An Adventure with Henry

When my friend Linda told me about an elderly friend of hers in Ohio who was growing frail, I told Linda I would do what I could to support her going to see her friend as soon as possible.  A few days later someone in Ohio said they wanted to buy my weanling Fell Pony Willowtrail Henry. Linda immediately suggested that we deliver him and then she would go see her friend.  Sometimes it is amazing how life works.

On the morning of our departure, it was twenty degrees Fahrenheit and snowing lightly.  We had had an inch of fresh snow overnight.  Just as I was leading Henry to the horse trailer to load, a bald eagle flew over us.  As a friend texted to me later, it was a good omen!  Henry loaded readily into the 3 horse-sized trailer configured as a single stall; I had deeply bedded it with straw and hay.  We headed north towards Interstate 90.  As the snow let up, the temperature began to drop.

I had never transported a pony across the country before, much less a weanling, much less headed into severe winter weather.  Linda is a veteran of these sorts of trips, though, so she gave me confidence that we could pull the trip off.  We drove east across South Dakota in the sun, but the outdoor temperature hovered between zero and five degrees Fahrenheit.  A stiff wind made the effective temperature even colder.  Ice began forming on the three water buckets I had brought along so Henry would have familiar water to drink.

It wasn’t just Linda that gave me confidence; Henry did, too.  Each time we stopped, I checked to make sure hay was still interesting to him.  I offered him water and salt, and I cleaned up any manure that he’d passed.  Each time I appeared, he was happy to see me but not anxious or upset despite the cold and the unusual circumstances.  We continued on our journey.

When we drove from daylight into night, the temperature began to rise slightly.  By the time we stopped in western Iowa, it was 14 degrees Fahrenheit.  While Linda was prepared to continue driving deep into the night, I had noticed that Henry was only eating when we stopped, so he was short of calories for the day.  We hauled the three buckets of water and everything else that might freeze into the motel for a very short night’s sleep, a dozen trips in all.  I offered Henry water from the motel, which he readily drank, for which I was thankful, and we left him snug in the trailer with a pile of hay.

It ended up being a good thing that the wake-up call at the motel came an hour and a half early.  I checked Henry immediately, and he was still doing well.  The water buckets had barely thawed, so I brought one into the cab between my feet where it would be warmer for Henry that day (my feet though did not much appreciate their new ice block neighbor!)  We continued on our journey before the sun came up.

While we had watched the moon rise the night before, it was now cloudy, and the wind began to have snow in it.  The real issue, though, was ice.  As dawn turned to daylight, in a stretch of about forty miles, we saw twenty or more semi-trucks off the road and several more cars also in the wrong place.  As we crossed into Illinois, the temperature continued to rise, eventually getting above freezing.  From there into Indiana, everywhere we looked, streams and rivers were overflowing their banks and fields had standing water in them.  We felt for the farmers who might have trouble, again, getting their crops in.  Henry was still doing well.  I was so thankful I had put him out on our ‘fell’ the night before we left so he had had plenty of opportunity to stretch his legs.

I was still dressed in my heavy winter clothing as temperatures continued to rise.  When we crossed into Ohio at dark, it was in the mid-50s with high humidity.  Now when I checked Henry, he was damp to the touch from the humidity but still interested in hay and water.  I overheated doing his chores!  I also took time to remove the remaining gumweed from his mane, tail, feather and body.  His owner in Ohio assures me he’ll find plenty of similar vegetable matter to decorate his coat with, but I wanted him to arrive relatively clean.  I suspect the nickname my friend Bruce gave him - King Henry GW - will continue to be apt!

What a good traveler Henry was:  a good eater, a good drinker, and patient with the unusual housing.  Nonetheless, he was very ready when, at 9pm, we reached our destination and he could step out of the trailer onto firm ground.  That eagle, indeed, had been a good omen – a safe trip despite the weather.  What an adventure!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

My book What an Honor is filled with lots of stories about life with my ponies. It is available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

South Dakota Wind

I learned a new word the other day.  My friend Bruce asked if I survived the perihelion.  I told him I wouldn’t know until I looked it up.  I asked him if it explained the intense wind we had that day.  He said he didn’t know.  (Perihelion occurs about two weeks after the December solstice, when the earth is closest to the sun.  It isn’t thought to affect wind.)

