News stories
Happy Birthday to Us!
Redwings is 25 years old this year and we’d love you to help us celebrate!
We will be having a year packed full of events to celebrate our Silver Jubilee and we need your help to make it extra special!
Redwings Horse Sanctuary started life in 1984 with the sole purpose of helping needy equines suffering neglect or cruelty. Over the years so many very special horses, ponies, donkeys and mules have been rescued and have lived happily here in the sanctuary – and many from those early days are still with us, such as lovable Rusty, rescued from a sale in terrible condition, Tufty our beloved donkey or beautiful Ben who was saved from being raffled off at a local show like a toy.
Rusty the pony, now 26 years old!
Sadly we have lost some special friends along the way too - who could forget stunning Shire Jessie, rescued from slaughter along with her daughter Bonnie, lovely Lucy the pony, Willow the Appaloosa or gorgeous Welbeck, the former police horse?
While we have continued to rescue individual horses wherever we are needed, we have also carried out an increasing number of larger rescues – including taking neglected and abandoned horses from the Welsh commons in 2002-2004, rescuing 42 mini Shetlands from Devon in 2002 and rescuing 72 horses and ponies in one day from land in Lincolnshire in 2004! And our staff will never forget being involved in the rescue of 97 horses, ponies and donkeys from a farm in Buckinghamshire in 2008 – moments like that stay with us for the rest of our lives.
Wensley the Shetland was rescued from Lincolnshire with 71 of his friends!
Over the last 25 years, Redwings has grown to become the largest sanctuary in the UK. We take care of more than 1000 horses, ponies, donkeys and mules every day and help many more each year through our welfare, rehabilitation and re-homing teams. Our team of field officers work tirelessly to investigate cases of cruelty and neglect around the UK and we are proud to specialise in transporting nervous or feral equines, offering a safe home to horses that are emotionally scarred or with ongoing veterinary needs, and rehabilitating very nervous horses that may not have a chance without our help.
Do you have special memories of Redwings over the years? Perhaps you have fond memories of a favourite resident or there was an event or rescue that particularly struck a chord with you. Or maybe you even have photos or stories of your visits to our centres or your encounters with our horses and ponies?
If so, we would love to hear from you! We are hoping to collect your thoughts, photos, drawings, poems and memorabilia together for everyone to see so please do help however you can - we simply wouldn’t be here without your support and we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Email us at nmarkwell@redwings.co.uk or write to us at the following address:
‘Memories of Redwings’
Redwings Horse Sanctuary
Hapton
Norwich
NR15 1SP
And watch this space for details of the special events that will be taking place throughout this year to celebrate our birthday – more info soon!
