Sorry for my prolonged absence from this forum, I try and catch up with everyones week on a Sunday but things have been a little on the hectic side all round these past few weeks.
Anyroad up, went out to the New Forest to walk Bo since we both need to lose the extra weight and funds are a bit more flexible.
Bo loves it, he's 10 on the 26th and a walk out in the forest makes him a new dog each time. Unfortunately, the ancient bond between Man and Dog as hunters is very much in his instincts. He knows not to go near the ponies and cattle after several painful reminders via their hooves when he got too close in his young and foolish days. Trouble is he thinks part of the reason we go is to stalk the free roaming herds and this gives him the excuse to roll in choice dung to mask his scent (or make it worse one or the other!). He's unsure of the other part of the reason since it seems to involve Baa spending an inordinate amount of time on one or both knees, head bowed inches above the soil inspecting plants ;) When I look up he points to the ponies ... I think he's under the impression I'm blind with no sense of smell. After a day out with Bo I sometimes wish my sense of smell wasn't so keen ;)
Part of one of the New Forest pony herds was very close to the road today, they take precedence over the mechanised traffic and sometimes even lie in the middle warming themselves, oblivious to the cars and people. A mare and her foal were just 5 ft away from my car so I stopped to take some pics, to my suprise the foal decided to come and see what was in the car! The filly allowed me to stroke her muzzle for a minute or two and then, realising I wasn't going to feed her (I must be one of the few who don't) she turned round and went back to mum.
Makes me wonder what will become of her in the pony sales at the end of the year. The ponies are owned by people who have commoners rights (comes with a house or strip of land) and as part of the ancient management of the Forest a portion of ponies are sold off to private buyers. The market fell through a few years ago and a lot of them are not going to a good home ....
Still lots of blessings counted today ;)
