Our mascot Red thinks he’s a bit of a clever clogs when it comes to knowing all about Redwings! He’s here to answer your questions so feel free to ask him whatever you’ve always wanted to know about taking care of horses and ponies, what life is like here at Redwings, or even what Red likes for his tea!
Fill in the form here, wait a few days and Red’s responses will appear below (don’t worry though, we’ll keep your identity secret!)
Don't forget to have a look at previous questions - you might find that Red has already answered your question!
Why don’t you see if you can catch him out?
(Please note, if you would like a response directly emailed to you then please email Young Redwings instead >>>>>>> . Please remember Red cannot respond to every question!)
Recent Questions!
Q. My pony has sudden large raised lumps around her body and my other horse has one lump on her neck. What are they?
A. The lumps you are describing sounds like they could be fly bites. The warm, wet weather has meant that there are a lot of flies around this Summer and it’s possible your horse has been nibbled on. Try getting her some fly spray or a fly rug and that should help.
Q. Hi Red, I went to the field today to catch my horse. When I had tacked her up I noticed she was walking rather weird and is not herself. Her back leg comes out side wards and her front leg almost trips over her other leg in front of it when walking. She also is finding it painful and is trying to do as little walking as she can. I checked all of her legs and cleared her hoofs but they were all fine, do you have any idea of what has caused this?
A. It sounds like your horse might be a little bit lame. She may have injured herself running around in the field. I would ask an adult to have a look for you and then they can decide if your horse needs to see a vet to make her feel better again.
Q. Is Dolly sometimes naughty?
A. What a good question! Dolly is a lovely girl but she can be a little cheeky from time to time, usually if food is involved, because (don’t tell her I told you but) Dolly is a little bit greedy!
Q. Dear Red, Mars has been moved and I don't know were he's gone. Do you think you could track him down for me? Thanks Red. From Maddie xxx
A. Hi Maddie, Mars is still at Ada Cole. He came up to Hapton for a little while but he is back enjoying the fun at Ada Cole now. I’m sure he would love it if you could go and visit him.
Q. My family were driving along the motor way about a week ago and saw about five horses in a field. The fence is made of barbed wire and their was no water in sight also their was ragwort growing in the field very close to were the pony's were grazing. Some of the ponies had foals at foot. Will the ponies be safe as I am worried about there safety?
A. The best thing you can do if you are worried about the ponies is to ask an adult to ring our Welfare line on 01508 481008 or e-mail welfare@redwings.co.uk. One of our Welfare Officers will then be able to look into the problem to see if there is any concern for the ponies’ well-being. Thanks for your question.
Q. Hi Red, I am going to Redwings soon for the first time! BUT, how do u adopt a pony/horse/donkey/mule?
A. That’s so exciting that you are about to have your first visit to Redwings. I really hope you have a great time. You can adopt one of the Adoption Club Stars on your visit. There are different horses, ponies, donkeys and mules to choose from at each site. See which ones are available for adoption and then pick your favourite! Simple! Let me know who you choose!
Q. Hi Red can you answer this for me? Do horse shoes have to be heated before they are put on to the horses hoof and won’t it hurt them with the nails going in there hoof. Thanks.
A. What a good question. Horse shoes are heated before being put on. They are pressed against the horse’s foot when they are hot so that the Farrier (the man putting the shoes on) can see what shaping the shoe needs. They are then very skilfully nailed on. This doesn’t hurt the horse as the nails are put into the insensitive part of the foot.
Q. How many stomachs does a horse have?
A. We horses have just one stomach. We have quite a complicated digestive system which is quite delicate. It is similar to you humans actually because we have a stomach, a large intestine and a small intestine! Yuk, all this talk of intestines is making me feel a little ill!
Q. Hi, Is it true if I send my donkey (felicity) a letter she will reply to me?
A. Hello, Felicity will indeed reply if you send her a letter. She loves to receive post and e-mails and she always responds! I’ll let her know to look out for one!
Q. Hi, my horse is becoming a bit of a pain to load in the trailer! She just stands half way up the ramp and refuses to move. We've tried persuading her with food, please help!
