Lettie Helps with the Challenge

With the cooler temperatures of fall, I began to ponder the Fell Pony Society 96 Mile Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Challenge that I signed up for in the spring. At the start of summer, I had only completed 13 miles, and then I took the hot days of summer off. The challenge has to be done by the end of October, so I know it will be a push to finish it.

Lettie up high on the hill, rudely interupted from grazing to have her picture taken!

Fortunately, the ponies that I signed up to assist me with the Challenge, including Willowtrail Lettie and Willowtrail Aimee, seemed, like me, more interested with the cooler weather. In all, I signed up three youngstock, including Lettie and Aimee, and one mature pony. Aimee and Lettie spend most nights out on the hill with two mares. They sometimes are up quite high, as shown in the picture here. My thinking regarding including the youngstock in the Challenge was that hand walking them often and in new environments is good experience for them and solidifies their leading skills. And walking with me is quite different than how they spend most of the hours of their days, so it’s good for them to live a domesticated life for a few hours!

One walk with Lettie contained many of the new experiences that I hope for on our outings. We walked along the ranch lane a half mile out and back, so a mile total. While walking, we met a pickup on the lane and then a tractor. We passed cows with calves in pastures along the lane and wild turkeys wandering around. Lettie was fine with all these features of our walk. So I was surprised what caused her to go on high alert.

Lettie suddenly on high alert on a walk for the Challenge.

We got almost to the end of our half mile outbound walk when she stopped and raised her head as high as it would go. I followed the direction of her gaze and smiled. She had spotted a mature bull in a pasture. The bull was moving in our direction, though nearly 100 yards away and over a fence. Then I watched Lettie shift her gaze slightly, and there was another bull also moving in our direction from similarly far away. I think the bulls were headed to a favorite midday resting place, so their movement had nothing to do with us. Nonetheless, these animals are impressively massive, and while Lettie sees cows and calves quite often, she hasn’t had the chance to see mature bulls very often, especially away from her herd and all together.

We’re having fun together working on the Challenge!

Eventually Lettie relaxed, and we completed our walk without incident. I was pleased that she didn’t get busy feet when she saw all these new sights. Much safer for any humans she is with. Aimee has been similar when we’ve been out and about, so we’ve had a lot of fun together all through September.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

There are more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Under Heavy Skies

I went out later in the evening than I probably should have. I was assuming that the mares and foals had come into the barn on their own as they had been doing every night for awhile. I was especially hopeful they were in because the skies were very heavy: dark and full of moisture with thunder and lightning punctuating regularly.

When I stepped outside to go to the barn, though, I could see I was out of luck. On the other hand, at least I knew where one mare was. Her foal was silhouetted against the dark sky high on the hill. I cast an eye in the direction of the lightning and then towards the pony up high and decided we had a window of time to get up there and down safely. So we, my dogs and I, started climbing. We stayed under trees as much as we could, and I counted between every lightning flash and thunder boom to make sure those features weren’t coming our way.

When we got up to where I had seen the pony silhouetted against the sky, I found only one mare and foal instead of two pair. We were very exposed, so after walking a short distance to see if I could find the other pair, I decided we’d have to go down without them and hope they would join up with us eventually. Usually the two pair are together.

Just as we had when climbing up, we stayed under trees as best we could, and I took a round-about way to the barn that was less out in the open. The ponies didn’t seem nearly as bothered by the booms and flashes as I was (and my thunder-fearing dog). The other mare and foal never joined us, leaving me wondering what that meant for the remainder of the fading light I had available.

In the end, I was thankful for the other pony pair. They had made it to the barn on their own, showing good sense from my perspective. And I really can’t complain about the pair that made me climb because they were cooperative and calm coming down off the hill under those heavy skies. My ponies definitely provide me with plenty of adventure!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

There are more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

The Cactus Line

I’ve decided to nickname my bay line of Fell Ponies the Cactus Line.  Followers of my Facebook page will know that since moving to South Dakota, Willowtrail Mountain Honey has on more than one occasion had a cactus bud stuck to the end of her nose.  Then one day her mother Bowthorne Matty had a similar adornment.  I have never seen any of my black Fell Ponies similarly decorated.

Daughter and Mother sporting cactus buds on their noses.

Willowtrail Amber is Honey’s 2023 bay daughter.  I now realize she was showing me there’s something about this line and cactus.  When she was just two days old, she straddled a large cactus and peed on it.  I laughed heartily.

Make me laugh: Willowtrail Amber peeing on cactus at two days old!

But leave it to the matriarch to really take the cake for the Cactus Line.  At the end of August she met me at the barn as she always does, but I could see that she had an odd pattern of color on her body.  When I got closer, I discovered that she had apparently rolled on a cactus because she had ten large cactus buds on one side of her back and flank.  She didn’t seem particularly bothered by them.  I, in contrast, was cursing them for a week.  I made the mistake of using my hands in leather gloves to remove the buds from Matty.  In the process, some of the spines embedded themselves into my gloves without being obvious and it took several days to make my gloves comfortable to wear again.  I later received advice to use pliers, which was very wise advice indeed!  But at least Matty was freed of her spiny display for the Cactus Line!

Matriarch takes the cake for the cactus line!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Starting to Walk Together at Liberty

A Fell Pony colleague recently asked me how to start walking with a pony at liberty. I like questions like that because they make me think! In this case, I had to think back quite a few years to how I got started. The good news is that most of us already have probably started without even knowing we’re doing it.

By walking with a pony at liberty I mean walking from one place to another or in a particular pattern with no tack connecting me to the pony. They willingly walk beside me, stopping, starting, and changing direction whenever I do. Mostly I am doing things at a walk with the pony right beside me where they would be if there were a lead rope between us. Sometimes I increase the distance between us, which requires a stronger connection between me and the pony, and it’s certainly possible to send the pony away from me and bring it back, if our connection is strong enough. And sometimes I will ask for a faster gait such as a trot or canter.

The way that I got started was to evolve something we were regularly doing with a halter and lead rope between us to doing the same thing without that physical connection. Once we’d figured that out, it was possible to build on that. Rather than communicating via the halter and leadrope, we communicated via body language. It’s likely your pony is already paying attention to your body language when it comes to being led, so this sets you up well for success!

