Friday 30th - Ponies All Found and Well (Grazing Team Visit)

Hi All, 

Me and Lottie had a spare moment so we went to check on the ponies. We found them at the other end of the reserve by the top gate. 

Kat, Doune, Flam are all looking great. Very gentle and friendly, Kat made her way up to us first followed by Flam after a moment of gentle fuss. 

Doone silently snuck up behind Kat. Lovely to see that they are still biddable, thank you for all your hard work finding them and keeping them friendly. 

They are in good condition, trough nice and full and clean. 

Lovely site, we'll have to come back again to explore the bottom of the hill. 

Thanks very much. 

Grace 

Grazing Team 

Wednesday 28th

 3 ponies were on the bottom path towards the eastern end of the reserve. They looked well, 2 were quite inquisitive, hooves ok. Water troughs were full, picked up a little bit of litter by the top gate. Intrigued by the 'giant bee hive' looks more like a disguised water container to us.

Sunday 25

 Ponies playing hide and seek yesterday. Took nearly 2 hours to find them eventually up at the top of the hill by the new giant beehive!

A couple have got splits on their hooves and hopefully this is just part of their normal shedding. It was difficult to spot in the long grass but managed to catch one of the lovelies!

Thursday 22nd June

 Called by to see how the ponies were getting on.  All 3 were under the big beech tree by the main entrance, and clearly wanting to stay in the shade.  They seemed fine, if a bit troubled by flies.  Water level in the trough was good.

Saturday 17th June

 The ponies were loitering by the corral this morning, maybe taking in the shade but also eyeing the green shoots inside it. They were looking well, but whilst I was watching them, Flam led them into the wooden in-channel. As I thought they'd get flustered trying to get out let them into the corral, which they then refused to leave. 

And more interestingly Doune and Flam were a little aggressive with each other. Doune was biting Flam's neck and Flam was responding by backing into her. There were hooves in the air too and a fair bit of jostling. But seemed to peter out, so maybe just hi-jinx? Luckily I was well out of the way when the jostling started though, as you can see how easy it would be to get flattened or accidently kicked. 

But as they refused to leave the corral, left them for a bit and went to see the sheep. When I got back, somehow Flam had managed to lock the others in the corral! This time I was a little bit more assertive and finally got them out and got all the gates back to their starting positions. 

Wednesday 14th June

 

The 3 ponies were grazing about 50m to the left of the water trough by the top gate at around 7.30 this morning. They all looked well, Doune quite inquisitive and the others keeping their distance. Water in the trough was murky brown.

Thursday 8th June

Another beautiful day on the hill and today bumped into Andy from the Grazing Team. The ponies were looking good and grazing very contentedly so no worries there, so joined them for a while and had my lunch. 

I was also closely scrutinised by a low flying Red Kite which was pretty exciting and saw a Kestrel in the distance hovering and riding the thermals. 

Saturday 3rd June

Gorgeous morning on the hill and the ponies were having a Saturday morning lie in. When I arrived I rudely woke both Flam and Doune (or Kat), with Doune expressing her annoyance with multiple huge yawns 🥱. But they looked in good nick, coats were very sleek, eyes clear and no cuts or abrasions. Doune had a just woken up wee which was pretty yellow and then had a nice long drink. But they seemed happy and content so left them to it.