Trust

I've had such a fantastic experience this afternoon - I went for a walk on the South Downs with my friend Annie, and we went to a Nature Reserve that I'd passed on the walk last Thursday. There was a sign on the gate to the reserve advising that there were wild Exmoor Ponies in there for winter grazing, so I wanted to go in the hope of seeing them, and we weren't disappointed! For obvious reasons, I didn't take Louis with me today.

We walked down into the valley and there was a herd of about 20 of them in the distance - It was amazing to see so many of them, and we slowly walked closer, taking photos as we approached. They saw us but were very wary of us, and moved away as we got nearer, so we just stood and watched them, taking photos all the time. As you can see I managed to get quite close to this pony and I kept talking to her and started to gain her trust until she let me stroke her and she nibbled my fingers. I gave Annie my camera and asked her if she could take some photos, and whilst I didn't take this one myself it had to be my blip as it really was an amazing moment.

The Sussex Pony and Conservation Trust have two herds of wild ponies and rely on Volunteers to check on the horses on a regular basis, which is something I'm interested in doing, so I've contacted them today to see if I can register as a Volunteer - fingers crossed they get in touch!