First, leave the halter and lead rope on, and be more intentional about how you move your body to communicate with your pony. Perhaps you can stand up taller before you start walking. Perhaps you can take a step without moving the lead rope. Perhaps if you use voice commands, you can say ‘walk’ before you change anything else. Look for the slightest reaction from your pony, and reward it, whether they just flick an ear or raise their head or perhaps even prepare their body to take a step. And build from there. Remember this can be subtle stuff, so pay really close attention to what you are doing and how they respond.

Another thing that I have found helpful in working with ponies is to have a succession of ask ‘levels.’ Ask subtly first, then a little less so, then more assertively, etc. Be really consistent each time you ask, with the goal being they recognize the ask with the most subtle cue. For instance, if my goal is to have my pony step forward when I do, my first ‘ask’ will be to visualize what I want. Yes, I’ve had a pony respond to this sort of ask. It is incredibly humbling. My second ask will be to stand tall. My third will be to lean forward. None of this has any impact on the lead rope. My fourth ask will be to take a step, trying not to move the lead rope. And wait. If my pony doesn’t follow me, then my fifth ask would be enough of a tug on the lead rope to get them to move their feet forward to stay with me. Then I will start the series of asks again from the beginning. Eventually, if we’re patient enough and consistent enough, the pony will start to see the pattern and respond with movement before the lead rope is engaged. We can then build our liberty work from there.

Another way to ‘start’ is while you’re already walking. Then without using the lead rope, stop and see if your pony stops with you, and build from there, again using your body language and not the lead rope for communication. It’s important to be really clear with your body language, so if you’re walking, stand tall and plant your heels with authority when you stop, maybe even raising your elbows to increase the ‘size’ of your intent. It’s my experience that I need less and less ‘size’ or ‘authority’ over time because they learn that I’m using my body language intentionally to communicate, as opposed to being unconscious about it, which I definitely have been in the past.

What I have learned over time is that I can be really sloppy with my body language, or I can be really clear. The more clear I am, just as in spoken language, the more easily my intent is communicated. So perhaps the first ‘step’ is to walk with your pony as you always do and pay attention to what you are communicating with your body rather than the lead rope.

I can guarantee that beginning to work with your pony at liberty will change your relationship with your pony. I consider the change to be for the better, but not everyone will. The photograph here provides a good example. The mares that I wanted to come into the paddock in the morning decided instead to stay outside it about forty feet from the gate. I walked out to where they were, greeting them verbally and stopping about five yards away to see if there was an explanation for their unusual behavior (they usually meet me at the gate and come in when I open it.) Then, because I hadn’t brought a halter and lead rope with me, I walked to the lead pony and tucked my hand under her head and with gentle pressure asked her to come with me. She didn’t move except to toss her head in mild defiance. I took my hand away, and she stepped toward me, offering to follow me at liberty. Our liberty work has changed our relationship: she preferred in this situation to comply at liberty rather than with pressure from my touch. Some might not like the mild defiance; I just took it as a suggestion of a better way. As you can see from the photo, all four ponies then followed me in through the gate at liberty. I certainly can’t complain about that!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Soundness

When a prospective Fell Pony owner asked about the soundness of a pony I had for sale, I sighed heavily. While the pony in question was sound, I have found the topic to be complicated. When I think of soundness in these hardy ponies, I think primarily of stifle issues. I have been on the buying side, the selling side, and the breeding side of the topic. A breeder in the UK told me it’s an unspoken-about problem in the breed.

I once imported a pony that was sound when it left England, sound when it arrived here, and lame within a year. I eventually sold that pony, fully disclosing the issues to the buyer. Fortunately for that pony, it has landed in a home where it is being brought to soundness through a lot of dedication of the owner.

I once bought a three-year-old with the intention of breeding it. It was sound its entire time with its breeder, but it was lame within three months here. It came from flat ground and here is anything but. I had it evaluated by numerous veterinarians, and they all assured me it would grow out of the problem. I found a home for that pony, again fully disclosing the issues and the evaluations to the buyer. As far as I know, it has remained sound as it has aged.

I once sold a weanling that was sound when it left. A year later it began to have issues. In that situation, I wondered about proper mineral supplementation as well as whether it had had enough room to move about as it was growing up. This pony has grown out of the issue. Not all do. I was contacted by someone with a pony of very different breeding that was mature and still had stifle issues. Fortunately, it is well-loved by its owner.

I share these stories because they illustrate that soundness in the form of stifle issues are present in the breed, as they are in many pony breeds. There are conformation aspects and management aspects that can make the issue better or worse. I also share these stories because while a pony may be sound at one point in its life, it may have problems later. Or it may have problems and then have them completely go away. Pre-purchase exams when available are a good idea.

As a steward of this breed, it frustrates me that we have these problems and that they are so hard to predict either for the buyer or seller. From my research, the best prevention is 1) avoid straight hind legs and steeply sloping croups; 2) make sure a pony has adequate and appropriate vitamins and minerals at all stages of its life; 3) keep the pony from becoming overweight and staying that way; and 4) give the pony plenty of room to move on a regular basis, just as it would if it still lived on the terrain from which it takes its name. I have had good luck with modified track systems when on small acreages.

There is a chapter from one of my books about the conformation of the hind end and a discussion of stifle issues. If you would like to read that chapter, click here and I will send it to you.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

A Remarkable Thing About Fell Ponies

When I first moved to the Southern Black Hills of South Dakota, I received some very helpful advice. I was told the grasses here are too rich for easy-keeping equines, so I would need to be careful with my ponies. Founder/laminitis was common. My management of my herd during fresh grass season, then, allows twelve hours on/twelve hours off the hill pasture that the ponies call home. One might think the ponies would find this restriction constraining, but they regularly offer me evidence that they are just fine with the arrangement. (continued below picture)

The two pictures here aren’t particularly profound at first glance. They aren’t as stunning as some of the photos I share showing ponies and wildflowers or ponies and stunning views or ponies with me or visitors. Yet these pictures are very meaningful to me. They show two herds of four ponies. One set is on the pasture during the day, and the other set is on the pasture at night. The first picture shows the in-at-night herd eating a little hay before going out. The second picture was taken about ten minutes later, showing the same paddock but with the other herd eating the remains of the hay after coming in. (continued after picture)

The out-at-night herd is almost always at the barn waiting to come in when I arrive there in the morning. The in-at-night herd is almost always at the barn at sunset waiting to come in when I arrive there. Sometimes when there’s been a big weather change or my personal schedule is different than usual, I have to venture out onto the hill to bring a herd in. The first picture shows part of the hill where the herd grazes; it’s a pretty big place! Even then, all that’s required to bring a herd in is haltering a single pony, and the rest of the herd accompanies us on our journey to the barn.

