you help feed our toothless
residents like Ruth
10-11 Life at the Sanctuary
Who, what, where and when...
it’s all happening at Redwings!
12-13 Get involved - Fundraising!
Get a Red Start to Fundraising...
we couldn’t do it without you!
14-15 The Spindle Farm Story
From beginning to end!
16 Adoption Club
Cute and cuddly young lady,
aaaaaaah!
Prize Draw Winners
Thank you to all those who took
part in the 2010 Spring Draw!
The lucky winners were:
First Prize £5,000, Mr K White of
Leicester, 2nd Prize £1,000 Mr R
Meller of Eastbourne, 3rd Prize £500
Mrs A Hanner of Gwent.
Taking part in our Prize Draws helps
raise money to care for ponies like Lewis
(pictured). Turn to page 13 to
learn more.
The paper our newsletter is printed on
is recyclable and bio-degradable and
meets ISO9706 requirements for
permanence of paper.
Our front cover star is
beautiful Esther who you can
now adopt (see back page)...

4 Welfare Rescues Welfare Rescues 5
Misty (left) and Bonnie
(right) are enjoying life
in their new home
Sadly Annie’s muscle co-ordination
problems were too severe for
her to cope with
Bonnie needed remedial farriery
on arrival at Redwings
No two cases we deal with at Redwings are ever the
same. Some involve owners who have neglected
their horse through ignorance or idleness; others
may involve owners whose personal circumstances
have got the better of them and the horse has
become the unintentional victim.
Earlier in the year a worried member of the public
alerted us to the plight of five horses living in Enfield,
Essex. Rodney, Bonnie, Otto, Annie and Misty were
being kept in a small yard with scarce grazing, and were
very thin as a result. Our Field Officer for the area, Jo
Franklin, went to look at the situation and, shocked by
the condition of the very first horse she saw, immediately
called the RSPCA for help. As Redwings does not
undertake prosecutions of owners, we always ask the
RSPCA for help when we think it could be necessary.
When Jo, an RSPCA inspector and a local vet went to
the site, the vet confirmed that all of the horses were in a
state of suffering or were likely to suffer if they stayed at
the yard. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 means that
welfare organisations can remove animals before they
are actually in a state of suffering if a vet thinks it is likely
to happen if the circumstances do not change. The
situation was urgent so, straight after the vet gave her
opinion that the horses needed to be removed, our
rescue team travelled to Enfield to collect the group. The
five horses were visibly weak so the journey back to
Norfolk was taken very steadily.
The
Enfield
Five
Rodney’s spine was
still prominent, despite
his thick Winter coat
Rodney has made a full recovery,
but needs careful management
Each horse was underweight, and had poor teeth and
feet. Rodney, an elderly chestnut gelding was incredibly
stiff and our staff soon noticed he was showing signs of
fatigue. They discovered that Rodney was sleepdeprived
as he found it so difficult to lie down. He needs
careful management due to arthritis and because his
front teeth are virtually nonexistent. This means he has
difficulty eating short grass and needs to have several
extra feeds a day. Rodney – along with Bonnie, Otto and
Misty – are now enjoying a quiet life at our Hapton HQ.
Very sadly, we could not help Annie as she had a severe
form of Wobblers’ Syndrome, which is a condition where
the sufferer has very poor balance because of a lack of
muscle co-ordination. Some sufferers can cope with the
condition for a long time, but Annie’s condition was too
severe and she sadly had to be put to sleep only a few
months after the rescue.
Later, a man came forward and admitted that he had let
things slip after becoming a full-time carer for his
severely disabled wife. His wife had owned the horses
ever since they were foals. He agreed he should have
sought help sooner and all of the horses were signed
over into our care. After careful thought, it was decided
that prosecution would be an unnecessary step to take,
as the owner’s husband was very remorseful and had
no intention of causing harm to these horses. He was
given an adult caution, however, in recognition of the
horses’ suffering.
