New forest ponies

by Sarah Prendergast
(Southampton)

We saw three separate groups of ponies all running in the same direction at the same time today near to Rhinefield. Why would that be?

The ponies run in herds which form from birth or when they are introduced onto the forest (and accepted by a herd!). They swap around in their herds and join and rejoin groups all the time (but usually within a certain area.

When they run together or in 3 separate groups they may have seen or heard something which they may want to discover or run from. They also run like this if they feel the need to run. They spend an important amount of time grazing to keep themselves fit but another important part of their lives is keeping their bodies fit, flexible and working well. Exercise of any type for them assures them of this.

Hope this helps? Thanks for your question too.

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