The wind blew hard all day, so I used that as an excuse to not go out riding my pony Willowtrail Wild Rose midday like I usually do.  Instead, I finished a bunch of office work and ran to town to put things in the mail, then hustled back with just enough daylight left for a ride.  And the wind laid down!   One serious gust blew as I headed to the barn, but during my ride, the breeze varied from light to still.  And the evening was once again glorious with incredible color in the sky.  I felt so fortunate.

One thing I really noticed about the recent heavy wind is that because it was relatively warm, it turned the snow in many places to ice.  Bruce told me that ice is the greatest challenge in winter here, and now I understand what he means.  On my ride, I guided Rose around icy spots as best I could.  She was patient the few times she slipped.  Generally, though, we found enough good footing to make the ride enjoyable.

When I first told people I was moving to South Dakota, they pitied me for wind and cold.  So far I believe what I’ve been told:  that I’m living in the Banana Belt of the state; the temperatures haven’t been as extreme (yet) as I had in Colorado.  And I’m told the wind isn’t bad here compared to the rest of the state.  I notice it a lot more because of the deciduous trees around the house; I’m not used to the sound they make when the wind blows after living in a lodgepole pine forest for so many years!

If the wind I’ve experienced so far is part of what makes this place what it is, then I accept it.  I’m very blessed to be able to be here, riding Rose at sunset under a stupendously colored sky.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Hair Care: Supplementing Fats

I recently had visitors who were new to Fell Ponies.  They asked about hair care.  They observed the long manes on my ponies that were free of tangles, and they asked how often I brush them.  ‘Almost never’ was my reply.  I have found that the best way to get healthy and silky hair – coat but also mane, tail, forelock and feather – is to feed for it.  Then whenever I see a tangle starting to develop in the mane, rarely more often than every few weeks, I take the tangle out.

Here’s how I feed for healthy hair:

• Balanced and comprehensive vitamins and loose, free-choice minerals

• Copper supplementation (click here for a blog post on that topic)

• Good quality fats

It has always puzzled me why people add oils like corn and soybean to their equines’ rations.  Oils are the farthest thing from natural in an equine diet.  But then I read the following:  “Fat from any source will make your horse shiny….  Any fat will do; the type of dietary fat doesn’t matter when it comes to making the hair coat shine…”  (1)  So that explains one reason why people add oils to their equines’ diets:  shiny coats.  Another explanation is likely that the equine’s owner is making a laudable attempt to replace starches and sugars in their equines’ diets with fat as an energy source.

But then the quote above had an important caveat.  “Any fat will do; the type of dietary fat doesn’t matter when it comes to making the hair coat shine – but it sure does matter when it comes to your horse’s health.”  The point here is that a proper balance between Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids is crucial for equine health, just as it is for people. 

Pasture/grass has the proper balance.  Finding equally balanced supplementation when our equines do not have access to fresh grass can be more tricky.  Corn and soybean oil are heavy on the Omega 6s which can lead to inflammation if fed in sufficient quantity.  Flaxseed has been fed to equines since at least the 1850s. It is gaining popularity because it has a more favorable ratio, but how flaxseed is fed is crucial to its effectiveness.  But there are benefits of special interest to pony owners who are vexed by a problem some ponies face.  Researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada “found evidence that the fatty acid source flaxseed can potentially reduce the allergic inflammatory response in horses susceptible to biting midges (Culicoides),” also known as sweet itch. (2)  “Also, omega-3s could have beneficial effects for horses suffering from inflammatory diseases such as heaves and osteoarthritis. Researchers have not yet determined the exact physiological mechanism to these benefits, and more research is needed to further examine flaxseed’s role in immune response.” (3)

Another Omega 3 source starting to show up in equine rations is chia seed.  It is higher in Omega 3s than flaxseed and is more digestible without processing.  Chia seeds are an ancient grain of the Aztecs and Mayans.  “Legend has it that when the Spanish conquered Mesoamerica, they banned the seeds, attributing the fierceness of the indigenous warriors to a diet of chia.” (4)  “Unlike flaxseeds, chia seeds have softer hulls and can be fed whole.  While chia seeds are likely to have similar benefits as other Omega 3 sources, no scientific research has been conducted on feeding them to horses.” (5) 

There are other sources of healthy fats available for equines such as fish oil and whole extruded soybean meal, but as with flaxseed, the key is in the preparation to make them both palatable and nutrient-dense. Because my ponies are off fresh grass part of the year, I make sure they get good fats when they need them. I attribute the health of my ponies’ hair in part to the quality of the fats that I feed them.