“Welfare cases
are often more
complex than
they first seem,
and I’m proud of
Sadly Annie’s muscle co-ordination
problems were too severe for
her to cope with
our staff’s
diplomacy in this
matter”
Lynn Cutress
Chief Executive
“We are so sad
that we could not
help Annie but
the other horses
in the group have
made a great
recovery and
we’re very
appreciative of
the actions of the
person who
contacted us as
soon as they were
aware of the
horses’ plight”.
Rachel Fairhead,
Senior Welfare
Officer
Gethin and the goslings
Although he is often seen sticking
his tongue out, Gethin is actually
a very sweet young horse! He is
suffering with partial facial
paralysis, and is having some
trouble keeping his tongue in his
mouth.
Gethin was rescued from the Welsh
Commons by our welfare team late in
May, along with staff from the Society
for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies
in Monmouthshire. He would not
have been able to cope with life on
the Welsh Commons, as he is finely
built and not as well-equipped as the
average Welsh pony to deal with the
elements and scarce grass. Also, his
facial paralysis was causing him
difficulty when it came to eating. We
brought him back to Redwings for
specialist care.
It is not entirely clear why Gethin is
suffering with facial paralysis, but it
might be because he has suffered a
Gethin (above) can’t help his
cheeky expression!
Out on the Commons, Gethin
would have struggled to even
stand up to these goslings (left)
who are trying to share his food.
trauma to his face, such as a kick,
which has caused nerve damage.
We don’t know if Gethin will fully
recover, but as long as he receives
a specially-devised diet and wears a
rug in the Winter months, he will
lead a happy and comfortable life.
By mid August we
had taken in over
224 horses so far in
2010... We have
received over 900
calls to our Welfare
Hotline... Redwings
is currently caring
for over 1100 horses,
ponies, donkeys and
mules every day on
our sanctuary farms!

6 Welfare Rescues Horse Care 7
…Tiny Tim…
Twice a year, several members of our welfare team pack so when 20” Tiny Tim arrived, the staff there were
their bags for the long drive down to Bolenowe Animal somewhat surprised!
Sanctuary in Cornwall. Bolenowe is a small sanctuary
Tiny Tim has been the victim of irresponsible breeding
with limited resources and, at their invitation, we help
and has deformities in his back legs as a result, as well
them to carry out veterinary assessments of their newly
as a host of other problems, including ‘sow mouth’
rescued horses.
which you can read about in our ‘Focus on’ feature.
Bolenowe’s staff had become concerned about one of After several X-rays and scans, Professor Tim Greet of
their new residents - Tiny Tim, a knee-high palomino Rossdale and Partners decided to fit Tiny Tim with a
Miniature Shetland. He has deformities of his back legs, corrective shoe on his right hind foot. He is now
despite being only a year old, so our Head of Welfare, spending some time at Redwings so our own vets can
Nic de Brauwere, decided to refer him to Rossdale and assess how effective the shoe is. He will head back to
Partners Veterinary Surgeons in Newmarket. Rossdale Cornwall once he is ready, where his dedicated carers
and Partners normally plays host to leggy racehorses, will continue the specialist farriery and care he will need.
Tiny Tim enjoys a rest after a long journey!
He really is incredibly small and his carers back
in Cornwall will miss him whilst he’s away.
This picture of one of the Cumbrian horses although
distressing, illustrates why your support of Redwings
and other welfare organisations is so important.
…Cumbrian Horses and Ponies
Redwings has recently been involved with the rescue of There have been some criticisms of this rescue in the
dozens of horses and ponies from common land in press recently as, very sadly, the owner of the ponies
North Cumbria. This was a joint operation between the took his own life shortly after being interviewed by the
RSPCA, Cumbria Constabulary and several other equine police.
welfare organisations.
All of the organisations involved have offered their
We are currently caring for 22 of the horses and ponies. deepest condolences to the owner’s family. The horses
Many of them were very thin, with badly overgrown and ponies are receiving much-needed veterinary
hooves, as well as hoof and leg deformities making it attention and are making a good recovery in our care.
difficult for them to cope with life on the Commons.
