THREE orphaned foals have been rescued by Monmouth charity, the Society for the Welfare of Horses and Ponies (SHWP).

One, now named Topper, was found on 24th April on a refuse tip on the mountainside close to Gelligaer Common near Merthyr Tydfil, from where SWHP have taken in many hundreds of equines during the nearly 40 years it has been helping abused and neglected horses and ponies.

Staff at SWHP responded immediately and the foal received urgent veterinary treatment with Abbey Equine vets. It was dehydrated and not known if it had received colostrum from its mother which is vital for its survival. The foal was then taken to the SWHP base at Coxstone near St. Maughans where it was given a lovely warm straw bed with a heat lamp and is being fed every three hours with milk replacer.

Two days later on Sunday during the Pop In day at Coxstone, Mrs Jenny MacGregor MBE received another urgent call of a foal again less than 48 hours old whose mother had been pestered by a stallion and the young foal driven away, the mother nowhere to be seen. Again SWHP sprung into action and the foal was found wandering very close to where Topper had been found. He was taken to Abbey Equine Vets near Abergavenny where he was treated before being brought back to Coxstone and again placed in a safe warm stable with a lovely straw bed and a heat lamp. He too is now receiving milk replacer every three hours. He has been called Tipper.

And finally this weekend, the latest arrival, Winston, was taken in by the society and also needs foal replacement milk.

The foals have started to become firm friends as the picture shows when they first met. Its been a particularly busy time for staff who feed the foals every two hours.

There has been great concern over the years for the situation on Gelligaer and SWHP has been feeding in the region of 500 ponies on the commons this winter, even with  mild weather the total feed and bedding bill for February alone is nearly £4,000.

Chairman of SWHP Mrs Jenny MacGregor MBE said: "This is just the start of the foaling, only a couple of weeks ago a poor little mare had to be put to sleep with a fractured pelvis having been attacked by a stallion on the mountainside, the newly born foals are also being injured which is a cause of great concern and is quite heartbreaking".

Each feed of milk replacer costs £1 which is amounting to approximately £24 a day for the three of them, this will have to continue for a few months until the feeds are gradually reduced. The foals are not out of the woods yet but there is every chance they will make a full recovery, they would definitely not have survived if SWHP hadn't rescued them. A full update on the foals can be found on the website http://www.swhp.co.uk">www.swhp.co.uk and if anyone would like to donate towards the milk for this  hungry little threesome there is link on the website  or donations to SWHP. Coxstone, St. Maughans Monmouth NP25 5QF.