1. Getty, Juliet M., PhD.  “Myth:  A Shiny Horse is a Healthy Horse,” Horse Journals, 5/21/14, at  https://www.horsejournals.com/myth-shiny-horse-healthy-horse

1. Getty, Juliet M. PhD.  “Feeding for Immunity,” the Horse, 12/3/12, article #118796 at thehorse.com

2. Janicki, Kristen M.  “5 Facts about Flax,” the Horse, 7/15/19, article #148473 at thehorse.com

3. “Flaxseeds or Chia Seeds:  Which do I feed my Horse?”, Biostar, 7/31/17 at https://www.biostarus.com/blogs/formulators-corner/flax-seeds-or-chia-seeds-which-do-i-feed-my-horse

4. Moore, Jennifer, PhD.  “Top Sources of Omega 3 Fatty Acids for Horses,” Equine Wellness, Jan/Feb/Mar 2020, p. 40

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2020

The Stories We Tell at the Holidays

At the holidays, we often tell stories at meals or in front of a fire or at other family gathering places.  It turns out those stories carry more weight than we might think.  Researchers at Emory University have found that adolescents and young adults, despite appearing distracted or uninterested, actually retain the stories they hear in family settings. (1)  Further, the research says that the stories provide important senses of identity for youth and may also help them navigate difficult emotions when they hear how other relatives have done the same.

After hearing about this research, I asked myself what story I would tell at the holidays if I had the chance.  It didn’t take long before I knew it would be about how important animals are in my life, especially this year.

When my husband was killed in an accident, I instantly knew I had to move, but I didn’t know where.  And I knew I wanted to keep my ponies, but I didn’t know how.  Then the shock that took over my body wore off, and it was easy to think about just lying in bed.  But the ponies needed to be fed and the dogs needed to be let out, so I got up and going.  Over and over again.  Day in, day out, several times a day.  In hindsight it was a great way to put my grief in context.  While life was different, it also went on in many ways as it had before.

I spent that first month after Don’s death ‘poking the universe,’ seeing how it responded to various ideas about where to go and what animals to keep.  I chose not to view feedback from the universe as good or bad but rather as information.  Reactions came as useful information or nothing at all. 

Despite thinking that my ponies and dogs would be with me until the end of their days, I knew I was physically unable to care for all of them alone.  I poked the universe, and suddenly there were opportunities that made alternative realities easier to ponder.  As it turned out, I placed four ponies very quickly in fabulous homes and two dogs also in great places.  But I still needed a place for me to land, hopefully with the ponies that I still had.

I have my dog Tika to thank for solving that part of the puzzle of my new life.  The people who bred her had evolved from acquaintances to friends and had even started learning about Fell Ponies.  They reached out soon after they heard about Don’s death, and what they offered fit like a proverbial glove.  Every time I poked the universe about it, the reaction came back richer than the time before.  It felt then and continues to feel like a miracle, and strangely at the same time it feels like a natural evolution of things.  As one small example, they were disappointed that they sold Tika, and now they have her back!

I’m still dealing with transitioning my life.  And my dog and ponies are still helping me navigate the tough emotions that sometimes surface.  Tika still needs to be let out, and on occasion she gets very intense hugs when I need to give one and get one back.  And while the ponies don’t require as much feeding now that many of them are on pasture, they still like to see me and appreciate their feed buckets.  Some of them are even pretty good at receiving and returning hugs!  I always come back inside feeling better than when I went out. 

Prior to Don’s death I had never lived alone, sharing living space with family or a roommate or a spouse.  While I may no longer share living space with a person, I do have a new appreciation for the companionship I have from my animals.  I recognize now that companionship has dimensions far beyond what I previously understood.  While it isn’t uncommon to be given support and assistance from people when one is grieving, I can testify to the fact that animals are also capable of giving, and the assistance can be profoundly helpful.

So be sure to tell stories this holiday season, and don’t be afraid to let your stories evolve as you gain perspective.  If you can, include your animals in the tale.  Sometimes when people aren’t able to give us answers that we need, our animals can and do!

1. “The Psychological Benefits To Hearing Family Stories This Thanksgiving,” All Things Considered, 11/26/19, npr.org

 © Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one can be found in my book The Partnered Pony, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Hiding!