I find it both remarkable and telling about Fell Ponies that an extensively grazing herd like this one is also very amenable to people and our requirements. I have been amongst extensively grazing herds on the fells of Cumbria, and I’ve been around Fell Ponies that are ridden and driven and do other work both over there and over here. It wasn’t until I moved here that I understood it was possible for the same ponies to do both: live out on a hill in a semi-wild state for part of the day and also be in and do things with me for part of the day. Life with these ponies continues to be eye-opening!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

My Challenge with The Challenge

I am pleased to have signed up for the Fell Pony Society’s mileage challenge again this year, formally called The Fell Pony Society Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Challenge.  The challenge is 96 miles by October 31 of this year, honoring the length of the late Her Majesty’s life.  I have included four ponies on my ‘team’ this year, three youngstock and a mare.  I anticipate that the vast majority of the mileage will be handwalking the youngstock.

My day started with me thinking that now that foaling season is past and I am recovering from my sleep-deprived state, that I can get back to working on (walking) the Challenge.  But as the morning unfolded, I found myself chuckling about my challenge with The Challenge.

the mare herd stood on a high plateau on the hill watching me feed and clean stalls and spread their hay, with no interest in joining me

It’s the time of year when I run two herds:  mares and foals are out on the hill during the day, and open mares and youngstock are out during the night.  In the evening, I fetch the mares and foals into the foaling sheds.  Sometimes that involves quite a walk, and other nights they put themselves in.  In the morning, sometimes the herd meets me at the barn, and sometimes it’s like it was this time:  they stood on a high plateau on the hill watching me feed and clean stalls and spread their hay, hoping they would come down on their own.  Nope.

Mares with a view!

I enjoyed the climb to bring them in, as pasqueflowers are still blooming, and I take great joy seeing their smiling faces on the hillside.  And of course the view of the ponies on the hill is always breathtaking.  But by the time I brought them in, any thought of walking optional miles was long gone!  I tallied probably a mile all told, but it won’t count, especially since half the mile was just me with no ponies as I was making my way to them.  Good exercise, though, even if it didn’t progress me towards the Challenge goal.  There’s plenty of days left to accumulate miles, so fingers crossed that my challenge with the Challenge will be surmountable!

Together, almost to the barn!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Obviously in the Wrong Place

The east wind was stiff, so I wasn’t terribly surprised that the ponies weren’t at the barn when I got there. The barnyard doesn’t provide good cover on mornings like that. And I wasn’t terribly surprised that they also weren’t out in the open. So when I went out in search of them, my direction was only a guess.

One blessing of my route, though, was that pasqueflowers were pushing their purple heads towards the sky wherever the hillsides were shaded by pine trees. Seeing them made it feel more like spring than the temperature or stunted green grass did. I also felt like they were greeting me with bountiful good wishes as I climbed. It was a rare treat!

I climbed up a ridge, thinking that the hiding place they usually use when there’s an east wind was where they would be. I could tell fairly quickly though that I was in the wrong place. There were no fresh hoofprints in front of me, and no fresh manure in the vicinity. I kept turning around in all directions to see how badly I had misjudged their location, but I couldn’t see them anywhere. Then finally a pony appeared from trees well west of me, and indeed I was in the completely wrong place.

There is a black speck between two distant pine branches. That’s one of the ponies that finally emerged from their hiding place! But of course the pasqueflowers blooming made up for any frustration I might have felt at having been in the completely wrong place!

I headed back down, occasionally looking up from the rocky trail to see another pony and then another emerge from the trees on the hillside ahead of me. The ponies then started running, with manes and tails streaming behind them, always a captivating sight. Then they all disappeared from view, and I made my way back to the barn. I was again not terribly surprised that they had arrived there well ahead of me. I wasn’t bothered, though, for my day had begun with so many visual treats, from pasqueflowers to running ponies, that I greeted the herd enthusiastically once we were all together. Such a blessing to share life with these ponies!

The herd beat me back to the barn, of course!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

There are more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

They Came When I Called

My Fell Ponies graze on a very large pasture with almost 400 feet of elevation change. I have been asked occasionally whether I can call my ponies to the barn so I don’t have to undertake the arduous task of walking out to bring them in. My answer to that question is that I don’t call them to the barn for a couple of reasons. First, they have shown that they willingly come to the barn to see me every morning, so I don’t really need to call them in. And second, if they don’t come to the barn, they usually have a good reason, and I’m curious to find out what it is, so the walk to find them is driven by curiosity. However, when the blizzard of the third and fourth of April 2023 hit, when my ponies weren’t at the barn when I arrived, I did attempt to call them in.

I had seen the ponies the night before, half way into the storm. Nearly a foot of wet heavy snow had fallen without wind so had evenly blanketed everything. When I bid the herd good night, I knew we were due for more snow and also that wind was forecast. The next morning it appeared we had about 20” of snow, but the wind had indeed blown, so drifts were up to three feet in places, and a few places had no snow at all. I was late getting to the barn because I was waiting for the ranch roads to be plowed. When I finally got to the barn, a few hours later than normal, I could see the ponies had been there earlier but weren’t there then. When I left Colorado, I gave away my snowshoes, which would have been the ideal tool for going out in search of the ponies. Since I no longer had them, I decided it was best to try to call the herd.

I filled a tub with hay and started spreading it around the paddocks at the barn, calling as I went. I looked out to the hill every few steps but I couldn’t see any ponies emerging from their usual haunts. I went to fill the tub with hay a second time, and as I returned to the paddocks, I saw the ponies coming in. It was quite a sight to see them streaming at speed over and through the deep snow, down into the ravine and then into the paddocks. The hock and knee action that I breed for were on display as the ponies negotiated the results of the blizzard. And now I could indeed say that my ponies came when I called. I was very thankful.

That night I returned to the barn just before dark. It had been an overcast and cold day, so the snow was as deep then as it had been in the morning. I spread hay as before, and I called the ponies. Once again, they came when I called. Often in the evening they don’t come to the barn; when they do I assume it’s because they feel the need for the additional sustenance of some hay. After this major storm, I was more than happy to provide it. And I admit to feeling relief that I could lay my eyes on all of them and be certain they were weathering the situation well. One lifetime with my ponies will definitely not be enough!