A. Going into a lorry or trailer can be a very scary experience for a horse or pony. It is a very unnatural place for it to be. If your pony is having trouble loading you could try loading a quiet pony first so there will be someone to keep her company and the other pony will help to relax your pony too. Gentle persuasion should work along with a lot of patience and a calm voice. If you still have no luck then I suggest you seek the help of someone with experience of loading difficult horses. Good luck!
Q. Hi I’m thinking about adopting one of the horses from the Ada Cole or the centre in Yarmouth but I’m not sure who. I was thinking maybe Dolly but I was wondering if there are any bigger ones like 15 maybe 16 or 17 hands?
A. All of the Adoption Club stars are lovely so I am sure you will be delighted with whoever you choose. Dolly is a really sweet girl, or if you want someone bigger I think you’d be very happy with Boo or Finnegan. Or if you want someone really big you can’t get much bigger than lovely Prince. He is a Shire x Clydesdale and stands at a whopping 18hh!! He lives at the Caldecott Visitor Centre near Great Yarmouth and is a real gentle giant!
Q. When is Rhadlon's birthday? He is my adoption pony and I would love to go to his party!
A.Rhadlon’s birthday is on 20th August and he will be having a birthday party at the Ada Cole Rescue Stables on 22nd August to celebrate! I’m really looking forward to it!
Q. Why are mules so different to donkeys? What horse is most popular at redwings?Yours sincerely, Erin
A. A Mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, while a Mule is a cross of both. All male mules are infertile as are most females. Well I am obviously the most popular horse here at Redwings! Goes without saying! Hehehe! Well I suppose there are some other popular horses here too, Adoption star Prince is very popular as is the newest addition to the Adoption Club, Esther the donkey!
Q. Hi Red. I sometimes get scared whenever my loan pony starts acting up. I was riding this other pony who I was going to start loaning who is very young and she bolted with me and I was very shaken. Do you know any way I can over come this worry? Thank you!
A. Hello there, having never been ridden myself I did not have an immediate answer for you, but having asked one of my ridden buddies they have given me some useful information for you! If your pony starts to mis-behave when you are riding it is most likely that they are unsure of something. So the best thing you can do is to stay nice and relaxed and try to re-assure your pony. You could consider asking a friend to ride out with you on a very confident pony as this will help to make your pony feel happy too! Hope this helps!
Q. Hi Red, I have just adopted Denise the donkey. I am a school councillor at Boynton Primary which means I can ask the school if we can try to raise money to help Redwings. Do you think Denise would like this? Lots of horsey love xx
A. Hi, Denise would love it if you did some fundraising for all of us here at Redwings. There are lots of really fun things you can do to raise money such as cake sales, face painting and sponsored runs! Have a look at the Fab Fundraisers page for more great ideas. You can also e-mail fundraising@redwings.co.uk and one of my human friends will send you all sorts of interesting info! Thanks!
Q. What is a foal?
A. A foal is the name for a horse, pony, donkey or mule that has just been born. We are called foals until we reach the age of one year old when we are called yearlings! Thanks for your question!
Q. How many teeth does an adult horse have?
A. What a good question! An adult horse has a total of 40 teeth! Isn't that a lot? We have 12 incisor teeth at the front and then 24 molar teeth at the back, and then we have four others called 'tushes' that sit between the incisors and the molars.
Q. Ahhh! Monkey Puzzle looks so cute! Could you tell me a bit about him? I have a horse like him in my riding school - he is so cute.