A dark spot on an otherwise white landscape gave me a focus for my search for three missing ponies

I was doing midday chores, and it was time to bring the mares and foals into the corrals.  I had seen them at dawn off in the distance moving away, so I opted to bring them in later in the day rather than spend more time outdoors at zero degrees Fahrenheit.  When I started midday chores, they weren’t anywhere to be seen, so as I did preparatory things, I kept sweeping my gaze across the landscape.  Before long I saw one and then another come into view, heading my way. 

I counted my blessings as I welcomed the first pony and then the second, third, and fourth.  When the other three weren’t in view, I shut the first half of the herd in and pondered my search strategy.

There were six inches of snow on the ground, so I opted to follow the hoofprints of my arrivals back in the direction from which they’d come.  I went down into the ravine and up the other side then headed west, slowly climbing a small rise.  From that summit, I still didn’t see any ponies, so I kept tracking north.  Finally I saw something suspicious, a dark spot interrupting the white landscape.  It didn’t look like a pony, but it looked like a possibility, so I headed in that direction, thinking there’s an advantage to black and brown ponies versus grays in a winter landscape!

Found!

Slowly the dark spot began to take the shape of a foal’s hind end, sticking above the edge of a draw.  A few more minutes walking, and I arrived at the head of the draw where the two missing foals and the head mare were grazing.  I suspected the mare was hiding from me to avoid the discomfort of part-day weaning.  Nonetheless, she came to me as I approached and accepted the halter.  I tied the lead rope into reins and hopped on.  I hadn’t ridden her in awhile, but she carried me willingly where I needed us to go.  It was a thrill to be riding for the first time in some time across a beautiful landscape on a pony I love, the highlight of my day.

And a ride in that was the highlight of my day.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

The Purple Bucket

I woke up and tipped my head off the pillow to look out the window.  There through the trees I could see a pony walking across the hillside.  Such a blessing to have that view from my bed!  And it was such a contrast to the day before that I jumped up and headed out to greet my friends.

The previous day I had looked in all the usual places that the ponies like to be in the morning, and I didn’t find them.  Finally I discovered them far to the west, across a ravine.  So I was thrilled when they started heading to me as soon as they saw me, navigating the ravine themselves rather than me having to!

I gave the mares their vitamin buckets, then I greeted each of the foals and then the mares individually.  When everyone had had their fill of my attention, I went to pick up the buckets.  I found three, and then realized one was missing.  I surveyed the bench we were all standing on above the ravine and confirmed that it was nowhere to be found.  Then I chuckled and looked where I didn’t want to, and sure enough, there was the missing purple bucket at the bottom of the ravine.  I would have to navigate the steep climb after all!  Fortunately the view up towards the ponies was pretty awesome, especially when young Henry began descending to see what I was doing!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

My New "Friend" Gumweed

I’ve now relocated my Fell Pony herd twice during my stewardship of the breed, and each of the three locations we’ve lived together have had tremendous good characteristics as well as occasional challenges.  It took my ponies less than a week to find the challenge in our current location. 

When I visited here prior to relocating the ponies, I saw what I thought were burrs in the horse pasture.  I was immediately transported back in time.  At our first location, Turkey Trot Springs, I put my stallion and mare into a new pasture I had fenced, and when I went to fetch them a few hours later, Midnight had completely filled his forelock with burrs from burdock plants.  I of course never pastured my Fells in that pasture again!

Willowtrail Wild Rose and her ‘horn’ after I worked briefly to remove gumweed from her forelock

Here my new ‘friend’ is called gumweed.  It took the ponies several days to find it, and I was hopeful during that period that I had been wrong about seeing burrs in the pasture.  And technically gumweed isn’t a burr; it is a sticky seed head as its name suggests.  It therefore has an advantage over burrs since those require gloves to remove, and gumweed can be comfortably pulled barehanded.  But the two are common in the amount of rearrangement they can do to my ponies’ beautiful manes and forelocks.  Even the foals with their short manes have adornments! 

