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Roquefort melts TV presenter's heartIt was a case of 'going going gone' recently as Paul Martin lost his heart to rescue Shetland Roquefort when he was at Hapton filming for antiques favourite 'Flog It!'Paul and a film crew from the BBC’s daytime favourite came to film the Redwings re-homing team in action for the local interest feature which shows people what’s going on locally in between all the excitement in the valuations and sale rooms.
Affable Paul spent the morning interviewing some of the charity’s staff and meeting a number of the 300 horses and ponies resident at Hapton. A horse owner himself, Paul showed great interest in our lovely residents and was particularly taken with Roquefort who is currently looking for a home in the region as a companion pony under the Guardianship Scheme. Tiny Roquefort is one of our ‘cheesy group’ and was rescued from Lincolnshire in 2004 along with 71 others, including popular adoption pony Wensley. Roquefort was a stallion when rescued and practically wild. However, after spending some time at our handling yard and with the re-homing team, he has shown himself to be a delightful little chap who will make someone a great family pony.
He took his encounter with Paul Martin completely in his stride and the pair spent time bonding between takes, much to the delight of our re-homing team! Roquefort even stood patiently with the presenter whilst Paul had a cup of tea – no doubt watching all the cameras and sound equipment and wondering when he was going to be on the telly! Between takes, the Redwings staff found out that Paul has been riding since he was five and currently shares four horses with his wife Charlotte, including a two-year-old Andalusian and a Thoroughbred, on the 30-acre farm in Wiltshire. Having recently moved in, he enjoyed a chat about fencing! “I had heard of Redwings Horse Sanctuary but have never visited before,” explained Paul. “I had no idea it was on such a grand scale. The horses are beautifully looked after and the facilities are fantastic – I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and Roquefort has stolen my heart! I really hope he gets the happy and lasting home he so deserves.” During their visit the BBC filmed ponies being prepared for re-homing in their various stages of training, including lovely chestnut Hawthorn who had only started jumping two days earlier and performed for the cameras like a natural thanks to Marie Green, her very calm rider!
Press Officer Nicola Markwell, who was filmed on the day along with the charity's rehoming manager Emma Lacey, said: “All the ponies behaved beautifully for the cameras and were on their best behaviour. They weren’t at all bothered by all the excitement and we felt so proud of them. Obviously the publicity is wonderful for the charity as we are always looking for support and we are so grateful to the BBC Flog It! team for featuring us and for being such a pleasure to work with. We can’t wait to see the final programme!” We know you’ll be keen to see Roquefort steal the show oozing all the heart-melting charm of a celeb in his own right so as soon as we know it’s on, we’ll post information here! To find out more about the Redwings Guardianship Scheme, follow this link for details >>>>>>>
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