A. Hello there! Monkey Puzzle is my good friend… He was born at Redwings in 2008 after his Mum was rescued from a site in London. At the moment he lives at the Ada Cole Rescue Centre in Essex with lots of his lovely friends, where he has been a big hit amongst visitors! I will tell him you said hello…
Q. Hi Red. Is Boo your friend? Because I love Boo. Once I visited your centre and I loved Boo and Smartie - they are so cute. I go horse riding myself and love it. Horses are just so great. One question I have to ask is how do horses get scared? What would cause them to go mad? X
A. Hello my friend. Yes Boo is my friend! He is a lovely chap, although he can be a bit nervous sometimes. Smartie is pretty cool too - he is so friendly… He loves everybody he meets! To us humans, horses do seem to get scared quite easily. This is because their senses are much sharper than ours… They can hear a much greater range of pitch and have a much wider range of vision than humans do. So a horse might shy away or turn and run, when it seems to us that there is nothing there, because they can hear noises and see things that we can’t. In the wild, they always have to be ready to run away from predators so they don’t get eaten! I hope this helps!
Q. Every time I do sitting trot my feet slip out of the stirrups. How can I stop this?
A. Hello there. If your feet are slipping out of the stirrups, you are probably trying to grip with your legs too strongly. Just try to relax and let your legs hang down long and loose. It might be worth lengthening your stirrups a little bit and letting your weight fall down into your heels. If you are finding it really difficult, then try holding on to the pommel of the saddle, which will help you to sit deeply into the saddle. Good luck!
Q. Hello, Red! I would like to know a bit more about Prince, Oliver Twist and Abendigo, (who live at Caldecott). I just want to say I loved visiting Redwings, and am hopefully going again soon! Bye Red. (:
A. Good afternoon! Well, Prince and Oliver Twist are two of our Adoption superstars! Prince came to Redwings after living at a Nature Reserve where he was a companion to a dray-pulling horse. Before that, Prince used to pull logs for a living! Oliver Twist has a twisted muzzle (also known as wry nose) which is a condition he was born with. He came to Redwings as nobody wanted him due to his condition. Abendigo is a very friendly grey roan pony who came to Redwings back in 1991 - he has something called a wall eye which means one of his eyes is blue, rather than dark brown. He can still see perfectly well though! I’ll tell all three of these guys that you said hi!
Q. How are Misfit, Katy, and Dolly doing? Hope they are ok.
A. Katy and Dolly are very well indeed! They have been enjoying the snow and playing around with their buddies. Misfit hasn’t been too well lately and had to spend Christmas time here at Redwings’ headquarters in Norfolk where there is a specialist Vet Unit. He is well on the mend though and will soon be frolicking at Ada Cole again!
Q. Hi Red, I just became a member of Redwings about 2-3 weeks ago but I don’t know when my magazines will come - please can you tell me?
A. Hello there. The Young Redwings magazine is sent out to supporters twice a year - in March and in September. Thanks for your question!
Q. Where do your horses go if they do not get accepted for a new home?
A. Well, Redwings is a sanctuary, which means that all of our horses and donkeys have a home here for life. If they are not healthy enough to be re-homed or have some kind of permanent illness, then they stay here at Redwings for the rest of their days. Hope this helps!
Q. Do you have any Shetlands?
A. Yes we have LOADS of Shetlands! We have about 150 Shetlands and Miniature Shetlands, and lots more who live in Guardian homes! Our Oxhill Visitor Centre in Warwickshire is home to lots of Shetlands that you can go and visit.
Q. Hi Red! There are these ponies at the bottom of my street. I feed them carrots every week, but I'm worried about them. One of them used to be grey, but now he’s turning browny-yellow! I think I’ve seen ragwort in their field, and they have a stable made of metal which I've heard can burn them if its hot! What should I do?
A. Hello there! The best thing for you to do is to ask an adult to phone our welfare helpline on 01508 481008 or to email welfare@redwings.co.uk. Then one of our Equine Welfare Advisors will be able to have a look at the ponies and see if there is any cause for concern. Thank you very much for your question!
Q. Hello Red. How is Mars? He is my favourite pony ever! I come and see him every weekend. I was wondering if he had been rescued or if he had something wrong? Mars is my best friend and he always looks pleased to see me and I always share my secrets with him! From Maddie
A. Hello Maddie! Mars is a lovely young chap isn’t he? That’s brilliant that you go to visit him every weekend - I bet he loves you! He was rescued back in 2004 from the Welsh Commons along with many other ponies. They were all in a very bad state as they did not have enough food to eat or enough water to drink. Mars had overgrown feet and had not seen a horsey dentist in a while, so his teeth were in a bad state. Mars had never been handled by humans so he was very nervous. He had to spend a lot of time with our Rehabilitation team in Norfolk who taught him how to trust humans again. Mars is looking forward to your next visit!!
