Friday 2nd January - All 8 seen - Afternoon Visit

I had some spare time this afternoon, so I decided to check on the ponies again.

At 15:00, they were grazing among the dense gorse bushes north of Brock’s Hill. The dark bay mare spotted me approaching and wandered out into the pasture to greet me near ///claw.squeaks.guards. She was very affectionate, enjoying a long neck rub and returning the attention with gentle nuzzles. The others must have heard my voice, as they soon emerged from the bushes to say hello and enjoy some strokes and rubs. All were happy and looking well.

The cut on the dun pony’s face was already looking better than it had this morning, likely because it had fully dried. She remained very friendly and let me check it thoroughly. I applied some healing cream to support the recovery.

Shortly before 15:25, three ponies moved west to continue grazing over the slope in the pasture. A moment later, something must have startled them—I heard the sudden sound of thundering hooves. The five ponies that had stayed with me quickly followed at speed. I caught up with the group in the far southwest corner, where several wandered out from the trees to greet me again.

The ponies alternated between browsing gorse and holly, foraging among the fallen leaves for acorns, and taking turns to come back for more strokes and scratches. I stayed with them until 16:20, leaving them calm and grazing as darkness fell and the temperature dropped.

Aside from the injury to the dun pony, the ponies were all good today.