HOW IT BEGAN

In 2013, Robbie and David moved from Hertfordshire to the Gower Peninsula, with the intention of retiring and starting a quieter chapter of their lives.
They bought Woodfield as their new home and arrived with five horses. As Robbie often said,
“We moved with enough horses, we thought would see us out.”
There was no plan to create a sanctuary. Woodfield was meant to be just that — a home. A place to settle, to enjoy the animals they already had, and to slow down.
Just a few months after settling in, a local person approached Robbie and David and asked if they would consider taking on a very sick foal. The foal had a very slim chance of survival, and there were no other options left.
Robbie said yes.
What no one could have known at that moment was that when that word left her mouth, it would be the first of hundreds and hundreds of lives that would be saved — and not only saved, but drastically changed.

Woodfield Farm 2013

Middy’s Block (2013)

After purchasing Woodfield, Robbie immediately had builders in to restore this block, which at the time was little more than bare ruins.
The work was completed just days before Robbie and David moved in. It was never intended for rescue — simply safe stabling for their own horses. The building would later become known as Middy’s Block, named after Robbie’s horse.
In time, it would go on to house some of the sickest and most desperate horses and ponies to arrive at Woodfield.

Middy’s Block (2015)

Soon to become the heart and soul of Woodfield Animal Sanctuary in the years to come. (2013)

The Main Block stables in use. (2025)

Middy’s Block (2013)

Middy’s Block was completed, marking the beginning of something far greater. (2014)

This old hay barn had seen far better days. It would soon be transformed into what became known as “the bays.”
Each bay can house several ponies, with dividing gates that can be removed to create even more space when needed.

Bay 1,2,3 & 4 in full use (2024)

Ollie arrived – Woodfield began

2014.
Ollie arrived in desperate need of life-saving treatment. For a time, it was touch and go. The vet said,
“He hasn’t got much of a chance… but he’s got some chance.”
In those early days, phones and photographs weren’t part of everyday life as they are now. This restored image — taken from an old photograph — was captured within the first six months of Ollie’s recovery at Woodfield.
We are incredibly grateful that these images still exist.
Little did anyone know back then that this moment would mark a true turning point — the arrival of Woodfield’s first rescue.

Six years on, in 2019, we looked back and recreated the very first “before and after” — a moment that started it all.