Cattle, Ponies,Donkeys

A couple of weeks ago I had not even been able to reach Elizabeth’s Bed against our southern fence, such was the jungle beyond

the Shady Path.

In addition to all else he managed yesterday, Martin completed his

clearance of this area, around which I walked with ease on this cooler, breezier morning. The top centre of the last image shows that he has also continued into the Rose Garden.

This afternoon, after buying a cucumber and other vegetables at Ferndene Farm Shop, we continued into the forest.

Burley was swarming with both ponies and tourists.

How, I wondered had this grey received slashed flanks.

Jackie produced this image of a foal sleeping beside the War Memorial.

We followed a veteran vehicle along Gorley Road until it turned off in the direction of Fordingbridge.

The donkey family at Hyde hadn’t moved far since our last visit.

Ponies in traffic at North Gorley amused a pair of cyclists who had to ride round them.

Cattle, ponies, and foals shared the green, although

the soggy pools were left to equine adults.

This evening, seated on the sofa while watching the Gold Medal Olympic rugby sevens competition between France and Fiji; then the highlights of the second day of the third Cricket Test match between England and West Indies, we dined on pizza and plentiful salad with which I finished The Reprobates Italian red wine.

67 comments

  1. I particularly love the sleeping foal and young donkey foal photos!

    Looks like you have had enough rain that the ponies can all have some seaweed soup now. 🙂

  2. Your animal photos are always so lovely! They are a joy to see. And you know I love your donkey photos so VERY much!
    Huge compliments to Martin…he does THE bestest work!
    Like that little foal…sometimes we are so tired we just fall asleep where we last sat. HA! 🙂
    (((HUGS))) ❤️❤️

  3. Oh, this was a thoroughly outstanding post, Derrick. You know I’d like to be there because of all the animals, but what else draws the tourists?
    I caught the rugby sevens Bronze medal game – who won the France/Fiji match?

    1. France – thanks largely to Antoine du Pont, captain of the 15 team who took a break to focus on the Olympics

  4. Wonderful photos, Derrick. Your garden path looks stunning. Yes, how did the pony get those marks? I felt bad for it. Are you watching much Olympic coverage. The time difference is an issue for me. Hope all is well.

    1. Thank you very much, Steve. I just see some snippets of the Olympic coverage, although more is available throughout the day. It competes with the cricket which is my first love.

  5. They are all beautiful. I like the horses. The sleeping foal is so cute. Ponies seem to be busy in a meeting. 😀 This looks fun. Happy New Week!

  6. The horses in the water make an interesting photo because their legs are missing. I enjoyed the foal of course. And watching the Olympics has been fun for us this year. Often, we are too busy and distracted to catch any of it. Also, Olympics broadcasting is usually on a paid TV service that we have not purchased. But this year we have access and it has been marvelous. At my Belle Brigade party yesterday, the father and the sons of the family are obsessed with volleyball, so were absent for most of the party because they were watching the match. It’s so fun.

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