Sunday 14th December - All 11 seen

At 14:10 this afternoon, the ponies were happily grazing in the pasture east of the ammo compound, near ///diary.stupidly.vocab. They were all very friendly, each taking a turn to come over, say hello, and enjoy plenty of strokes and rubs. Afterwards, they returned to grazing but continued to come back one by one for more attention, happily soaking up long neck and back scratches and offering gentle nuzzles and cuddles in return.

By 14:45, the girls had drifted south, passed through the gorse bushes, and paused briefly at the edge of the path to rest. They didn’t stay there for long before moving southwest into the pasture behind to graze again. All seven were happy, relaxed, and looking well.

At 15:10, the yearlings were grazing in the heather near ///dorms.graced.satin, north of the northern path through the site. They seemed pleasantly surprised to see me, with yearlings 278, 282, and 283 immediately coming over to greet me and enjoy some strokes. Yearling 276 was in the nearby gorse bushes but came bounding over as soon as he heard my voice. The boys were very friendly, thoroughly enjoying long neck and back scratches and appreciating having the loose gorse brushed from their backs. All four were happy, relaxed, and looking well.

At 15:35, I said my goodbyes and started heading back toward the ponies, only to find the boys following me. I stopped to give them a few more strokes on the path, but they continued to follow me along the track toward the ammo compound. When I turned south to return to the ponies—who had moved back to the pasture where I first found them—the boys stopped and mooed a few times before carrying on toward the compound.

I stayed with the ponies until just after 16:05, then said my final goodbyes, leaving them grazing peacefully. I’m pleased to report that I neither saw nor heard anything related to the drag hunt, and that both the cows and ponies were completely unaffected.

The cows and the ponies were all good today.