The heavy rain clouds of yesterday blew eastwards in the night. This morning dawned with freezing fog. As the sun burned through, wet coated ponies rested in the bracken on Stonechat Hill. The dun mare is sturdy and appears to be in foal. I walked over the brow of the hill to find her resting in bright sunshine. She seemed to be fast asleep, but my footsteps in the bracken roused her.
She was the first to stand up...
and s-t-r-e-t-c-h.......
She was listening to voices in the lane on the hill.........
....and then her ear turned my way........
........and she listened as the young grey mare behind her stood up, stretched and waited until their little bay friend stood up and also stretched in the warming sun.
I turned away as they stood and dozed. Still too sleepy to move, they held an ear pricked towards my footsteps as I crunched across dry leaves and walked away.
6 comments:
What pretty coloration the dun mare has. We'd call her a "buckskin." I know the ponies must be glad for the sun. I am so ready for spring!! It's fixing to snow here again, going to be down to 7F (-14C) tonight and even colder tomorrow night. Just after 7 pm here it is already 11F(-12C). I need to go turn on a trickle of water in my sink faucet so my kitchen pipes won't freeze again.
Your ponies are more relaxed than the horses around here. I don't think I've ever seen any laying down in a field unless there was something wrong.
What a lovely set of photos - I take it that these are wild New Forest ponies? Yesterday was beautiful here but your rain has arrived this morning, we do need it though. In spite of the snow it's been a pretty dry winter in this area.
They're a nice little band. I wonder if the dun mare has some Highland in her? The head wouldn't go amiss on a Highland with that deep jawline.
BB- I wondered the same thing about the dun mare. Her colouring could be inspired by a Highland too. Who knows what breeding some of these ponies have? As you know, in the recent past, the older type of purer bred New Forest pony was diluted/improved by all sorts of other breeds.
Rowan - Yes, these ponies live wild, although they all belong to New Forest commoners. Some have been halter trained ( which makes life easier for catching them if needs-be) but most are unhandled and have to be rounded up at least once a year, for worming, checking, tail notching. This usually happens in early autumn, when the colt foals are removed from their mothers. Often a traumatic weaning.
All the New Forest ponies in our fields were NF colts in need of a home for various reasons.
Karen - Horses often sleep standing up. If they do feel relaxed enough to lie down, early morning or afternoon sunshine seems a preferred time. It is unusual to see all in a group lying down together. Someone is usually standing and awake, on the watch for predators!
WOL- Goodness, you are still in the depths of winter! We could still have snow again here. We often get some a few weeks after bad weather in the US, if Atlantic weather systems blow it our way.
It sounds like you keep a caring eye on the New Forest "wild" ponies--how does this work? Are there individuals who volunteer to oversee them in a particular region and notify someone if there is a health problem?
It is nearly impossible not to feel concern for animals that share our nearby space.
We used to occasionally drive past the wild herds in Wyoming and I wondered if they were brought hay during a hard winter or if it was "survival of the fittest."
Post a Comment