To see a video of my ponies coming in when I called, click here.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Introducing Globetrotter Moth, Fell Pony Stud Colt

Eight months after first meeting on a fell in Cumbria, I am pleased to welcome Globetrotter Moth to Willowtrail Farm.  This Fell Pony colt’s import journey only had a minor bump, though for me any bump in that journey is a major event!  I’m told he’s a seasoned traveler now, but I think he’ll be happy to stay put for awhile!

It occurred to both Moth’s breeder and me that Moth embodies so much Fell Pony history, for me personally and for the breed.  Moth’s breeder is Libby Robinson.  In the 1990s, Libby exported my very first Fell Pony, Sleddale Rose Beauty.  A lot of water has run under the proverbial bridges of Libby’s and my Fell Pony lives since then.  We have been in touch for more than twenty years because of our connection through Beauty (I bought Beauty from the person who imported her).  A circle of sorts will be completed when I breed Moth to Beauty’s daughter and granddaughter after he becomes a licensed stallion. 

Fell of course is the local word for hill in Cumbria, and the Fell Pony takes its name from those hills that have influenced its characteristics over centuries.  The first fell that I walked on, thanks to Bert Morland of the Lunesdale stud, was Roundthwaite Common.  It was also there that I met Moth last summer at his mother’s side.  I saw dozens of handsome Fell Pony colts on my visit to the breed’s homeland in 2022, and it was Moth that most caught my attention.

On my first trip to Cumbria, I made a point to visit both fell-running and non-fell-running herds to understand the breed’s origins both on and off their namesake hills.  One of the fell-running herds I visited was the Greenholme stud, and I’ve been the fortunate recipient of Potter family hospitality on every trip I’ve made to Cumbria since then.  I’m pleased to finally have some Greenholme blood in my herd; Moth’s father is Greenholme Jasper.  Also on that first trip, I met the multi-supreme champion stallion Murthwaite Look-at-Me who is found in Moth’s pedigree.  Sadly I never managed to cross paths with Tom Capstick of the Murthwaite stud.  I am pleased to now though have some Murthwaite blood in my herd through Moth’s dam, Murthwaite Happy Feet.

Libby’s prefix, Globetrotter, reflects her personal journey with Fell Ponies.  Long before she began to breed, she was using Fell Ponies in her work at a living history museum, in a carriage business, and in competitive and recreational riding and driving.  To have a herd of her own, though, she found land more affordable in France, so she emigrated there in the late 1990s.  After nearly twenty years there, she called me to share an idea she was mulling about helping the Fell Pony breed.  She wanted to bring together the ponies’ long history both of working with farmers and packmen and women and also running semi-wild on the fells.  I admired her idea but I felt she really needed to be in Cumbria to accomplish her vision.  She must have felt similarly; I have admired her courage since she gave up all she had established in France to return to Cumbria to start the Fell Pony Heritage Trust.

I didn’t know until last year that one of Libby’s lifelong ambitions has been to raise Fell Ponies on the fells of Cumbria.  After her return from France, she found a way to fulfill that dream by homing her herd on Roundthwaite Common and bringing forth multiple crops of foals.  I was taken not only with Moth but his 2022 half-sister Globetrotter Molly whom Libby has retained.

In addition to Moth being a traditional Fell by being born on a Cumbrian fell, his pedigree reflects current and historic happenings in the Fell Pony breed.  A current factor is dispersal sales of fell-running herds as breeders age and the logistics of keeping Fells on the fells become increasingly challenging.  Both of Moth’s parents went through dispersal sales.  Greenholme Jasper went through the Greenholme dispersal in 2021, and Murthwaite Happy Feet went through the Murthwaite dispersal in 2015.  Happy Feet went to France to join the Globetrotter herd and returned to a fell in Cumbria a few years later.

One historic happening that is reflected in Moth’s pedigree comes through his mother’s line.  The Inspection Scheme and Grading Up were used in the breed’s past to bring true-to-type but unregistered ponies into the stud book.  Moth goes back to the inspected mare Foggy Gill Judy.  Judy is represented in 5-10% of modern day Fell Ponies.

Another historic part of the Fell Pony breed’s past is traveling stallions.  Stallions would be walked or ridden or driven through parts of Cumbria each season to breed mares at farms where no stallions were otherwise available.  Last summer I met or saw pictures of several sons of Greenholme Jasper at different farms, reflecting that the Greenholme stud had allowed him to be ‘traveled’ for a few years before selling him at the dispersal.  A Jasper daughter is also being imported to the US.

Moth has arrived with his winter coat intact.  Like Cumbria, cold weather has lingered here too, so he will be glad to have it and then lose it as our weather warms.  I am very much looking forward to getting to know Moth and watching him grow into his role as my new stallion. 

A community has certainly made Moth’s presence here possible.  Thank you Libby for allowing Moth to come to the United States.  Thank you Paula and Gwen for enabling my trip to Cumbria last year, for I vowed I wouldn’t import a pony I hadn’t first met.  Thank you Tina, Tracy, and Jackie for looking at pictures and videos of Moth and bolstering my hopes for this young pony.  And of course thank you Bruce for traveling to Cumbria with me, helping me evaluate Moth there, enabling my Fell Ponies to live on a fell-like hill in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and so much more!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Strange Karma

For more than a year I spoke with a breeder about a young Fell Pony colt they’d bred.  The colt impressed them with its quality, and they were looking forward to finding a way for him to contribute to the breed as a stallion.  Then one day I got the devastating news that the colt had died.  He had been stalled in a barn, just as many of his herd mates had been for many years.  He’d had a halter on while stalled, just as his many herd mates had had for many years.  But he had hung himself during the night from his halter on some protrusion in his stable.  He was dead when his breeder found him at morning check.

The other morning I was doing chores at the barn, and this story came to my mind for some reason.  I had finished preparing vitamin buckets for the herd and had haltered each pony and tied them to the fences, just as I’ve done hundreds if not thousands of times.  I went back to pick up the first set of buckets to distribute, and when I turned around, I saw a pony struggling.  I dropped the buckets and immediately went to my pony to discern how to help.