I have been told this is a particularly productive year for the weed, and I have been told by locals that it is an inevitable factor in equine ownership here.  We did do some mowing around the sheds and waterers where we thought the ponies might be getting into gumweed, but I think my friend Bruce probably made the observation that will shape my management strategy:  there is likely something particularly tasty growing under and around the gumweed that has attracted the ponies’ attention.  He suggested it might be late season cheatgrass, and a USDA publication confirms that gumweed is often found alongside that species. (1)

Each pony will likely require an hour or two of work to get their manes and forelocks to flow free again.  I’m pleased that my stallion and one mare have been confined and therefore haven’t modified their appearance like the other seven have.  Two ponies in particular have strikingly new appearances.  Drybarrows Calista looks like she has been roached:  she has not a single strand of her mane or forelock flowing free.  It is really odd to see such a ‘clean-headed’ Fell Pony!  And after I worked for a few minutes on Willowtrail Wild Rose’s forelock, all I had to show for my efforts was what looked like a unicorn’s horn.  Maybe that creature isn’t as fictional as we think!

The definition of a weed that I find most useful is ‘a plant growing where you don’t want it.’  Gumweed does have beneficial qualities.  It is attractive to and useful for late-season pollinators, and since pollinators are having a rough go these days, that gives gumweed some redeeming value.  Native Americans also apparently used it:  “A decoction of root was used for liver trouble, and a paste made from flowering tops was applied to skin diseases, scabs and sores.” (2)  I also found the Latin name for gumweed entertaining:  Grindelia squarrosa!  I will keep that entertainment in mind during my hours of work making my ponies look like Fells again!

1. https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_grsq.pdf

2. Same as #1

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Hefting the Ponies at Scotty Springs Ranch

Drybarrows Calista surveys our progress so far while others graze. The ranch road to my house is behind the pine tree at upper right.

On their first morning at our new home at Scotty Springs Ranch in South Dakota, my Willowtrail Fell Ponies had yet another adventure before them.  The mares and foals, after our long trip and late arrival, spent their first night here in a paddock.  After checking and feeding them at dawn and then giving them their late morning feeding, though, it was time to acquaint them with their pasture.  I had planned it to be a special experience because where they now live is unlike anything I’ve ever been able to provide them.  It is so much like a Cumbrian fell that a few English friends who have seen pictures have indeed called it a fell.  And now after seeing the ponies on the ground here, it does feel much like my own experiences on the Cumbrian hills.

Fell Ponies on the fells in Cumbria are often referred to as extensively grazed.  They range over large tracts of land, able to wander to find the food that they want and return to water and minerals as needed.  Movement is a regular feature of their days, and hills are climbed as needed for forage and to cope with weather conditions.  I am so very fortunate to now have an extensive grazing situation for my ponies.  I have the ponies’ minerals in sheds near my home, and water is available in an automatic waterer several hundred yards away at the ranch paddocks.  Pockets in the hills above create diverse forage opportunities as well as providing shelter from the wind, while higher elevations are available to catch those same winds during warm weather and insect season.

My house is near the one seen in the distance above Calista’s rump. Willowtrail Henry looks ahead.

To be hefted is to have a knowledge of and relationship with a piece of ground on which the animals are expected to live and thrive.  When I was doing research on hefting a herd of ponies to a new place a year ago, I learned that equines can become hefted to a piece of ground by learning from other equines there.  However, here, the Scotty Springs Ranch herd was moved off the pasture in order to give the ponies their own place, so the ponies would need to learn the boundaries and key locations another way – from me! 

My plan involved haltering the two lead mares and leading them around the perimeter of the pasture, along the way showing them where the minerals and water sources were.  I chose to lead two mares and not one because I feared that the second mare might not follow, and then others might choose to stay with her.  It ended up being a good choice to have a mare on each side as we were climbing and descending steep slopes; I often hung onto their necks to keep upright and to keep up!

It took us well over an hour to circumnavigate their pasture.  I don’t know its size, but I do know we didn’t get to the most distant corners.  The Murdocks told me that their horses rarely went that high, and when I climbed to the top earlier in the summer, it was true that I didn’t see horse manure past a certain elevation.

The fall colors are just now peaking here, especially the grasses.

What a magnificent experience it was to see Fell Ponies climbing fell-like hills!  Four mares and three foals made the trip around the pasture with me, and I felt so blessed to see these ponies both free and yet with me.  I chose to walk with them rather than ride because there were so many unknowns:  new terrain, foals at foot, extreme steepness, etc.  While my legs at the end wished I’d ridden, I didn’t regret sharing the experience of walking the terrain the same way my ponies did.

