A rescued pony stepped in at the last minute to help a young rider to a dream win in the national para endurance championship.
Alfie-Jay Errington won the 23km Endurance GB Emerald Championship with Redwings Milky Way, a 20-year-old Welsh pony who has been taking part in endurance rides for over a decade with his rehomers Niamh and Sarah Richardson.
“Niamh Richardson, 16, and her mum Sarah were attending the Lion’s Tail Endurance Ride in Leicestershire on 24 September when they heard that Alfie-Jay was sadly unable to take part in Endurance GB’s para endurance national championships because his pony was lame,” a spokesperson for Redwings said.
“Not wanting Alfie to miss his shot at the championship, Niamh offered Alfie the ride on Redwings Milky Way.”
Sarah rode alongside Alfie-Jay and Milky Way, who were victorious.
Alfie-Jay’s mother Sophie Errington 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 common land in Wales in 2004.
“Due to problems with indiscriminate breeding, overpopulation, disease and malnutrition, the ponies faced a challenging future on the commons,” the spokesperson said, adding that Redwings and others rescued all the ponies in need.
Sarah Richardson said Milky Way is very experienced, so she and Niamh knew he would look after Alfie-Jay.
“Lots of riders passing us were calling out to Milky Way, and Alfie asked me why,” she said.
“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 Richardsons also rehomed Redwings Heron, a 30-year-old pony who has been part of the family since 2010.
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