Monday 15th December - Pony Update - now 8 ponies on site

There are now eight New Forest ponies on site at the Long Valley reserve.

When I arrived at 13:40 this afternoon, the ponies were grazing contentedly on the northern slope of Brock’s Hill, not far from the main entrance. They were very friendly, each taking a turn to come over, say hello, and enjoy plenty of strokes and rubs. All were happy, relaxed, and looking really well.

At around 14:10, Nicky arrived with two additional ponies to join the group. The existing ponies quickly made their way over to the trailer on the main path, curious about the newcomers, but their interest soon faded, and they wandered off down toward the racecourse. Once unloaded, the two new ponies began sampling the wide variety of forage available in the recently cleared area by the main entrance gate. They then followed the track along the northern side of the hill, grazing contentedly, and both enjoyed a good roll in the muddy grass along the way.

I stayed with the new arrivals while Nicky went to check on the original six. As she approached, they ran down toward the test track gate and into the northeast section of the site.

After Nicky left, the two newcomers moved to graze on the eastern slope of the hill before continuing into the pasture to the east. As I went to locate the group of six, rain began to fall. The girls were grazing just before the woodland in the far northeast corner of the site. I encouraged them to follow me back toward the main path, but they stopped at ///shelf.bossy.proved to browse some gorse. By 15:30, the pair of new ponies were grazing near ///settle.salary.fools, making it likely that the two groups would meet shortly. I said my goodbyes soon after, leaving them grazing peacefully.

The ponies all know each other and have been running together for the past few months, so when they reunite, we don’t expect any problems beyond the normal re‑acquainting behaviour.

The ponies were all good today.