The pony had caught their rope halter on a protrusion on the fence.  They had pulled the halter so tight that I knew immediately I wouldn’t be able to untie it, so I pulled out my pocket knife and in three quick moves had the halter cut off and the pony freed.  The pony stepped back and shook its head several times and then a few minutes later the pony let me put a new halter on and tie them to the fence in a place where I couldn’t see any protrusions.  Of course I thought the same about the previous tying location; the protrusion on the fence was just a quarter of an inch but had obviously been enough.

It was so strange to remember that just an hour before I had been thinking about the colt that had died.  Ever since hearing that story I’ve been very careful to not leave a halter on a pony when they are turned out in case they should get into trouble and I wouldn’t be there to help them.  The strangeness continued, though, as I reflected on the fact that I’ve now cut two halters off the same pony.  This was the second time this pony had caught their halter on the fence and been unable to dislodge it.  I’ve never cut a halter off any other pony in my herd in more than twenty years of managing them the same way.  And then I realized that the colt that my breeder friend lost is related to the one that I’ve cut two halters off of.  There must be some strange karma in that line of ponies. 

Sometimes things happen that we think we should have prevented.  But often, I think, things happen for a multitude of reasons, most of which we have no control over at all.  We can only do the best we can in each situation and then be humble about our role in the outcome and forgiving of ourselves, too.  Sometimes strange karma may be at work.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

The Drover's Boy by Irvine Hunt

One piece of the Fell Pony’s working heritage is as a pony put to a trap to take the family to town on market day.  Of course that same pony might, on other days of the week, be a shepherding pony or a sledge-pulling pony, or a pack pony carrying hay to a flock of sheep. 

Another piece of the Fell Pony’s working heritage, through its ancestors, is serving as packhorses moving goods from Cumbria to numerous points across England during the packhorse era.  During part of that era, their routes were often shared with cattle and their drovers, also making their way to markets, often outside Cumbria.

My interest in the Fell Pony’s working heritage led a colleague to recommend a book to me.  My bookshelf is heavy with books on this topic, but this one was different because it was fiction.  Nonetheless, I was assured that it was set in Cumbria and historically accurate, so I took a chance.  I’m glad I did.

The Drover’s Boy by Irvine Hunt is a reasonably quick and definitely enjoyable read.  At only 166 pages, it was one of those books that asked for excuses to be made to continue turning the pages.  The book describes an often-overlooked type of droving: of geese.  I look forward to studying the packhorse history of the area where the story is set and then rereading the book again.  A fell pony makes a short appearance in the story, as a driving pony taking a family to market. 

I love learning about the working heritage of Fell Ponies.  It isn’t often that historical fiction brings that heritage to life, so I am thankful for The Drover’s Boy and author Irvine Hunt.  The story painted a portrait in a way non-fiction often doesn’t; I admire authors who can paint such a portrait with words.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Missing in the Cold

When I arrived at the barn, the ponies were not there. I have learned, because they have shown me, that when the weather is coming from a certain direction, the barn doesn’t have any good cover, so the ponies will await my appearance from afar, where they can see me arrive but from a more sheltered place. It makes me wonder if the weather directions are different than when the barn was built in the 1940s.

That morning, it was below zero Fahrenheit, and with the wind blowing it was pretty bitter, so I put out hay and took shelter for a few minutes in the shed area of the barn. My ponies had indeed seen my activity and came at a trot through the falling snow to tuck into the hay before it was covered with white. I smiled in appreciation, watching them from the barn, and then I paused. I counted and then counted again. There was a pony missing, and then I realized it was one of the pregnant mares. I immediately became concerned.

I stepped back out into the weather and began calling for her. I looked in the direction from which the herd had come, and I didn’t see her. I called again, probably with a little more urgency in my voice. She still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. I called again, louder, and then I saw her. She had emerged from one of the foaling sheds to let me know where she was. I yelled my thanks and went to prepare vitamin buckets for the herd, thinking she would come in when she heard what I was doing.

I finished the bucket preparations, and she still hadn’t arrived. This raised my concern again, so I distributed the buckets to the rest of the herd, picked up her bucket in one hand and put a wad of hay under my other arm and began the trudge through the snow, down into the ravine and back up toward the foaling sheds. I could barely see her; she was back in the shed where it was most protected. She didn’t emerge as I approached, so my concern stayed high. But when she saw I had her bucket in my hand, she stepped out of the depths of the shed and eagerly stuck her head in it. Relief flooded through me. And when she finished the bucket, she started on the hay. I could see she was shivering lightly, but I knew the hay would help.

On my trudge back to the barn, I realized that as low pony in the herd, the others had taken all the prime real estate in the sheds, leaving her on the margins. When they all left for the barn, she finally had the shed to herself, and she wasn’t about to emerge from it! Later in the day she appeared at the barn with the rest of the herd, so the last of my concerns were put to rest.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

There are more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Fell Ponies and Conservation Grazing - 2

In Sue Millard’s book Hoofprints in Eden, Sue describes how Fell Ponies have historically fit into the grazing year of traditional hill farms. She points out that most fell farms are predominantly grass farms, without or with only a small amount of arable land. Fell rights, when they have them, allow the farmers to put their stock – sheep, cattle, ponies – out onto the common so that a hay crop for instance might be harvested from the close-in grounds. Or at least, by the stock being out on the fell, there’s lessened impact of the stock on the close-in ground during the growing season. (1)

Two members of the Globetrotter Fell Pony herd help control rushes at Gowbarrow Hall Farm as part of a regenerative grazing program. Courtesy Libby Robinson

More recently, Fell Ponies have been used for conservation grazing: managed grazing to achieve a defined conservation benefit. For instance, in the winter of 2021, three Greenholme Fell Pony yearlings were used for a few months at Clints Quarry near Egremont, west of the Lake District, to improve habitat for wildflowers. Sarah Dalrymple, Reserves Officer for Cumbria Wildlife Trust, explains the role the ponies played: “The ponies have been brought here deliberately to graze on the vegetation. We want them to control the overgrown scrub, so that the fantastic wildflowers, which this quarry is known for, can thrive. This sheltered quarry is a summertime haven for wildflowers and insects and butterflies and what a wonderful kick-start these ponies will give to the soil and plant life in this very special place.” (2)

Another type of managed grazing where Fell Ponies are used is sometimes called regenerative grazing, where animal densities, duration, and diversity are chosen so as to benefit the health of the ecosystem both above and below ground. Claire Beaumont at Gowbarrow Hall Farm explains, “The Fell Ponies are a key part of the farm’s ecosystem. We have a huge mixture of native flora, which have all evolved with both cattle and ponies. Many of our species are not palatable to cattle, but the ponies appear to love them, such as thistle, tufted hair grass and rushes. The ponies hold back these species’ dominance, therefore having a positive impact on the farm’s biodiversity.

