Autumn Newsletter 2009 - Redwings

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4 Welfare Rescues‘The first time I quietly slippeda small bowl of feed intoKensington’s stable, he simplystood at the back and shook’Marie AngellEquine Assessment OfficerKENSINGTON...BEYONDWORDSShockingly emaciated Kensington was one of a groupof eight horses that have had their lives turned aroundthanks to Redwings’ unique resources and expertise.The group was rescued in partnership with the RSPCA,following assessment by Redwings’ experienced welfarevets, and brought into our quarantine centre from a sitenear London in the careful hands of our horsebox team.We always like to use a theme when naming groups ofnew horses so we decided to use London as the themefor these special arrivals.The three young stallions, an elderly pregnant mare, threefillies and one colt were all desperately thin. StallionKensington was the most underweight, being so skeletalthat even our most experienced staff were aghast whenthey saw him - it seemed beyond belief that he was stillalive. He weighed just 246kg when he arrived (which is theusual weight of a small native pony). The treatment ofseverely emaciated horses like Kensington is a delicatejob, but the Redwings’ team knows just how to supportand nurture a fragile body without doing too much, tooAlmostunrecognisable,Kensington puton about 150kgin four monthswith theknowledgeablesupport ofRedwings’veterinary teamquickly, which could easily have fatal consequences.As well as being severely underweight, there were a rangeof other conditions that our vets and staff needed to treatin the group, ranging from worms and lice to dermatitisand overgrown and deformed hooves. Seven of the eightrescued horses, including Kensington, were alsounhandled and extremely nervous which meant that ourteam had to allow lots of time and use some of our verybest handling staff to ensure that the horses could betreated effectively with as little stress to them as possible.Redwings is exceptional in its provision of the facilities,knowledge and level of care required by complex andserious welfare cases such as this.
Welfare Rescues5Far left: Kensington was almost literally awalking skeleton when he arrived atRedwings in March this yearLeft: Veteran mare Mayfair gave birth tobeautiful filly foal, Victoria, a few weeksafter her rescue. Mum and daughter haveblossomed in our careBelow: All eight rescued horses wereinfested with lice. Piccadilly had rubbedherself raw in places because of the nastyparasitesBottom: Piccadilly and her friends havetransformed into stunning young horses,full of life and fun!A further important consideration for Redwings was thepregnant mare, Mayfair. Judged to be in her twenties,Mayfair was also significantly underweight, but her hugebelly showed that another new arrival could be with usvery soon. Thankfully, at the end of May, Mayfair gavebirth to a beautiful, healthy young filly we called Victoria.Victoria is like any other lively, curious young foal and adelight to be around.‘The remarkable recovery of thisgroup of horses is real testamentto the skill and dedication of theteams here at Redwings’Lynn CutressChief ExecutiveKensington, Trafalgar, Buckingham, Mayfair,Piccadilly, Putney, Pimlico and Finchley are justsome of the many horses who are enjoying life againthis year thanks to Redwings’ special skills andresources: the vets who provided their clinicaltreatment; the horsebox drivers who brought theminto the safety of the sanctuary; the team thatprovided their daily care; the night staff who providedextra feeds and checks out of hours; the handlingteam that is helping these very special horses to puttheir pasts behind them and learn to trust humansonce more. And most importantly, the supporters whomake all this possible by donating what they can toRedwings so that we never have to turn away horsesin need or provide anything less than the best forsuch sad cases like Kensington and his friends.‘In 18 years of activewelfare work for Redwings, Kensingtonis certainly one of the thinnest horsesI have ever dealt with.’Nic de BrauwereHead of Welfare
Page 6 and 7: 6 WelfareEsther’s Rescue -Amersha
Page 8 and 9: 8 SILVER JUBILEE - 25 YEARS OIn cel
Page 10 and 11: 10 Silver Jubilee EventsRedwings’
Page 12 and 13: 12 Fabulous FundraisersTHE RED HORS
Page 14 and 15: 14 Unconditional Love AppealUncondi
Page 16: 16 Redwings Adoption ClubIt has bee

Autumn Newsletter 2009 - Redwings

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