September's Horse? of the month - Elvis the Pony

In July, 1998, the Santa Clara County SPCA asked Redwings to help them to determine the condition of over 100 ponies running free on 160 acres in the east hills of San Jose. Their owner, who lost the land to the bank, made an effort to keep the ponies by moving them to a neighbor’s property. The neighbor, afraid to get stuck with a herd of ponies, had them rounded up and sent to a local auction yard. This meant the slaughter buyers would be able to bid on them (this was prior to Prop. 6 passing). To us it seemed grossly unfair that the ponies should have to lose their lives because of their owner’s financial problems, so we stepped in and asked that they be sold at private auction in order to protect them from slaughter. This request was denied, so we tried to get a court order to stop the sale. When that did not work, we informed the media and guess what? That worked! Local newspaper and TV stations aired the plight of the ponies and on the day of the sale community members were there to outbid the slaughter buyers. The media also showed up for the sale and filmed the whole process.Elvis was one of those ponies and as a result of the sale, he came to Redwings to live out his life in peace.

We chose Elvis because September is noted for Labor Day and ponies were used for hard work including hauling coal from the mines in Wales (Welsh ponies). These ponies seldom saw the light of day - living and dying pulling the coal carts from deep beneath the earth's surface.

Saturday - August 20 - OPEN HOUSE!

Kids will have fun "painting" two of our horses and everyone will enjoy a day in the open spaces. Meet our new horses, Apollo and Leo and --- free lunch!

See you Saturday 11am-3pm, 47240 Lockwood-Jolon Rd., Lockwood, CA

Horse(s) of the Month for August
Our Paints!

Annie – Annie was found all alone, abandoned. She was dirty, scared and hungry.

Lacey and Laura Anne – In May of 2007, Redwings was called upon to rescue a beautiful Overo Paint mare from a feedlot in Fallon, NV. The feedlot ships to Canada for slaughter. Although Lacey did not appear to be pregnant when we rescued her, a pregnancy test was performed, along with several other tests, as a matter of routine. We were delighted, when we learned that Lacey was indeed expecting! Laura Anne was born in April, 2008. When she was weaned from her mother she was placed into a wonderful foster home.

Gypsy- A paint draft cross, came to Redwings in June of 2009 and was previously used as a Premarin horse in Canada. When one of the Premarin farms was downsizing, a family saw Gypsy at an auction and bought her. After working with Gypsy for over a year, her owner realized that because of her fear she will never be able to be ridden or taken anywhere. In April Gypsy’s owner contacted Redwings and asked if we would be able to offer her a home.

Jester- Has congenital condition that has caused his front legs to be misformed. The owner tried to have the condition surgically corrected – to no avail. He came to Redwings unwanteed - but that changed here. He is now fostered to a loving home.

Little Bit and Magic- Magic and Little Bit’s mom Bambi and Magic came to us when their owner could no longer care for them. Bambi gave birth to Little Bit at Redwings on October 7, 2000. Miniature horses were originally bred for the very rich in Europe. Today, mini’s are once again popular as pets and show animals. This popularity, of course, comes with a cost. Breeding produces many defective horses, including dwarfs.