Focus On...
Teeth!
Horses can spend over 16 hours every day just
eating! As you can imagine, this is a lot of work for
their cleverly designed teeth. Horses’ teeth are so
special that they’ve been the subject of various
literary proverbs over the years!.
Long in
the Tooth
Oliver Twist
was born with
Wry Nose, A horse’s
meaning he teeth are
needs extra clever
dental work to creations.
keep his teeth
Young horses
in good shape.
have very
long teeth,
but most of
the tooth is
buried in the gum. As a horse gets older, and its teeth start
to wear down, more tooth emerges from the gum. Wild
horses eat coarse grass, meaning their teeth wear down
naturally over time and more tooth emerges from the gum
when it is needed. For their domestic counterparts
however, the grass they eat is much softer as it has a
higher water content, and this means that teeth can be
worn away unevenly causing sharp edges. Horses need to
see a qualified equine dentist or vet every year to prevent
problems from occurring.
The jaw can be victim to abnormalities too. ‘Parrot mouth’
is a condition where the top jaw sticks out further than the
lower jaw, and ‘sow mouth’ is the opposite which is also
known as an undershot jaw. Because the lower and upper
teeth don’t grind against each other, teeth are more likely
to become overgrown. So, horses with these
abnormalities need to see the dentist every few months.
Wry Nose, where the muzzle is twisted like adoption pony
Oliver Twist’s, can cause the same problems.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth!
Because they are constantly changing, looking at a
horse’s teeth is a good way of estimating its age. For
instance, a horse that is around the age of four or five will
have a full set of permanent teeth, with no ‘milk teeth’
remaining – and horses over the age of ten start to
develop ‘Galvayne’s groove’ which appears on the upper
corner incisors and works its way down the tooth as the
horse gets older. By the age of thirty, Galvayne’s groove
will have disappeared. Our rescued horses often arrive at
the Sanctuary with no background – so working out their
age is somewhat of a guessing game!
The phrase ‘don’t look a gift horse in the mouth’ basically
means that a gift should be appreciated for the
thoughtfulness behind it and not according to its value.
However we think older horses are just as valuable and
precious as younger ones.
Teeth Trouble
Having bad teeth can cause all sorts of problems.
‘Quidding’ (dropping food), having smelly breath, or not
wanting to eat, are all signs that a horse is experiencing
dental discomfort. Not being able to chew food properly
can cause weight loss and problems further along the
digestive system. Badly chewed food can cause a
blockage in the intestines, or it can get stuck in the throat
and cause a horse to choke.
Brecon has
her teeth
checked soon
after her arrival
at Redwings.
She is an
elderly girl, so
her teeth are
very worn
down.
As a horse gets older, its teeth start to reach the end of
their working life. This means the horse might need to see
the dentist more regularly, and may need to have a
change of diet to compensate. Here at Redwings we have
a large group of elderly equines who are on ‘No Long
Fibre’ diets. They have a little trouble eating long fibre
foods like hay, so we give them extra meals of finelychopped
food instead that they can easily chew! You can
read more about our ‘No Long Fibre’ residents on pages
eight and nine.

8 Toothless Appeal Toothless Appeal 9
Will you
help feed
our
toothless
residents
Many elderly Redwings residents suffer the
effects of old age. One of these is losing
their teeth, which can make eating very
difficult. Horses graze for up to 16 hours a
day so not being able to eat can lead to
distress and boredom. More importantly
they can rapidly lose weight without a
tailored feeding programme.
But with your help, toothless horses and
donkeys can still enjoy life – they just need
a little extra care!
In all other respects Ruth looks like
a perfectly normal donkey as these
pictures show.
Ruth reunited with Emma,
one of her carers... the staff
at Redwings are totally
committed to Ruth
and her ‘special’ needs.