My only fell-born pony, Drybarrows Calista, is usually a follower in the herd, but here she led us up and onward, often at a canter across ground that didn’t seem suitable for that gait.  She appeared truly in her element, and I had to think she was remembering running above Haweswater a year earlier.  None of the ponies seemed winded or hesitant about our trek.  I was especially appreciative of the senior mare Bowthorne Matty who was fell bred (Wansfell) but not born; she was quiet and accepting of being constrained by the halter and lead rope and also patient with me grabbing on when I needed help staying upright or matching her pace.

One of the sheds my late husband built for the ponies that the Murdocks so graciously transported here from Colorado. The ponies’ minerals are out of the weather inside. The boundary of the pasture is the ridgeline.

The only regret I had was that there wasn’t someone else with us to photograph me with my ponies on our adventure.  I tried as best I could to capture the ponies running with joyful abandon, stopping to enjoy grazing when we would take a break, and looking out at the vistas which were many and varied.  And when we were back down to the ranch paddocks and everyone was getting a drink, I assured Willowtrail Wild Rose that next time she’d be carrying me on Scotty Springs Fell!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Welcome, Ponies, to Scotty Spring's Ranch!

Willowtrail Spring Maiden by Bruce Murdock

Nearly six months of planning paid off on the day we transported nine Willowtrail Fell Ponies from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to our new home at Scotty Springs Ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  One trailer with three box stalls housed the three mares with their foals, and another trailer brought the stallion and two more mares.  The trip took seven hours, with the first few in intense wind, first at the head, then at the tail.  My friend and Scotty Springs Ranch co-owner Linda Murdock drove the big load, and I drove the smaller one.  We got off later than I’d hoped and pulled in after dark at 9:30pm. 

I couldn’t have been more pleased with how the ponies handled the trip.  The mares and foals all loaded into the unfamiliar trailer with little hesitation, despite it smelling strongly of cattle, which are its normal occupants.  Then in the other trailer, I devised a divider to allow two mares to lower their heads to eat without the dominant one picking on the lower ranking one.  At the other end of the trip, everyone unloaded without issue, taking deep breathes of their new surroundings while I walked them around their overnight housing and introduced them to automatic waterers which they’d never seen before and which the Murdocks graciously installed for the ponies’ use.  The Murdocks also removed as many of the unfamiliar weeds from the paddocks as possible so that burrs and dry bits wouldn’t get stuck in the ponies’ hair.  Nonetheless, a few ponies had adornments the next morning!

Bruce Murdock traveled ahead of us with hay bales from Colorado so the ponies would have familiar feed for the first few days.  I of course also supplemented their feed buckets the morning of the trip (and several of the previous days) with various edibles to improve the ponies’ ability to cope with the stress of the journey, trusting that the foals would get some benefit via their mothers’ milk.

Madie and Asi with a barn in the midground that we will be renovating for the ponies and the fell-like pony pasture in the background

It was with great relief that I watched everyone tuck into their hay piles immediately after entering their overnight paddocks.  I also was relieved when at least one mare in each paddock drank from the waterers, since I knew the others would follow suit at some point during the night. I was able to sleep peacefully after a tough drive.

With the long trip from old home to new complete, now we will get to explore this beautiful place and get to know it in depth.  It will be an exciting journey of a more grounded sort!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories about life with my Fell Ponies can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Unexpected Returns

One of the big projects I have undertaken since my husband’s death is an auction of our business’s assets.  With the auction over, the items are now being dispersed to their new owners.  Due to my need to move and lighten my load, some of the items in the auction were pony-related, and I feared that when they went, it would be difficult for me to watch.  While there will be financial returns from the auction to offset the loss of these items, there have been returns in other forms that were unexpected and equally valuable.

Willowtrail Mountain Honey and her foal in the paddock my late husband built for me just a year ago. The paddock fencing has now been sold and removed.

The first pony-related item to leave was a fence in one of the stallion pens that my husband had completed for me just a year ago.  It was the pen that my beloved stallion Guards Apollo occupied for nearly all of his fourteen years here and is shown in the picture.  When the purchaser of the fencing was due to arrive, I was concerned I would burst into tears.  Instead, when I learned that the purchaser ran an equine-assisted therapy program, our conversation was so inspiring that the expected sadness was replaced with excitement that the fencing would be helping facilitate such important work.