“From mid Spring to mid Autumn the ponies graze our fell plot, which is a mixture of wet peatland and heather moorland. The heather has benefitted considerably from the area being grazed by the ponies. Their animal impact is making space for new growth, keeping the area diverse. We are also seeing the return of lots of wildlife, including ground nesting birds such as grouse.” (3)

Claire continues, “Unlike conservation grazing which generally requires low numbers of livestock over large areas, we are using a combination of high density grazing with very long recovery periods (up to nine months in some areas) and mixed species grazing with cattle, ponies and pigs. Each of the different species of livestock provide their own benefits, including different grazing properties, different dung types to feed our soil microbes and invertebrates, as well as social benefits.” (4)

Also within the last two years, the movie Life of a Mountain: Helvellyn has brought attention to the use of Fell Ponies for conservation grazing. Libby Robinson of the Fell Pony Heritage Trust appeared in the film and was subsequently interviewed by the Cumberland & Westmorland Herald after the movie’s release. In the newspaper interview, Libby emphasized that Fell Ponies are native grazers that have evolved along with other native breeds of livestock and the wildlife of the area to create the existing habitats and to sustain the biodiversity of the area. She also pointed out that like the other native species of livestock, Fell Ponies “…learn how to graze this way through generations of herd maternal teaching, both intuitive and instinctive.” (5)

Libby continued, “They will eat gorse, rush, thistles and even bracken when it is brown. Also their trampling of bracken in the summertime helps keep the sward open in places so the rare high brown fritillary butterfly can find the dapple shade it enjoys. Sphagnum moss – the foundation plant of the UK peatlands – is helped by grazing Fell Ponies who keep invasive species of plants at bay, like Molinia grass, and maintain micro reservoirs of water through their hoofprints so birds and insects can drink.”

Like all grazing animals, Fell Ponies graze on different plants in different locations at different times of the day and year. Their uniqueness, when combined with other types of grazing animals, can enhance soil health and biodiversity.

Fell Ponies doing beneficial grazing isn’t just something that happens in the UK, though. Eric Wilson shared this story about his Fell Ponies in the state of Oregon: “When I watched the movie Life of a Mountain: Helvellyn, I thought it was interesting that the cattle farmers would purposefully graze Fell Ponies behind their cattle as the Fells would eat the weeds and brush that the cattle left behind. I could relate somewhat. I had a good crop of thistle growing in my pasture last summer. Just as I was starting to go out and remove it, I noticed that my ponies had been chewing on it. So I just let them chew away and all the thistle was gone in a week or two, and I did not have to do a darn thing!” (6)

Fell Ponies, like any grazing animal, have their own patterns of grazing. For instance, they will graze different locations at different times of the day and different times of the year. And they will likewise graze different plants at different times of the day and year. Their digestive systems work differently than other grazing animals, such as cattle and sheep, and likewise their urine and manure have different characteristics, too, so provide different benefits to the soil and plant communities than that of cattle or sheep. As we continue to learn more about regenerative grazing generally, we are also learning more about using Fell Ponies as tools in landscape restoration and health. And we’re finding it’s just one more job that a Fell Pony does well!

1. Millard, Sue. Hoofprints in Eden. Hayloft Publishing, Kirkby-Stephen, Cumbria, 2005, p. 43.

2. https://www.cumbriawildlifetrust.org.uk/news/fell-ponies-return-clints-quarry

3. Fell Pony Heritage Trust Facebook post, 4/14/22

4. Gowbarrow Hall Farm 7/12/21 newsletter

5. “Fell Ponies Starring Role in Lake District Film,” Cumberland & Westmorland Herald, 1/9/21

6. Email from Eric Wilson to author, 5/6/21

Lettie and Her Grandfather

One of the things that surprises me with my ponies, though it probably shouldn’t since I’ve been doing this long enough, is that I’m seeing traits of grandparents in grandchildren. On a beautiful February day, it was long-yearling Willowtrail Lettie reminding her of her grandfather Guards Apollo.

I woke up as the sun hit the house feeling the spring that is coming. Such a nice day had dawned that I was inspired to dig out my blue tarp and take it to the barn. The inspiration was to do something I’ve never done before: introduce the tarp to a herd rather than a single pony. When I stopped at the barn between sunrise and breakfast, I put some orange cones in the paddock. Eventually they would hold the corners of the tarp down, but they ended up being entertainment on their own. As the picture of Lettie shows, she immediately began pawing one and sniffing it and moving it around.

Willotrail Lettie showing tremendous curiosity in a cone.

When I returned to the barn later, I carried the blue tarp into the paddock. I was met at the gate by curious ponies wondering what I was carrying. Some recognized it, and some expressed concern for the crinkly noise it made. I unfolded it in the company of five ponies, being cautious in case one might spook. That didn’t happen, and I tucked each corner under a cone to secure it in the slight breeze. Nice idea, but almost immediately Lettie and her older sister Aimee were pawing at it. I stood back and watched.

I had thought I might halter a pony and lead them across the tarp, but what happened next was too entertaining to interrupt. Lettie and Aimee continued to paw and sniff, and they attracted some of the rest of the herd as an audience. I was able to coax the lead mare to put one foot on the tarp as it was being moved about by the youngsters’ activities. Then my most seasoned mare took my invitation and walked across it at liberty. The two others who were watching were a little worried, so I just let the entertainment continue.

After a few more minutes, I took the tarp corners out from under the cones so that the tarp was free. What happened next had me laughing heartily. Lettie pawed and pawed at the tarp, eventually making it into a ball under her. I laughed because I had seen her grandfather do the exact same thing thirteen years before, as shown in the picture of Apollo and the blue tarp that illustrates at least one of my book chapters.