Help feed our Toothless
Residents this Winter
Toothless horses and donkeys who cannot eat long
grass or hay need a special diet. We care for over
30 horses, ponies and donkeys who suffer from
tooth loss. They will need up to eight feeds a day
each this Winter; that is a lot of buckets to fill and a
lot of mouths to feed.
We have struggled to raise the funds we need
this year to continue to care for our horses and
we know that Winter will be especially hard, so
please help us if you can.
Toothless Ruth
25 year old donkey Ruth is quite a character who
loves to sing for her supper! However recently she
was struggling to eat and had to have an infected
loose tooth removed. We were very worried about
Ruth as her enthusiasm for food failed to return so
we took her to our Horse Hospital where she was
put on a drip. We even took her for little walks every
day and offered her luxurious treats to try and cheer
her up. Eventually we had to give Ruth Ready Brek
by stomach tube to kick start her appetite. With lots
of one-to-one care and some time to let her mouth
heal, Ruth gradually recovered and thankfully she is
back to her old self, eating and singing to her
heart’s content!
Life at Redwings for a toothless resident!
These Redwings residents live at our Hapton Farm. They are all elderly and have lost most of their teeth, but
they still live life to the full, thanks to your support and our dedicated horse carers!
Tommy
Despite being the smallest
in his herd, Tommy is in
charge and is known as the
‘Dude with Attitude’! When
18 year old Tommy hears the
motorised feed mule arrive he
trots to the fence. He also taps
the ground with his hoof to
demand a treat!
Clara
Beautiful dark bay pony
Clara has no front teeth so
her tongue often pokes out
– just like a cat! Clara is
nearly 30 and had her
teeth removed as they
became loose with old
age. Special feeds of High Fibre
Cubes give Clara all the goodness
she needs, and we soak them in
water so they are soft on her gums.
Lego
Lego is a handsome brown and
white gelding who has been at
Redwings for 21 years. Lego
has very few back teeth left and
is no longer able to eat long
grass or hay. This means he has
to have a very special ‘no long
fibre diet’.
Lego’s Menu...
Clara below is one of
our senior ‘toothless’
ponies.
w
Morning, Midday, Afternoon, Night
One Scoop of Soaked High Fibre Cubes
10am, 2pm, 7pm, 12am - One Scoop of Happy Hoof
(mixed with a little bit of water so it is not too dry!)
Little Tommy is one
of Evey’s favourite
residents and loves
the occasional treat.
A horse like Lego needs
eight feeds a day - that’s
a huge undertaking for
his carers.
w
BOREDOM
BREAKERS
To help make life for
Lego more interesting,
our carers introduced
Boredom Breakers -
extra little feeds given
throughout the day.
They not only give Lego
something to munch
on, but he also gets a
visit from his carers –
which means some fuss
and attention too!
Lego
w
MEALS ON
WHEELS
At our 350 acre Hapton
Farm, 75 horses and
donkeys need a Winter
feed so we use a mule
(motorised rather than
the four legged kind!) to
deliver meals on wheels
throughout the day and
night. We can transport
40-50 feeds at a time –
each one specially
made and labelled with
the horse’s name.
Your donation can help us feed and care for these elderly residents and their friends... here’s how your gift
could help... £5 will buy a sack of High Fibre Cubes… £10 will feed Toothless Tommy for a week… £20 will feed
Lego for a week… just call 01508 481000, visit our website www.redwings.co.uk or fill in the enclosed form.

