News stories
Second chance for new arrivals
Six rescued horses have arrived at Redwings this week from a charity in Ireland.
The six includes Second Chance, a bay Sport Horse who is just five years old, and Jess, the mother of an existing Redwings resident called Misty who came to us in 2006.
All the horses have come to Redwings from the Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT) who have limited space and resources to keep long-term residents like these. Many of this group are youngsters and have behavioural problems which means they need careful handling and training, so the charity approached Redwings to see if we could take them on and offer them the training and specialist handling they need.
Second Chance was originally rescued by the IHWT in 2007 after she was seized from a farm in Ireland where a total of 25 horses were living in very poor conditions. There were three foals in the group but only one was found still with her mother – the other two foals, one of them being Second Chance, had very sadly been orphaned.
Second Chance originally found a new home through the IHWT’s re-homing scheme to guardians who had hoped to continue her handling training and back her to ride, but she began rearing and became very difficult to handle so she was soon returned to the charity. It is believed that her behaviour is the direct result of her treatment before her rescue and it was soon clear that she needed specialist help.
Meanwhile Jess was rescued by the IHWT in 2005 along with her daughter Misty – both were emaciated and had a severe worm burden and lice infestation. They needed intensive veterinary treatment to nurse them back to health and the owner was later convicted on animal cruelty charges. Misty came to Redwings two years ago for handling training and we are delighted that we now have her mother Jess with us too – once Jess is out of quarantine we expect a very happy reunion!
All six horses made the journey from Ireland very comfortably and they are now settling into life here in not-so-sunny England very well – we will keep you up to date on their progress!
