16 April 2024

Over 20 years of work on the Welsh commons

Redwings rescue team standing next to pen sections assess ponies on Gelligaer common.

As we mark our 40th anniversary, we are reflecting on cases and rescues throughout our history which have shaped Redwings today. Our work on the Welsh commons is one such case.  

In the winter of 2003/04, Redwings began formally working on rescue operations on the commons across south Wales. These rescues saw Redwings working directly with the Police, local charities, landowners and the local council plus commoners – people with the rights to graze ponies on the commons – to tackle issues that had arisen from horses being abandoned on the area, and indiscriminate breeding causing the population to outstrip what the land could sustain.  

At the time, Redwings was very much a Norfolk-based charity (this was before we had any of our centres in Essex, Warwickshire or Scotland!) but we were already having a nationwide impact and were approached to help because of our experience working with large groups of ponies. 

A grey pony called Onia is pictured on the commons looking thin and clearly unwell.
Onia pictured at the time of her rescue looking extremely thin and in need of desperate help.

We developed the photos at Boots!

 

CEO Lynn Cutress, at the time Redwings’ Head of Fundraising and Education, attended the early rescues on Gelligaer common as part of the support team. She would help where needed, including cataloguing and photographing horses which were of concern or rescued.

Lynn remembers: “This was at the time when we would have to develop the photos in Boots when we got back to Norfolk!  

“Other times I would stay with a pony that had been identified as being of concern and would monitor them until the rest of the team, and the equipment, was available to safely catch them. That is how I first met Onia (pictured above and below) who was very underweight, despite being in foal, and very nervous around people.  

“Now age 34, she has enjoyed 20 years of sanctuary life as her more nervous nature meant that rehoming her would not have been in her best interests. Her foal Pumpkin, born safely at Redwings, has enjoyed time in a Guardian home.

“Rescues on the commons have always been a team effort – bringing together colleagues from our veterinary, welfare and maintenance teams. At the time Redwings was based across multiple sites in Norfolk, but teams would come together to work on these rescues.” 

A grey pony called Onia is pictured in her paddock at Redwings 20 years after her rescue.
Onia pictured today in her paddock at Redwings.

An evolving approach

 

Nic de Brauwere, Redwings’ Head of Welfare and Behaviour, was at the heart of the very first rescues on the commons.  

Remembering our work then, Nic said: “I would describe our approach back then as empathetic but clumsy. We were always thinking about the horses, but looking back now you can see how much we learned from those ponies in the early rescues. 

"Rescues now are an understated affair, where we quietly work to keep the horse’s excitement and stress levels at a minimum – meaning we work to cause them as little stress as possible as we get them safely into the pens to examine.

"Even our pen sections themselves came about via what we learned on early rescues. We knew we needed something sturdy and safe for the ponies, and colleagues from Redwings with a background in construction and equestrianism came together and found the solution! Soon enough, we had a pen team, trailer and we’re still using the same type of pen sections today.” 

The Redwings rescue team use pen sections to help gently herd a pony into a horse box.
Pen sections are used in one of the first rescues on Llangynidr common in February 2004.
 
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The impact on our work

 

Lynn added: “It’s not just the kit that we use that is the same, a lot of the team working on the commons back then are still with us today, including Nic, plus Senior Field Officer Julie, horsebox drivers (and rescue round-up experts!) Alan and Clair, and Justin, who is now Centre Manager at Redwings SWHP.

“We had experience working with horses in large groups, and Sarah (now our Behaviour Manager) was already working with horses that needed extra handling training, but I would say our work on the Welsh commons was probably our first work with truly ‘semi-feral’ horses, and they inspired the conception of our Behaviour Centre.”

We asked Lynn to reflect on how our work on the commons has impacted Redwings today.  

She added: “We were always thinking about the horses, and our work on Gelligaer and the other commons taught us a lot about working with horses in family groups. 

"Working in such remote areas also impacted our HGV horseboxes and our newer boxes have different ramps to enable them to be suited for work in these locations, and the interior is designed to make travelling as stress-free as possible for nervous horses, with non-rattling partitions and the ability for horses of all sizes to see their herd mates.” 

Police vehicles are photographed with rescue cars and horse boxes on Tredegar common
Redwings works closely with fellow charities and the Police during rescue operations. Here organisations came together for a rescue on Tredegar in January 2004.

The beginnings of our relationship with SWHP

 

Working in these environments soon saw Redwings approached by other charities to help with similar large-scale rescues. 

In 2004, Redwings helped Bransby Horses and the RSPCA with a large-scale rescue in Lincoln – offering a home to 49 ponies from a large group who had been grazed illegally on an area of farmland and were suffering from severe parasite burdens and overgrown feet.  

Our work on the Welsh commons was also the beginnings of our relationship with SWHP (Society for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies) and Lynn and Nic first met Jenny MacGregor, their founder, and her husband Alasdair, working on the commons rescues in 2003. The MacGregors provided crucial support to Redwings and other NEWC (National Equine Welfare Council) organisations as work across the commons began.  

Redwings worked closely alongside SWHP, eventually merging with the charity in 2019, and our work in South Wales continues there today. 

A brown pony called Delta is photographed on the ponies looking thin.
Delta is photographed on the commons at the time of her rescue.
 
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Lifting up the rock

 

Nic remembers Delta as one of the first ponies rescued in collaboration with SWHP. Now aged 37, Delta has lived at Redwings since her rescue – in fact she is herd mates with Onia, who Lynn remembers so fondly.  

Nic also recalls: “Lynn and I have a phrase that epitomises our attitude towards rescues, ‘when we lift up the rock, we have to be prepared to deal with what’s underneath’. Our dedication to the ponies on the commons I think shows what we mean by that. 

"We continue to be involved even 20 years later as we push forward for a solution on the commons, now working in partnership with the commoners, and better equine identification.”

Since 2003 Redwings has offered a home to over 700 horses from rescues across Wales, including ponies from Gelligaer and Llangynidr commons. 

Mason is one such pony, who was the subject of one of our recent fundraising appeals. He was rescued from Gelligaer common in 2023, along with a pregnant mare Honey and her filly Bumble (watch video here).  

Some of the ponies from the Welsh commons will remain with us for the rest of their lives, as they have either long-term medical needs or their former semi-feral life means they need specialist handling training from our Behaviour team. 

However, others have already found happy new homes through our Guardianship Scheme – like Redwings Zari (pictured in the gallery above).

Mason when he arrived at Redwings pictured in the back of the horse ambulance.
Mason was very weak when he arrived at Redwings

Thank you

 

Lynn added: “Throughout the years we have worked on the Welsh commons we have also been privileged to work with other organisations and be known as the charity that is able to take on the special care cases, whether that be because they are poorly or in need of more handling work.  

“Twenty years on and we now have a team of welfare vets and colleagues to support these rescues, and a specialist facility for our Behaviour team to carry out their amazing work. We can continue to help those horses and ponies that desperately need us, all thanks to our supporters and their kindness, throughout the years." 

Thank you.

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Redwings Press Office

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Support Redwings

As a charity 100% funded by donations, it is thanks to the generosity of its supporters that Redwings is able to continue rescuing ponies in desperate need on the Welsh commons and work towards a solution for their long-term welfare.

You can make a donation to Redwings to continue this important work.

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