10 News from the Sanctuary News from the Sanctuary 11
Life at the Sanctuary
has never been busier
or more exciting, so we
thought we’d bring you some news of what has been going on
over the past few months…
Show business…
In May our re-homing team put on their second Redwings
Horse Show, this year at Easton College near Norwich. It
was a wonderful day, with over 150 entrants travelling from
East Anglia and beyond, including many of our Guardians
and their Redwings
horses and ponies. We
were especially proud of
the high standards of
welfare shown
throughout the day, with
Pongo had a nasty
our guest Isabel Harker,
injury when he arrived
a nutritionist from
Spillers, commenting on
Pongo and his
Guardian win how well the entrants all
first place
looked and how so
many of them were the
perfect weight! Our
winner and overall
champion was Kate
Campbell and her horse
Tiger Leaf, but there
were many individual
success stories during
the day, including the arrival of beautiful Pongo, whose
show name is now ‘Redwings Master Blaster’ who many
of you may remember was rescued in very poor condition
just over a year ago. Congratulations and thanks to
everyone who took part, we hope to see you all again next
year - keep an eye on our website for the date!
If you are interested in finding out more about our
re-homing scheme or perhaps taking on a Guardian
pony of your own, log on to www.redwings.co.uk.
Two stars in one!
We held our annual
Summer Open Weekend at
Hapton in July, but this one
was far from usual as we
Star of the Show Esther loved
broke all previous records
meeting her fans.
(well, you did!) with 1100
visitors coming to see us over the two days! The
weekend was doubly special as we also launched little
Esther the donkey from the Amersham rescue onto the
Adoption Scheme – something we have been longing to
do ever since she arrived with us over two years ago.
Esther proved a huge hit with the crowd as we knew she
would, but it’s fair to say her limelight was almost stolen
altogether by tiny
orphaned foal Lewis
who had arrived the
week before.
Altogether now,
ahhhhhhhh.
Lucky winners of the raffle
were able to feed Lewis
his milk!
Couldn’t make it to
this one Don’t
worry! Our next
Hapton Open
Weekend will be on
4th and 5th of December with lots of festive fun for
all. Find out more by telephoning 0870 040 0033 or
visiting www.redwings.co.uk
Lewis is the star of our Winter Draw Tickets – see
page 13 - and features in the latest Young Redwings
magazine, aimed at our supporters under the age of
16. Entry to the club is free, sign up on the
www.youngredwings.co.uk website today!
A small miracle
Many of you may remember Kensington, who we featured
in our last Autumn newsletter and who shocked us all
when he arrived with a group of eight horses from London
as he was in such a poor state. Well, just look at him now!
Kensington has spent a lot of time with our Rehabilitation
Centre team, learning that humans can be friends and
receiving lots of
specialist handling
training. He and his
friends Buckingham
and Trafalgar have
come such a long
way and they have
now joined a large
herd at our Piggots
site where they are
learning to interact
with other horses…
and just let their
hair down.
Kensington is
These three
now almost
unrecognisable
exuberant young
from a year
boys are virtually
ago (above)
unrecognisable
from the sorry trio who arrived just a year ago - but these
really are the same horses, we promise!
Huge thanks to everyone who gave to our
‘Unconditional Love Appeal’ last year; your
generosity helped us bring Kensington, Trafalgar
and their friends back to full health.
Rise of a DVD star
For those of you who have already bought a copy of the
fantastic Redwings DVD, you will be very familiar with a
little pony called Chocolate. Well, we are delighted to say
that Chocolate has now found a new home as a
companion pony and he is getting on very well indeed.
Poor Chocolate was originally rescued from Birmingham
in 2007 as part of our Puddings group, which also
included Mousse, Banoffee, Sorbet and Cookie. He was a
stallion, and quite aggressive, but after a certain delicate
operation and lots of TLC from our staff he transformed
into the kindest pony you could ever meet. Chocolate
served us well as a surrogate father to orphaned foal
Austin for a while, but once his work was done we knew
he would thrive in a one-to-one home, and he has!
Tiny tearaways
As part of our record year last year we took in 35 ponies
from Downham Market in Norfolk. They were all in a
terrible state, living in pitiful and quite dangerous
conditions on a sparse riverbank. We named them after
jewels and precious metals in honour of our Silver
Jubilee, and over the past year and a bit they have begun
to ‘sparkle and shine’ (groan!) under the watchful eyes of
our caring staff. While some will soon be going off to our
visitor centres to meet their adoring public (you can
already meet Malachite at our Oxhill Visitor Centre) others
are continuing their rehabilitation and we hope some may
even be able to be re-homed.