Q. Dear Red, I live in the USA and I am very fond of horses. I was wondering...On this website, if you choose to adopt a horse, do you pay just once, 12.50 a year? And also, will they send the horse to you or will you just send the money to the horse? Thank you very much.
A. Good Afternoon my friend from across the pond! Adopting a horse means that you will receive two stories through the post written by your chosen horsey. Or you can choose an online adoption which means that you can log on to their special website and read their diary entries and look at photos of them. Your adopted horse will stay here at Redwings!
Q. Where do I find out information on Laminitis?
A. Hello there… You can read about laminitis by clicking on the ‘Special Features’ tab of this website and downloading the ‘Horsey Ailments’ PDF, or you can click here to read a leaflet all about laminitis. Thanks!
Q. Hi Red, I was wondering if I could adopt a pony, but I don't know who is up for adoption. Could you tell me?
A. Hi! You need to have a look here to see all of our adoption ponies! Happy searching!
Q. Hi, my name is Kelly. I look after a 9 year old Appaloosa gelding called Leo. He was treated really badly and I am interested in adopting Boo, can you tell me some more about him? I really admire you Red, love Kelly xx :)
A. Hey Kelly! Oh, poor Leo. At least he has you to look after him now. We have two horses at Redwings called Boo. One of them you might have read about on the ‘Meet the Residents’ page. He has had a very traumatic life as he had cancer in one of his eyes, then was shot with an airgun by some very mean people in his other eye, which means he is completely blind. Sadly Boo is not one of our adoption horses, as he is not able to live at a Visitor Centre.
We have another horse named Boo who is an Arab horse! He lives at our Ada Cole Rescue Centre in Essex, and you can adopt him for £12.50 a year. Boo was found in a really bad way with six other horses - he hadn’t been looked after very well at all and was very nervous. His owner went to court and was banned from owning another horse for the rest of his life.
I hope this helps Kelly! See you soon.
Q. Can you ride mules?
A. Yes you can indeed ride mules! Riding a mule is much different from riding a horse, as they have different temperaments. Have a look at the British Mule Society website for more information!
Q. Do you have any Arabs or foals?
A. Hello there. Yes we do indeed have Arabs and foals! At the moment we have 23 foals here at Redwings, and our most famous Arab resident is Boo, who is one of our adoption ponies. He lives at the Redwings Ada Cole Rescue Centre in Essex!
Q. Hello Red! I am hoping that you could answer these questions for me, thanks. I am coming up soon to one of your centres, and I was wondering if I missed my adoption pony's birthday. Icky is my adoption pony, but unfortunately, I don't see him much. Please can you tell him Happy Birthday for when it is or was please! Also my brother’s adoption pony Muffin was in one of the newsletters and he had a sarcoid on his eye. Is he okay now? I hope he gets better. Thank you Red, Bye!
A. Hello my dear! Thanks for your questions. Icky’s birthday is on 24th March and he had his party a few days afterwards. But, if you keep adopting Icky then you should get an invitation to his next birthday party! I told him you said Happy Birthday and he was very pleased! Muffin is absolutely fine now. He had a sarcoid on his eye last year and had to have lots and lots of treatment on it, but it has cleared up now. Icky is looking forward to seeing you soon!
Q. My horse keeps bucking and rearing when we try to put him in a horse box. Why do you think he keeps doing that?
A. It sounds like your horse doesn’t like travelling at all. It’s really important to remember that travelling is really unnatural us horses... Imagine standing in a really dark box without knowing what’s going on. Horses have brilliant memories, so every travelling and loading experience needs to be really comfortable. Have a read of our welfare leaflet on Equine Travel and Transport here to find out more on loading your horse onto a horsebox.
