Saturday 6th June - All 8 seen

At 14:00 this afternoon, despite some light rain, the ponies were grazing in the pasture northeast of the water trough, near ///lived.grips.misted. The girls wandered over one by one to say hello, greeting me with soft nickers and enjoying plenty of strokes and scratches. They were all rather damp but didn’t seem the least bit bothered. The foal quickly grew impatient waiting for her turn and soon trotted over, giving me a gentle nudge to make sure I knew she was there before leaning in for a long neck and back scratch. She, too, was wet but was perfectly happy to have the rain brushed from her coat. After our initial hellos, the ponies returned to grazing, with the foal staying close by, soaking up as much fuss as possible. The girls also took regular breaks from grazing to wander back over for more attention.

The boys had been sheltering from the rain in the woodland by the tarmac road near the entrance gate. They soon wandered over to greet me, initially hanging back and announcing their arrival with a chorus of moos. I walked over to them, and each enjoyed a long neck rub, returning the affection with gentle head rubs. They had clearly been hunkered down beneath the trees, as they were much drier than the ponies. After saying hello, they stayed nearby despite the rain, relaxing and peacefully chewing their cud. All four were happy, relaxed, and looking well.

The little one was full of energy and mischief today — following me around, leaning into her neck and back scratches, and offering sweet, playful nibbles in return. She loved being the centre of attention and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of fuss. During one particularly heavy shower, she followed me into the woodland to the south for shelter, happily staying close and enjoying even more back rubs while we waited for the rain to ease. She is continuing to explore her surroundings and has started copying her mum and aunties by occasionally nibbling at grass and gently chewing the soft leaves of the silver birch trees, although she still nurses regularly from her mum. Despite all her adventures, she doesn’t seem to have picked up any new bumps or grazes, and her existing scrapes are healing well.

I continued to split my time between the cattle and the ponies, all of whom were happy to receive plenty of attention. During another heavy shower, I went over and gave the trough a good clean. The foal initially followed me before realising she had wandered a little too far from her mum and went racing back to her at full speed.

At 16:05, I was spending some time with the boys when I noticed all three ponies stop grazing and focus their attention on the woodland where the boys had been resting. A short while later, all four ponies suddenly ran off to the northeast, cutting through the woodland in the direction of the ammo compound. I’m not sure what spooked them, so I went to make sure they were okay, the boys following closely at my heels. I caught up with them just after 16:15, grazing east of the compound near ///foil.ruby.jetliner. They were all absolutely fine, with the foal trotting over to greet me as soon as she spotted me.

The cattle and ponies continued grazing together in the surrounding area, but would often wander over for more strokes and rubs whenever they spotted me without the foal by my side. The little one remained keen for endless strokes and scratches, rarely leaving my side except to nurse from her mum or briefly lie down for a rest. I said my goodbyes at 17:30, leaving them all peacefully grazing as yet another shower passed through.

The cows and the ponies were all good today.