Thank you to all of you who gave to our ‘Horses in
Danger Appeal’, enabling us to help more horses and
ponies like Silver and Mispickle and the rest of these
tiny tearaways.
If you haven’t yet
bought your copy of
the DVD, and you
would like to order
one, you can do so by
telephoning 01508
481010 or visiting
www.redwings.co.uk.
It’s packed full of
stories from
Redwings and offers
a great ‘behind the
scenes’ look at our
work.
Above, Silver at one of our
Norfolk farms
Top Left, Mispickle, left, is
now a pretty young pony
and left, Mispickle as she
was when she arrived at
Redwings.
Cheeky Chocolate as he
appeared on the sleeve of
the Redwings DVD

12 Red Start to Fundraising Fundraising made easy 13
Sponsored
walk or ride
Get involved -
Fundraising...
If you are a fundraiser waiting in
the wings, here’s your chance to
shine! We need your help more
than ever so we are asking you to
Get a Red Start to Fundraising!
You don’t have to own your own
horse or have buckets of
money...you just need a bit of
imagination, determination, and a
sense of FUN of course!
We have loads of
tips and
ideas for you in
our NEW Red Start
to Fundraising
Leaflet.
Sponsored
poo pick
For help, advice
or to get a leaflet or
Red Start to
Fundraising Pack
contact Gemma or Linda on
01508 481 018; email
fundraising@redwings.co.uk or write to us at
Redwings, Hapton, Norfolk, NR15 1SP.
This issue
Red recommends
Recycle old mobile phones and used
ink cartridges – ask for our special envelopes
or even a deposit box to place at work, in a local
school, shop or community centre and collect old
mobile phones and used ink
cartridges. Items can be posted or
collected for FREE and the funds
raised come straight to Redwings,
giving us up to £20,000 a year!
Run a quiz
night
Hold a
cake sale
Your Fundraising makes a
real difference
These supporters have
already made a difference
with some original ideas….
Elizabeth Brewer sends us beautiful handmade
cards to sell. She is now offering to make
them for your special occasion or event – and
will donate a portion of the profits to
Redwings! If you would like Elizabeth to make
cards for a wedding, christening, party or to
keep on hand for birthdays, email her at
elizabethbee@btinternet.com or contact Redwings and
we will put you in touch!
Maureen Coxen and
five horse-loving friends
held a Come Dine With
Me competition. They all paid
£2 for each meal, with the
winner deciding which
charity got the ‘dinner
money’! Lin (left) and
Maureen (right) decided
to donate to Redwings
after reading about
Blind Boo.
Wendy Lynch and Penny
McLaine donated tack and rugs to Redwings for
us to use or sell at our re-homing centre or on e-Bay.
Fabulous band Kimbustion donated
copies of their CD for us to sell in our
Gift Catalogue – plus the money they
raise through their own sales all goes
to horse charities – we recently
received an amazing £600!
Kimbustion’s album Horse Heart is
available in our Gift Catalogue for just £6.99!
Thank you so much!
Lin
Broccoli and
Stilton soup
Tender Loin
of Pork
Bread and
Butter pudding
The Winning Recipes
Maureen
Peach and
Prosciutto salad
Fish Pie
Apple and
Cherry crumble
Things you can do from the
comfort of your own home!
Just the ticket
Purchasing Redwings Draw Tickets is a great way to help Redwings and
you might win something too!
The funds raised help to care for ponies like Lewis who was orphaned at just a few
weeks old when his mother died suddenly. Lewis needed feeding every three hours and his
owner could not cope, so he contacted Redwings. We all love spending time with Lewis, and
there is no shortage of volunteers to feed him his milk! But we had to make sure that he had a
horsey role model too, so we found him a surrogate Mum, Gretel. She and Aunties Thumbelina
and Snow White have taught Lewis how to behave like a horse and he is now growing into a
strong, confident and very cheeky little pony who loves people.
