22 January 2021

#CoronaChronicles 2021: Week Three

This month has so far thrown a mixed bag of weather at us, including freezing temperatures, snow, strong winds and heavy rain.

We hope all of you are staying safe and warm, and wish to thank all our equine care teams who have been heading to our sites whatever the weather to ensure our rescued residents remain happy and healthy.

When it comes to creating a list of essential horse care must-haves, it can be easy to focus on nutritious food, companionship or regular veterinary and farriery attention. But ensuring our horses and donkeys have a safe and enriching environment is just as vital.

With 1,500 being cared for daily at our Sanctuary sites across the UK, that’s a lot of paddocks and fencing that need maintaining! So, this week, we would also like to say a specific thank you to our hard-working Maintenance team who - like our vets, nurses and carers - have been on hand throughout the coronavirus lockdowns to ensure our staff and horses remain safe.

Recently, a small bridge at one of our Norfolk sites started to collapse into a ditch due to the amount of rain we’ve been experiencing. The enterprising team managed to create a new support for the crumbling side by recycling an old oil tank stand to prevent the remainder of the bridge being washed away.

The bridge being fixed thanks to our enterprising Maintenance team.

The innovative fix not only ensured the bridge was safe to use again but, by using no new materials, was also very cost-effective. This is one example of how our teams use their problem-solving skills to make sure every penny we have is used as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Extremes of weather or the challenges of the pandemic aside, there are still many rewarding and fulfilling perks when it comes to caring for our horses – and one of them is the views! Many of our sites are lucky to be situated in stunning countryside locations. The image at the top of this page was recently taken at Redwings Mountains, in Angus, Scotland, while below was submitted by the team at one of our private Norfolk sites.

Stunning sunset at one of Redwings private Norfolk sites

They also know that you, our supporters, are behind them every step of the way and you’ve once again shown that you’ve been thinking of them this week.

Thank you to the employees of Tesco in Aylsham, in Norfolk, who dropped off a donation of parsnips at Redwings Aylsham. Those of our rescued residents who are able to enjoy a treat now and again, like Adoption Star and Miniature Shetland pony Baby Face Nelson below, very much enjoyed their tasty snacks!

Baby Face Nelson was one of the ponies who enjoyed the donation of parsnips.

We were also thrilled to receive the lovely news that we have been nominated for the PetPlan & ADCH Animal Charity Awards in the Animal Charity Team of the Year category. Thank you so much to everyone who has nominated us!

Now, we finished last week’s blog with an incredibly uplifting video of our Shetland ponies at Redwings Ada Cole in Essex enjoying a spot of athletics (click here if you haven’t seen it yet!). This week we leave you with our equally-adorable donkeys at Redwings Oxhill in Warwickshire who have been enjoying some special enrichment activities!

Donkeys are very inquisitive, so their carers often come up with games for them to play to ensure they are kept entertained. On this occasion, they used lead ropes to dangle delicious carrots along their paddock fence and the donkeys had to figure out how to tease out the tasty treats with their teeth. As you can tell, they had a great time!