The red-and-white socks were designed for professional soccer players to perform at the highest level of the sport. The fabric helps prevent slipping, makes sweat evaporate quickly and provides special cushioning to limit cramping.
But one of the world’s best soccer clubs had dozens of unused socks piling up. Instead of collecting dust in a team closet, the socks are now getting a new life protecting rescued donkeys and horses, and helping them heal from injuries.
Employees at the Redwings Horse Sanctuary, which calls itself the largest horse welfare charity in Britain, were shocked when they received an email this year from the Arsenal Football Club, a perennial contender in the English Premier League, one of the world’s most-watched sports leagues. The soccer team offered to donate its old socks to the roughly 1,000 equines living at the English sanctuary.
“It’s really one of the most unusual donations we’ve ever had,” said Nicola Knight, the sanctuary’s head of communications and campaigns.
While they probably don’t appreciate the socks’ performance-enhancing designs, donkeys and horses are using them to protect their legs from flies, hold their bandages and keep their thick leg hairs in place when they’re getting their hooves trimmed. Sanctuary employees have also hidden bananas and ginger biscuits in the socks to give equines fun enrichment activities.
“We hope they’re going to make a real difference,” Knight said of the socks.
The sanctuary has tried other socks to protect donkeys from fly bites and cover horses’ bandages, but they did not work as well, with most sliding off or not protecting their legs adequately. The new socks have already reduced visits to the veterinarian for treatment, Knight said. Fly bites can cause skin irritation, open sores and infections in donkeys.
Before using the donated socks, employees had cut off the bottom portion of other socks to prevent them from covering equines’ hoofs. Arsenal’s socks are footless to allow players to wear specialized grip socks on their feet. That design makes sliding them onto donkey’s and horse’s legs easier and holds them in place.
Typically, the sanctuary gets donations of snacks — carrots, apples and ginger biscuits — and other useful items, like buckets and brushes. The 40 pairs of Adidas socks — most of which Arsenal sent in April — were the sanctuary’s first socks donation.
Arsenal did not respond to requests for comment from The Washington Post, but Michael Lloyd, the club’s operational sustainability manager, said in a statement: “We’re always looking for ways to reduce waste and make a positive impact.”
Most of the donkeys have taken to the socks.
A 16-year-old donkey named Woolfie, for example, is patient when his caretakers pull on the socks. He’s used to such interactions, as he came to the sanctuary in 2013 after English wildlife officials received reports of a donkey with overgrown hooves.
A few others have resisted the socks, though, including Dave the Donkey, 5, who is known for being mischievous and uncooperative. Word is that perhaps Dave doesn’t appreciate the red and white socks, as he could be a fan of Arsenal’s rival, Tottenham Hotspur.
Knight said she hopes the attention the donkeys’ new style has garnered will prompt more donations to the sanctuary, which has visiting centers in Essex and Norfolk. Some horses and donkeys get adopted, but others remain at the sanctuary the rest of their lives.
Knight, a die-hard fan of Arsenal’s Premier League foe, the Ipswich Town Football Club, said she’s holding out hope for socks from her favorite team.
“We’ve got 1,000 horses and donkeys,” she said. “So, you know, we could take some more socks for sure.”
The post Why rescue donkeys are wearing donated socks from a pro soccer team appeared first on Washington Post.
