Sunday 22nd March - Pony Update - now 2 ponies on site

Nicky came up this afternoon to check on the ponies and to take four back to the New Forest, as they are due to foal in the coming weeks. After Nicky left, the ponies remained calm, grazing near the corral, although they occasionally called out for the others. After about twenty minutes, however, they suddenly set off at full speed down the path towards the racecourse, before returning a few minutes later along the track to the north of Brock’s Hill. All four came straight over to see me, and I immediately noticed that the bay youngster had a deep cut on the left side of her face. She was happy for me to inspect and clean it thoroughly, although it was bleeding quite heavily. I was able to reduce the bleeding, and after informing Nicky, I stayed with her in the pasture to the southeast of Brock’s Hill, where the ponies had settled to graze. It appeared she may have run into a branch or similar when running. Before Nicky arrived, the ponies went for a walk about, briefly visiting the trees in the far southwest corner before making their way over to the swampy northeast corner. Thankfully, I caught up with them, and they followed me back to the test track gate just as Nicky arrived at 18:35. We then loaded both the bay and the dun youngsters onto the trailer so they could return home together. Afterwards, I remained with the two remaining ponies until 19:30 to ensure they were fully settled, leaving them grazing peacefully in the dark in the pasture near the test track gate. I will provide a full update and share some photos tomorrow.