We run three draws a year with a first prize of £5000. Tickets cost just 50p each and
come in books of 12, but you do not have to buy them all yourself – why not ask friends and
family to buy them too and help raise even more funds for the sanctuary!
To start receiving tickets, or if you would like us to send you more, contact us on 01508 481000,
email info@redwings.co.uk or write to us.
Insure your home and help horses!
Redwings has teamed up with South Essex Insurance Brokers Ltd and Ansvar
Insurance Company Ltd to offer competitive Home Insurance for supporters of
Redwings Horse Sanctuary.
For each policy sold SEIB will donate 5% of the premium (excluding insurance
premium tax) to Redwings.
For a quote or for further information follow the link in the ‘Fundraise for Us’ section of our website at
www.redwings.co.uk/fundraising or contact SEIB direct on enquiries@seib.co.uk, or by telephone on
01708 850000, Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.
Gift of Life
We know that leaving a legacy is not right for everyone, but no matter how big or how small, a gift in your
Will is a gift of life to a horse, pony or donkey in need.
When making a Will it is always advisable to use a solicitor who can ensure your Will is valid and give you any
advice you may need, particularly on more complicated matters. You could visit a local solicitor, or for help and
advice you can speak to the Law Society or the Citizens Advice Bureau.
If you would rather create your Will in the comfort of your own home, you could contact
The Goodwill Partnership. They arrange a home visit with a professionally trained
Will counsellor who will take instructions from you and pass the case to a solicitor who
will supply the Will with the backing of the Law Society. This not only makes writing a Will
easy, but also affordable. A basic single Will costs £98.00 (plus VAT), and a Will can be
updated whenever required for £12.50 (plus VAT).
To learn more about making or amending a Will, or to request our Where There’s a Will
There’s a Way Booklet contact our Legacy Officer on 01508 481030, email
legacies@redwings.co.uk or write to us at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, Hapton, Norwich,
NR15 1SP. To contact the Goodwill Partnership directly telephone 0844 669 6148 or visit
their website www.thegoodwillpartnership.co.uk/redwings

14 The Spindle Farm Story The Spindle Farm Story 15
January
2008
March
2008
April
2008
May
2008
December
2008
May
2009
June
2009
August
2009
January
2010
7th May
2010
13th May
2010
26th May
2010
June
2010
July
2010
Welfare charities
and Police remove
over 100 equines
from Spindle Farm,
Amersham; 21 go to
Redwings, Norfolk.
Owner Gray’s
application to have
some of the animals
returned or sold is
granted. Over
19,000 people sign
a petition set up by
Redwings.
The RSPCA
campaign for the
application to go to
the High Court.
The magistrates’
decision is
overturned.
29 in Redwings
care as several of
the Miniature
Shetlands give birth
to even more
miniature foals!
James Gray and
four members of his
family begin their
trial, expected to
last 12 weeks.
The case closes.
James Gray and his
son are found guilty
on 11 charges.
Gray’s wife and two
daughters are found
guilty on two
charges each.
Sentences - Gray,
six months in prison,
£400,000 fine, lifetime
ban on keeping
equines. The family;
10 year ban on
keeping equines. All
appeal against their
sentences.
61 Amersham
horses in Redwings’
care after we take
some boarding with
the RSPCA. A large
number need
specialist vet care
and handling
training.
The Appeal Hearing
begins at Crown
Court; all the
evidence given firsttime
round is
relayed to the judge
again.
All original charges
against the Gray
family are upheld,
except for two
dropped against
Gray’s son.
Gray disappears
when sentences are
due to be heard. His
sentence is upheld.
The horses and
donkeys are signed
over into our
permanent
ownership.
James Gray
arrested by police
after being missing
for three weeks. He
was found during a
random spot check
on the M5!
Little donkey Esther
joins our Adoption
Club!