Guards Apollo playing with a blue tarp in 2010

But then Lettie outdid her grandfather. She grabbed a corner of the tarp in her teeth and raised her head. Normally that startles a pony because the tarp billows and makes noise so they let go. She did pause, but then she stood there chewing on the tarp corner with the tarp swaying gently in the breeze as she surveyed the hill with alert attention. I thought it was hilarious because she was so comfortable with the whole picture. Of course, it was a morning when I’d left my camera at home, so I could only stand and chuckle. My apparent enjoyment attracted the mature ponies to my side, thinking perhaps they could out-entertain Lettie, but not a chance! I just enjoyed the granddaughter and the memories of her grandfather that she brought to mind. What a blessing life with ponies is!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

The photo of Apollo and the blue tarp also appears in my book What An Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover. The cover of the book features Lettie’s grandmother!

At Dusk on the Hill

It was just after sunset and snowing. I had just gotten back from running an errand in town. I thought there was enough light to go out and see the ponies on the hill, but when I came in on the lane, I didn’t see them anywhere. Nonetheless, I took off with my dog Ace in the failing light to a place I couldn’t see from the lane, but they weren’t there. I climbed up onto a small ridge to look down in a gully to see if they were there because I also couldn’t see that from the lane, but they weren’t there either. So I called out a good night, wishing them well and saying I would see them in the morning. As I turned to head home, I saw something that made me look back. There, halfway up the hill was a pony that had lifted its head to acknowledge my greeting. When she saw me look at her, she went back to grazing.

I did a quick calculation as to whether I had enough light left to get safely up there and back down again before dark. As I started climbing, the ponies went out of sight as I dropped down into a small ravine, then climbed up over a small hill, and then went down into another ravine again. Finally I started the bigger climb to where I had seen them. When I finally got high enough, I saw one pony standing on a prominence, watching my approach. I had only seen two ponies from below, so when I got to her, I wasn’t surprised when I saw the second pony, but then I was curious where the rest were. As I went to greet the second pony, I saw a third, and then a fourth came up out of a ravine. When I walked to the edge, there were the other three. I greeted six, but the Sentinel was up too high, and I couldn’t take the time to climb to her.

As I picked my way back down the hill, I was glad I had made the climb. As usual, I enjoyed seeing my ponies enjoying the hill. And it’s always touching when my ponies greet me upon my arrival. This time I was also touched by the fact that they let me know where they were and encouraged me to come see them. One lifetime is definitely not going to be enough to share with them.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

The Sentinel's Strange Behavior

The Sentinel: Bowthorne Matty

The morning light showed a single pony on the hill pasture. That’s odd, I thought. Normally the herd is all together. As I got closer, my suspicion about which pony was standing alone was confirmed. I call Bowthorne Matty, my senior mare, the Sentinel. She is often found standing off from the herd with a distant look in her eyes. This time was strange, though, because normally the rest of the herd is only a few dozen yards away. But they were nowhere to be seen.

When I got to the barn, I found the other members of the herd there. Matty, though, showed no inclination to join us. What could be keeping her out there? Normally she’s at the gate in the morning to greet me. Is she hurt? Sick? Worried about something?

Notice the small circle on the tip of her nose: a cactus bud.

I shut the rest of the herd into the barn paddock and headed out with a halter and lead rope to where Matty was standing. Even when she saw me approaching, she didn’t move in my direction, also very unusual. All the same questions kept circling through my mind. She didn’t appear out of the ordinary, other than by her behavior. Finally, when I got about thirty yards away, she started toward me. That relieved one worry: her movement was completely normal. And she seemed to be acting normally. Still, though, why was she staying out here all alone?

It was only when she got about ten feet away that a possible explanation revealed itself. On the end of her nose above her lips was a cactus bud. I had only ever seen one pony before be adorned in this way. Matty’s daughter Willowtrail Mountain Honey has presented herself numerous times with a nose ornament like this. I removed it as quickly as I could then haltered Matty, and she willingly headed with me toward the barn. When we got to the ravine, she indicated that she’d prefer to run in, so I unclipped the lead rope. I met her at the barn a few minutes later and let her in the gate to rejoin the herd.

I still can’t quite accept that the cactus bud was the reason for Matty’s solitary behavior, though it could have been. I think it equally possible that some tree work being done under the power lines a quarter mile to the east also had her concerned. The tree work is done, so I will see tomorrow what the Sentinel’s behavior is in the morning sun. I am hopeful for normalcy.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

There are more stories like this one in my book What An Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Integrating My New Gelding 2

The first phase of integrating my new gelding Asi into the herd was introducing him to three mares in his paddock (to read that story, click here). The next phase was to put him out on the hill with them. The hill pasture is three-quarters of a mile on one side and runs up to a ridge. Walking to see the ponies there is always good exercise, so putting Asi out there would give me answers to several important questions about herd management. Would he stay with the girls? Would he wander to the extent of the pasture without them? Would he come to me to be haltered when I appeared? So when I let Asi loose that first time, I did so knowing that the range of things I might be required to do before the short days of winter brought darkness early was vast!

Rose between Asi and the young girls

As it turned out, Asi didn’t venture more than a few hundred yards from the barn that first afternoon and he willingly came to me to be haltered and put back in his paddock for the night. The next day when I repeated the experiment, he did follow the mares, and they ventured a little farther, but when Asi got too close, one of the mares chased him back toward the barn. Again, he willingly came to me to be haltered and put away for the night. He left me reassured that he would stay with the herd and be haltered when asked.

Phase three of introducing Asi to the herd began several days later. This phase involved putting him out with the entire herd, adding a mare and his two daughters, aged one and two years old. More questions were in my mind with this phase. Asi hadn’t shown any sign of stallion behavior toward any of the mares. Nonetheless, I stayed aware that younger playful females might stir whatever hormones might remain active, so I planned the introduction to be when I could watch for an hour in case I needed to intervene. I also knew that changing the herd population could change the dynamics, so additionally I cleared my schedule at the end of that day to bring Asi back into his paddock so everyone could relax.

