Gibson with his friend Ellie-Mae

More about Redwings Mountains

On 27th January 2015 at 1am, following over 30 months’ work, Redwings Horse Sanctuary merged with Mountains Animal Sanctuary in Scotland.

We were delighted to welcome Mountains and its 85 horses, ponies and donkeys into the Redwings family.

The sanctuary based in Forfar shared our passion for the care and protection of the UK’s horse and donkey population, as well as a similar heritage, having – like Redwings – celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2014, so this merger really was a meeting of two minds. The merger was also the first of its kind under new charity legislation governing mergers between English and Scottish charities so it was a really exciting milestone in both of our histories.

Among the residents newly taken under our “wings” was Gibson Fraser – a foal who arrived when he was just two days old having lost his mother soon after his birth. 

He was named “Fraser” in honour of Mountains founder Alan Beaufort Fraser (1930-2010) – a man who had a remarkable career from being a racing driver and developing the Fraser Imp competition car, to becoming the chairman of the RSPCA in Gibraltar and pursuing his lifelong love of animals in establishing Mountains.

Newborn foal Gibson was given 24-hour care by the sanctuary staff. Requiring feeding every hour, around the clock, it soon became apparent that this little Cob x New Forest was in need of a foster mare. Enter Maggie, a 15-year-old black Welsh, who after a brief introduction took a shine to Gibson and was eager to take him on as her own.

Gibson is now all grown up and is pictured above at Mountains with his friend Ellie-Mae. He is now a popular member of our Adoption scheme, living at Redwings Aylsham in Norfolk.

Very sadly in 2026 Redwings announced the closure and sale of its Mountains centre in Scotland due to rising costs, with all the horses being transported safely back to find new homes at its Norfolk sites.

The cost of living combined with other factors such as the changeable climate have caused the organisation real challenges over the past few years and this is not getting easier. We still have over 1000 horses, ponies and donkeys relying on us every day including those from the Mountains site, and more than 500 more living out in guardian homes. Please visit our Donate page to find out how you can support us today. Thank you. 

Alan Fraser in his racing days
Alan Fraser in his racing days

Alan Fraser

Mountains founder Alan Beaufort Fraser (1930-2010) was a fascinating individual.

Born to Scottish parents in Kent in 1930, Alan had a lifelong obsession with cars, owning his first at 16 years old. 

At the age of 23 he started a motoring business, called Mountains Garages, at his childhood home in Hildenborough, Kent. He had begun racing cars at 22 and was known as the ‘Little Hurricane’ as it was said he would go through any competition circuit like a blast of wind! In 1962 he started the Alan Fraser Racing Team and when the Hillman Imp arrived on the scene in 1963 he and his team began work on a 998 Imp especially for racing. So successful was the team that the ‘Fraser Imp’ racing car, complete with Scottish flag, became an icon of racing in the 1960s and is still seen at many vintage racing events and rallies today.

In 1967 Fraser and his racing team were invited by Rootes car manufacturing to race in Tenerife, and it was while working abroad and seeing the conditions many animals lived in that he became passionate about animal welfare. So much so, in fact, that when he left racing a few years later he was inspired to start an animal sanctuary at his family home in Kent. 

The original site, Mountains Country House in Kent, is now an independent primary school and also a wedding venue – but in the grounds there still remains a donkey graveyard in tribute to the horses and donkeys rescued while it was a sanctuary.

When space ran out at the Kent site Fraser transferred 100 horses and donkeys to a new site in Glenogil, Scotland, which he named ‘Mountains’ after his childhood home and first motoring business - and the stunning countryside too of course! 

Mr Fraser sadly passed away at the age of 80 after a short illness.

In 2015 Mountains merged with Redwings, securing the future of Mr Fraser's beloved sanctuary and all the animals living there. While we no longer have the centre in Scotland, we hope he would be pleased and proud to know all his beloved animals remain safe in our care.

 

The Fraser Imp racing car

The Fraser Imp car, developed by Mountains founder Alan Fraser 

Redwings Mountains is now closed. So sorry for any inconvenience. 
Find out how you can visit our centres in Norfolk and Essex here.

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