Redwings takes in
two more
Amersham horses
from the RSPCA -
current tally 63!
Amersham and beyond! Where they are now
We are still celebrating the news that after more than
two and a half years of waiting, the Amersham case
has finally been resolved.
Redwings has helped the RSPCA by offering homes
to more of the Amersham horses and ponies, and the
original 21 (plus six foals!) that came into our care
has now increased to an incredible 63.
Throughout the court case these animals were
‘boarding’ with us, meaning we could not mix them
Mary became famous following the rescue as she gave birth
to a bouncing baby boy just a day later. Mary has always been
a friendly, sweet donkey although on the day she arrived she
was a very forlorn figure and the vets were extremely
concerned for her health. However, it turned out she was just
waiting to give birth to her precious baby in comfort and safety
at last. Baby Timothy was as healthy as could be and Mary has
made such a wonderful recovery that you can now meet her at
our Caldecott Visitor Centre near Great Yarmouth where she
lives with Martha,
Jemima and Esther
from the same group…
with our other horses, or castrate the colts and
stallions, which was incredibly challenging for our
staff. Legal restrictions also meant that we could not
talk about the case in much detail, or share the
horses’ progress with you, the people who helped us
rescue them in the first place! Until now!
At last, here are just a few examples of ‘Where they
are now’!
Tinkerbell was tiny
when she was born!
Tinkerbell was born a few weeks
after the rescue to mum Elsie, who
was quite a nervous girl when she
arrived. However, when Tinkerbell
(affectionately known as Bathmat!)
was born she was absolutely tiny and had a few problems
with her antibodies, which meant she spent a lot of time being
cared for by our vet team. The upshot of this is that she has
absolutely no fear of humans and will merrily roll on her back
to have her tummy tickled like a dog! You can visit Tinkerbell
at our Ada Cole Rescue Centre near Harlow where she is
currently causing havoc!
Leah the donkey travelled back from Spindle Farm with
Mary, and was a good friend to her and a great auntie to
young Timothy when he was born. Leah was in a shocking
state on arrival – her ribs were protruding and her hip bones
stuck out; she was so hungry when she arrived she even
nibbled a member of staff’s finger thinking it was a carrot!
She made a wonderful recovery and although we didn’t know
she was pregnant when she arrived, it soon became clear she
was carrying a present of her own. She gave birth to
handsome Cain several weeks later, and while both boys are
a bit too boisterous to be ready
for life in the spotlight just yet,
Leah and her friends Deborah
and Carmel are now settling into
life at our Oxhill Rescue Centre
in Warwickshire.
Leah, left, no longer thinks
fingers are carrots!
Norris is still
undergoing
intensive handling
training
Rumpel and friends Stiltskin, Aladdin and Ali Baba are
having handling training and we hope to be able to re-home
them soon… Thumbelina, who was
incredibly nervous when she arrived,
is now the friendliest pony ever, and
the naughtiest!... Tom Thumb is now
living with Caleb, Timothy’s dad and
is much braver... handsome Cookie is
no longer a stallion (ahem!) and has
begun to calm down a bit… Yogi and
Marley who came for handling training are a delight and we
hope to re-home them once they are ready… Meanwhile
Norris, Morris and Archie are still in the early stages of their
rehabilitation and remain very nervous boys… and Pinocchio
still loves to play football and is unrecognisable from the little
bag of bones who first arrived on that cold
Winter’s day…
And last but by no means least, Esther
the donkey! Turn the page to find out
what Esther is up to now…!
Rumpel
may be
ready to
find a
home
soon
Mary, left, and Martha
wearing their sun visors
Please Don’t Forget...
Our three visitor centres are open every day from
March until the end of October. For more details,
or Winter opening hours, visit
www.redwings.co.uk or telephone 0870 040 0033.
Cookie is a
beautiful spotted
gelding
Pinocchio
keeps fit with a
quick kick
around
Chocolate
Egg, Bramble and
Alice settled
into Redwings
quickly