Another pony-related item to leave was a very large box of electric fence supplies.  I didn’t have the same emotional attachment to these items, so it was relatively easy to help the purchasers load them into their trailer.  I asked what they planned to do with the fencing, they replied that they too had horses.  I of course asked what kind, and they replied Friesians and Friesian sport horses.  It was easy to get them talking about their more-than-thirty-years as breeders of sport horses, and since I know nothing about that market, I learned a lot.  As they were about to leave, they asked what sort of horses I had.  When I answered, the response was, repeatedly, “You breed Fell Ponies!”  After three or four of these choruses, they said of course they’d like to meet my ponies, and we had fun meeting the whole herd in two different locations.  They were sufficiently appreciative of my stock to ask for a business card, a reminder to me of something else I must revise before I move!

A local rancher came to pick up some items for a friend, and they saw my ponies in a nearby paddock.  They shared that they feed with Percherons, including a Percheron-Friesian cross.  I enjoyed hearing their perspective on the conformation, temperament, and action of their drafts and draft-crosses.  The unexpected return from that visit, though, was hearing about the movie they’d just watched.  It was about pit ponies, so I shared about my first pony who was similar in conformation to pit ponies and about my first Fell Pony mentor who trained pit ponies when he was young.  You won’t be surprised to learn that I immediately came inside and ordered the movie!

One lot and its purchaser gave me a chuckle.  The lot contained a bunch of heavy duty free-standing fence panels.  I bought them nearly two decades ago when I purchased my first Fell Ponies.  Then I moved the panels here with me seventeen years ago.  And now I will see them at my new home after I move.  My hosts at Scotty Springs Ranch have purchased them!

Another purchaser wasn’t at all horsey, but I enjoyed their question about the ponies, who were watching us load timbers that my husband had milled.  They said, “Aren’t they too tall for ponies?”  I explained how tall ponies can be and how I appreciated their height when lifting harness and packs.  That was all they said, and we went on about our work. 

While it is still possible that I will be brought to tears by an auction item leaving, I now know that the visits by purchasers are bringing me unexpected returns, and for that I am exceedingly grateful.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

One Thing After Another

I needed to escape my desk, and the convenient excuse was to take my stallion Asi and his girlfriend Madie to pasture and to spend time writing while they grazed.  It was a good thing I wasn’t as tired as I thought I was because I had one thing after another happen that kept it from being the relaxing time I had hoped for!

The first unexpected happening was when I arrived.  The mares and foals were lining the fence and watching with great interest as I unloaded the two newcomers.  Asi was reasonably well-behaved despite the mostly female audience, but I still had to modify where I was going to put he and his girlfriend because I didn’t want a lot of cavorting at the fence.  I thought I had a good solution, but it depended on the mares and foals respecting the river as a barrier.  That didn’t work!  Calista climbed up the three foot nearly-vertical river bank to tease Asi.  After trying to drive Calista back across the river, I realized I was faced with too many hormones, so I caught Asi and moved him to another pasture then I returned to the river bank to drive Calista across the river again. 

My presence on the river bank had the opposite effect than I wanted, as all the mares and foals headed my way.  It was incredibly flattering, but I really didn’t want pressure on that fence line.  Claire created the second ‘event’ by climbing the river bank onto a narrow ledge where the fence was.  Again it was incredibly flattering that Claire wanted my attention, but I didn’t like her being on that narrow ledge along the river.  I realized the only way Claire was going to go back down into the river and not try to come through the fence to be with me was if I disappeared.  So I went and hid in the shed and watched her.  Eventually the rest of the herd went across the river and disappeared. 

Claire, though, stayed at the fence and kept looking in my direction (she could tell I was close because she could see my dog Tika who was near me).  But eventually when she realized the herd was gone, she scrambled down the river bank and crossed the river and called and ran to join them.  Finally I could retreat to the trailer and sit and do some writing (and video production) while Asi and Madie grazed without company. 

There was to be one more bit of excitement.  Just before dark, Tika, who’d been laying near me, took off at a full run straight north.  I saw in front of her a flash of orange which suggested it was a fox.  They quickly disappeared.  I hastily wrapped up what I was doing, and when Tika hadn’t returned, I started calling her.  It was a long five minutes (and getting dark) before she came to me panting hard from behind me, from across the highway, and soaking wet.   Obviously the chase had taken her through the river and across the paved road.  I’m so thankful traffic was light and she wasn’t hit because she pays no attention to traffic when she’s on the scent of something. 