Rose keeping Asi away from the rest of the herd

I widely spread hay outside the barn paddocks and put all the females out first. When I brought Asi to the gate, the mare that had most bonded with him, Rose, approached. I waved her away to give me space to let Asi go, then I was absolutely fascinated to watch what unfolded next. Instead of returning to buddying up to Asi, Rose ignored the hay and assigned herself the role of protector of the young girls. Aimee and Lettie were very curious about the new pony, but Rose inserted herself between them and Asi whenever they tried to approach him. Asi was interested in hay, but the girls were not, so Rose was on constant vigilance, running, spinning, kicking, snaking her neck and using all her persuasive techniques to keep Asi and the little girls apart. The photograph shows Asi in the background eating hay, with Rose between him and the young girls. Over the next several days, this pattern of behavior continued no matter where the herd was: in the paddocks, on the hill, or on the flat. Rose definitely got her exercise! And then the dynamics evolved in unexpected ways. More next time!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023

Observations about Twinning in Fell Ponies

Thanks to social media, the Fell Pony community in 2022 celebrated the birth and healthy rearing of a set of pony twins in England. Their breeder shared updates and photos so that we could follow their progress. The breeder said repeatedly that it was all about having an amazing mare able to carry them to term, birth them, and then nurse them. The breeder too deserves credit for supporting the mare with her double work load.

I have had the good luck to see a set of healthy Fell Pony twins. There’s nothing quite like it. On the other hand, I have also watched the heartbreak of a breeder who had a set of twins, one of which was much weaker than the other. The breeder tried desperately to save the weak one, but sadly it eventually passed. Fortunately for the mare, she still had a foal to mother. There have also probably been innumerable twins that were never viable and were aborted and we never knew about. So when a set of twins like this year’s is viable and makes it to weaning, they inspire us. Some this year have said that breeding for twins seems like a good idea. I would like to share some additional observations about twinning in Fell Ponies, based on personal observation.

One observation is that equines in general are really not well suited to raising two foals. That’s evident when so many are weak or unviable. One could argue that when a mare is successful, then there is great hope. That might be with that particular mare and her genetic and physiologic make up and perhaps even only when mated to that particular sire. A daughter, though, will only have some of her mother’s genes and physiology so there’s no guarantee that she will be as successful. That’s where it’s important to understand the range of possible outcomes of breeding for twins.

The healthy set of twins we saw in 2022 is one example of a possible outcome. So is the outcome of one healthy and one non-viable foal. As mentioned, at least in that case the mare has one foal to nurture. When both foals are lost, that is very tough on a mare, but there’s an even worse case scenario. The mare of the healthy twins that I met also had a daughter. That daughter had a healthy single foal for her first mothering experience. The second time though was twinning gone awry. If you are squeamish, you may wish to skip the rest of this paragraph. The mare foaled a healthy foal that stood and nursed and moved about. Except that the foal had two hooves on one of its front legs. And there was a bag of bones that was also birthed out. Apparently the two sets of genetic material were not properly divided. The foal had to be put down, and it was hard on the mare to not have a foal to rear after all the effort of gestation and delivery and knowing that it had nursed. The mare did have another healthy foal from her next pregnancy, but then she foaled another deformed foal the next time. Again the foal was put down and the mare had no youngster to reward her hard work. The mare was retired from breeding. So despite her mother having successfully raised twins, the daughter apparently had the twinning gene but could not be successful raising twins.

Breeding is a complicated craft. We care for animals, we study pedigrees, we try to match stallion and mare, we wait for nearly a year, and we hope for a foal we can enjoy. Twins can bring double the joy, but there is also the chance of tremendous heartbreak. So when twinning is present in a pony’s pedigree somewhere, we have difficult decisions to make on our own behalf but also for the mare and the foal. Each of us must make our own decisions, using all the information at our disposal and considering all the possible outcomes. And we can celebrate as a community when healthy twins are born.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2022

There is an article on research about twins in Fell Ponies in my book Fell Ponies: Observations on the Breed, the Breed Standard, and Breeding, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Integrating My New Gelding into the Herd

Fascinated as I am with herd dynamics, I knew I would want to watch when I put my new Fell Pony gelding in with my herd of mares. My new gelding is known to them already because he is my former stallion Kinniside Asi. I castrated him because he wasn’t happy in his life as a stallion; he’s a completely different and happier pony now. I have heard people complain that castrated stallions are not good companions for mares in their new life as a gelding, so I wanted to see if Asi would be that type or different.

Kinniside Asi, my new gelding, looking at the camera, and three mares learning to get along at feeding time.

Because Asi is heavier built than my mares, I knew I had to use great care when putting him with them, especially since he knew them previously as mating objects not companions. While I considered integrating the mares with him one at a time, I decided on a different strategy. I put three mature mares who are tightly bonded to each other with him all together for part of a day to see what would happen. It ended up being a better strategy than I had imagined!

I was taught early in my pony life that it is always best to introduce new herd mates over food, and it is an approach that I have always found useful. Accordingly, I began the experiment when the ponies were all eager for hay. I tied Asi to the fence in his large paddock and spread hay there. I then brought the three mares into the paddock, tying each of them to the fence until we were all present. Then I untied the mares in reverse dominance order (I don’t want a dominant mare pushing around a lesser one while it’s tied up). Finally, I untied Asi. As expected, they all went to eating.

It didn’t take long, though, before curiosity overtook hunger pangs, and the dynamics that followed were as fascinating as I anticipated. The best part was they were also full of surprises. I was pleased that Asi was respectful. I was also pleased that the mares worked together to put him in his place as I had hoped. I was surprised, though, which mare was the most effective in moving Asi around: the youngest and smallest who was also well-pregnant. It was truly impressive to watch her pin her ears, walk with authority in his direction with her neck outstretched and have him back up as fast as he was able. I had watched my first Fell Pony mare, Sleddale Rose Beauty, do similar things around stallions, and I had used her capabilities to my advantage whenever I had a new young stallion that needed putting in his place. I smiled and said to myself, “I’ve found my new Beauty!”

Another mare’s strategy was not as authoritative and seemed less effective to me. She would touch noses with him then turn around and kick out at him, usually missing. I’ve learned over the years that they know when they will miss and they know when they will make contact and they choose accordingly. I didn’t feel Asi took this sort of encounter nearly as seriously as the other where he was backing up in complete deference to the mare. Instead he was just keeping out of range.

I had to cut that first introduction of gelding and mares short after forty-five minutes. A biting fly had come out that makes some of my mares lose their minds, so I returned them to their own paddock where they could find peace and refuge. After frost, though, I repeated the integration several more times for several hours at a time until it was clear that that herd of four had reached a peaceful state. One mare chose to hang with the stallion, and the other two mares hung together. At feeding time Asi was low pony in the herd. Time for the next step: putting them together on the hill!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2022

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.