Q. Dear Red, Katy is one of my MOST treasured horses but I really don't know much about her. What’s her fave food? Who is her best friend? And is she well enough to ride? From Alice. P.S sorry if these questions are a bit much. And thank you to everyone that has helped Redwings.
A. Hello there Alice! Katy is a very good friend of mine, and she is so pleased that you would like to know more about her. Everyone here loves Katy because she is just so sweet! Her favourite food is carrots, although she knows she shouldn’t eat too many as she might get too fat, which can be very bad for horses. Her best friend is Khan who is an Arab! Khan is lovely too… They are always together! Sadly, Katy can’t be ridden as she has never been backed, and her history means that she probably wouldn’t like it very much. Thanks so much for your questions!
Q. Hi Red, how is that adorable Peter Pan? How old is he now? Also I would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Redwings for looking after all the horses/ponies/mules/donkeys. HIP HIP HOORAY!!
A. Wow, thank you so much for your kind message! You are too kind! You are right that Peter Pan is very adorable. Although he is much bigger now, compared to his photograph in the Young Redwings magazine. He is 18 months old now and is nearly fully grown. He loves to play with his friends and can be a little menace sometimes (but in a good way of course)!
Q. Hi Red, I have adopted Boo and Victor but he sadly passed away so now I adopt Prince. I want my birthday party at Ada Cole…If I do, could I see Boo and show him to my friends?
A. Hello there my friend. Victor was a very good friend of mine and I miss him terribly. He was such a gentle giant and had a huge personality. Of course you can see Boo if you have your birthday party at Ada Cole! I’m sure he would be very chuffed if you introduced your friends to him. Thanks for your question!
Q. Why is Victor not on the adoption section of your main website anymore?
A. Hello there. My good friend Victor sadly had to be retired from the adoption scheme because he is getting on a bit now. He suffers with arthritis in his back legs, so he now lives at Redwings’ headquarters in Hapton so he can be close to the vet unit. I will send Victor your best wishes! Thanks and take care!
Q. Dear Red, every time I go past this field I see some horses. They seem to be happy but they have still got their winter coats on. There are broken fences and I can't see any water trough or shelter in the field but I am not sure what to do, can you help?
A. Hello and thank you for your question. The best thing for you to do is to ask an adult to phone our welfare helpline on 01508 481008 or email welfare@redwings.co.uk. Thanks loads for getting in touch and for being concerned about these horses.
Q. Hi Red, how do you stop bouncing in the saddle when you canter? The pony I ride is fast and the instructors say sit deep. I do, but it doesn’t help! Can you help please?
A. Hello! This is a difficult question for me to answer because I’ve never been ridden, and I’ve never ridden another horse either! That would be silly teehee. But my human friends tell me that it’s a good idea to shorten your reins a little bit before you go into canter and make sure that your weight is in your heels. Move your hips so that they follow the movement of the horse. If you feel really unsteady you can try holding on to the pommel of the saddle, but this might not be a good idea if you are riding a fast pony! The best solution really is just to keep practising - you will eventually get the hang of it!
Q. Dear Red, everytime we go out shopping we drive past a field. I am really worried about the horses that live in the field because there are scraps of metal lying around and there is nothing to stop them running out into the road. What can I do to help the horses in the field?
A. Thank you very much for your question. This sounds like a very serious issue and your best bet is to ask an adult to phone our welfare helpline for some advice. The number is 01508 481008 or you can email externalwelfare@redwings.co.uk. Thanks for your question and it's really nice to see young people like you caring so much for horses.
Q. Hi Red, how do I keep a seat during sitting trot? I am always bouncing around and it is really uncomfortable!
A. My human friends tell me that the best practice for being able to sit still during sitting trot is to try it with no stirrups! Ask your instructor if you can take your feet out of your stirrups and cross them over your horse's withers. Then you have no choice but to do a sitting trot!
When you do sitting trot with your feet in stirrups, lean back a tiny bit and try to put all of your weight into your bum. Just try not to lean forward, because this will put you off-balance and you will bounce around. Hope this helps! Thanks for your question!
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