Horses munching hay at Burleigh

I had to meet a colleague this morning in Minchinhampton for a discussion about the future.  When I left I chose to go down some small back lanes leading dow to the Golden Valley, as I wanted to then drive up the other side to Bisley.

At a junction in the lanes I spotted several horses in two adjacent fields and couldn't resist the opportunity of a wintry country scene.  They look a bit bedraggled in the muddy conditions but there was obviously a lot of fresh hay for them to eat.  There seem to be a lot more ponies and horses in the local hillside fields these days reflecting the increasing importance of horses in land management.