Rehomed Redwings pony helps young para rider to success
A pony rehomed by Redwings Horse Sanctuary ‘saved the day’ after his Guardians stepped in at the last minute to help eight-year-old Alfie-Jay Errington win at a national endurance championship event.
Redwings Milky Way, a 21-year-old Welsh pony, has been taking part in endurance rides for over 10 years, since he was rehomed through Redwings’ Guardianship Scheme.
16-year-old Niamh Richardson, and her mum Sarah, were attending The Lion’s Tail Endurance Ride in Leicestershire on 24th September when they heard that youngster Alfie-Jay was sadly unable to take part in Endurance GB’s Para Endurance National Championships because his pony was lame.
Not wanting Alfie to miss his shot at the championship, Niamh offered Alfie the ride on Redwings Milky Way, with mum Sarah riding alongside to accompany the new partnership.
Milky Way went on to help Alfie win the Emerald Championship, a 23km ride.
Sophie Errington, Alfie-Jay’s mum, said: “Alfie has learning difficulties that make life a little hard to handle for him at times, but he has found his sport in endurance as everyone is so kind and understanding. All he had talked about for a month was the Para Championships, and we are so grateful for the kindness of Niamh and Sarah, and Redwings Milky Way, who is such a beautiful and understanding pony, for the fact he was still able to take part. For them to win was just a bonus.”
Milky Way was one of a large group of ponies rescued by Redwings from areas of common land in Wales in the winter of 2004. Due to problems with indiscriminate breeding, overpopulation, disease and malnutrition the ponies faced a challenging future on the commons. Redwings, and other partners, rescued those in need and, once at Redwings, Milky Way’s group were all named after chocolate bars.
Redwings Milky Way’s Guardian Sarah Richardson said: “Milky Way is experienced at endurance, so we knew he would do a fantastic job looking after Alfie. Lots of riders passing us were calling out to Milky Way, and Alfie asked me why. I explained that he’s a bit famous after his long, and successful, endurance career and Alfie loved that! Alfie regularly competes in Superman or Batman colours, and it was Superman that day – which felt especially apt as Redwings Milky Way saved the day!”
The Richardson family are also Guardians to Redwings Heron, a 30-year-old native pony, who has been part of the family since 2010.
Redwings currently has 700 horses in Guardian homes. Rehoming from Redwings is done on a long-term loan basis, and horses and ponies currently looking for homes can be found at www.redwings.org.uk/rehoming.