Wild Welsh Ponies

Wild Welsh Ponies

My walk this week is from a production walk I did in June. In this first part of it I have been climbing up the Cwm Sorgwm valley above Cwmdu just below the Brecon Beacons, and enemy way I met not only cautious sheep (see previous post), but also some cautious wild Welsh ponies.

There was a whole herd of them and this include a number of foals. They were not the only ones being cautious – after all, mothers can be very protective and rightly so. Continue reading

Pony Portraits

Pony portraits became the order for the day at this point on my walk this week, the first of three on this valley route up Cwm Dulais. I met a number of ponies en route – not only are they frequently curious about whoever is passing by, they also seem happy to have their photographs taken.

Valley Ponies

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The Challenge of Gates

Yesterday I mentioned the difficulty for horses of a steep and slippery section of the footpath/bridle way that I have been following on my walk this week. Here is another challenge for the riders of those horses. While gates may not present much of a difficulty to a well practised rider, some of them have mechanisms that require some extra effort to operate. I can’t remember for sure but I think one of the riders of the pair below dismounted in order to open this one.

As well as the pleasure I get from gates and in particular their various sounds, I also get (as I am sure do many other people) enjoyment from the sound of horses hooves on the ground. Listen below.

gate

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Horsey Horsey

Climbing to the top of the hill on my walk this week the surface underfoot was stone at one of the steepest parts of the route. As the track is used frequently by horse riders, I have often wondered how the horses cope with this section as it can get slippery when wet (which is often the case in Wales!).

Having reached the top, the friendly horse that currently shares a field with a couple of donkeys, came over to greet me. I enjoy taking a short break in my walk up there where I can take in the landscape around me and it is good to have a quiet conversation with the horse – he really is a lovely animal!

flying mane

No Excuses – Photography and Memory

I have posted a total of 14 images of The Kelpies as part of my walk this week and that may well be too many for most of you. However, I have reviewed them sequentially on a number of occasions in posting to this blog and found that they serve me with a good memory. There are aspects of our visit to The Helix, specifically to see these sculptural installations in the Scottish landscape, that I am pleased to have enhanced by the images. The fall of changing light as the sun began to set, the details of pattern and reflection in the structures and a hint at the true scale of the work in relation to myself and the surrounding landscape.

So for those who read these posts as well as those who only look at the images, I make no excuses for the number of photos of these magnificent horses and recommend that if you get the chance, they are worth a visit.

The Kelpies

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Two of a Trio – Unexpected Horses

Almost full circle on my walk this week and I get to meet two of the trio of horses mentioned at the start of this week. There is no equine element to The Waterside so I was surprised to be met by this pair.

It turned out that they had wandered here from several miles away and had to be rounded up at the crack of dawn. The owners were eventually rounded up as well but although they arrived in time to witness the birth of the new alpaca (see Monday’s post), they were not able to arrange for the horses to be collected until the end of the day. This was perhaps most significant for the mare (on the left) as the stallion . . . well, I will leave that to your imagination!

horses grazing

horses grazing

stallion and mare

stallion and mare

The horses were in the field next to the outflow stream from the lake. I stopped to record a short sound clip to use in the soundscape for my walk this week which will be posted tomorrow as usual. The last time I recorded this water flow it was more of a torrent.

waterflow

waterflow

Meeting a Resident

Having returned to the top of the farm track near the start of my short walk this week at MLRUK and Blaenige in Carmarthenshire, I met one of the local residents – in the form of one of their horses. I don’t know its name (I don’t even know if it is male ore female), but it was very friendly, pricked its ears up and came over for a chat.

Horse in blanket

Horse Head

Horse Eye

Horses at Sunrise

The Troserch Woodland Walk StillWalks video features a horse – but not this one! Perhaps more importantly, it features the sound of a horse in the early morning.

These are the first of a set of images that didn’t make it into the video which can be seen below.

Horse at sunrise

horses

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