After all that, I was glad Asi and Madie weren’t too full of themselves at departure time.  They led and loaded easily to come home.  The upside of all the commotion was some beautiful photographs at day’s end.  And of course an improved attitude for dealing with my desk due to spending time with all my friends.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

You can read many more stories like this one about my life with Fell Ponies in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Help When I Need It Most

When I arrived at summer pasture with the first mare/foal pair of the day, I immediately saw that fencing was going to be added to my day’s to-do list.  A few weeks ago, the ranch manager had put cattle in the pasture to the north of the ponies and had secured all but the piece of fence that crosses the river.  When the cows were put in, the river was extremely high and the cattle were far to the north, so the gap in the fence wasn’t an issue.  Now, though, the river is lower, and the cattle were just across the fence from the ponies, so I knew it wouldn’t be long before they’d find the gap and enter the pony pasture.

On my way home I made a mental list of the tools I would need when I returned to pasture with the second pony load.  I also realized I would need to call the ranch manager to ask for help because while the river was lower, it was still high enough that I couldn’t stretch the fence by myself.  I just hoped I’d be able to catch him on the phone on the first dry day for haymaking of the week.

As has been the case since my husband died earlier this year, help has been offered when I need it most.  Just as I turned on my blinker to turn into my driveway, a pickup and horse trailer came towards me down the county road.  I stopped, and I realized my logistical prayer had been answered.  It was the ranch manager.  He assured me he’d have someone there to help me immediately.  It was good that I had asked because I fell face first into the river while working with his ranch hand stretching fence.  No harm done, but good that someone was there just in case.

The larger pattern of my life has been that when my life is in transition, everything seems to be in transition:  job, home, life partner.  It’s happened this way twice before, and this time is no different.  Due to losing my husband, I lost my job, and I have to move my farm before winter.  But just as has been the case since things tragically changed earlier this year, help has been offered when I needed it most.  Bruce and Linda Murdock of Scotty Springs Ranch outside Hot Springs, South Dakota have invited Willowtrail Farm to relocate there.  I am so incredibly grateful.  I met Bruce and Linda through my dog.  They bred Scotty Springs Taptika, an Australian Shepherd, and we’ve gotten to know each other the past three years because of Tika.  The place they have offered is ideal for raising Fell Ponies, and I am humbled by the opportunity they have given me.

I so appreciate the many people who have asked how I’ve been doing and where I’m going and extending their well wishes.  Each and every one of those gestures has been just the help that I needed at the moment.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Pony Shuffle 2019

This summer we’ve been fortunate to have abundant grass here at home.  I’ve been able to put the mares out with their foals here for several hours a day while I’ve been consumed by tasks related to moving my farm this fall.

Summer pasture is a four mile trailer trip from home, and being adjacent to a hay meadow, the grass is lush.  Therefore each year I undertake what I call the pony shuffle to accustom my ponies’ metabolisms and digestive tracts to the change in roughage from hay to green.  I progress them from 2 hours a day to four then eight then sixteen and finally twenty four, about four days per interval.  I usually do the two hour interval here at home, but this year with abundant grass I’ve been able to do the four hour interval here, too, a huge time and travel saver.

When I have foals, there’s a great advantage to the pony shuffle.  They get very accustomed to loading into, unloading from, and traveling in a trailer.  I always make sure my mares are excellent loaders and travelers so the foals can learn good habits from their moms. 

This year, I have a pony other than a foal new to the pony shuffle.  To introduce Drybarrows Calista to the sequence of intervals, I began by putting her out here with an old hand with the process, Bowthorne Matty.  Matty and her foal Ross and Calista grazed around here, and I was pleased but not surprised when the first day and every day since, Calista has followed Matty’s lead, coming to me to be put back in the paddock at the appropriate time.  Sometimes Calista has even just followed Matty and Ross through the gate without a halter and lead rope!  When she first arrived at summer pasture, I felt rather than saw her eyes bug out at all the grass!

With three foals this year, and just a 3 horse trailer, there’s lots of hauling going on to get all three mare/foal pairs plus Calista transitioned to summer pasture.  I won’t miss the time consuming nature of the pony shuffle after I move, but I do enjoy being forced to spend time with my ponies!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

That Worked Out!

I’ve been stewarding my ponies long enough that I can usually make a pretty good guess about their behavior in a new situation.  Nonetheless, there’s always that little bit of doubt, usually because some other pony at some other time has done something I completely didn’t expect!  Today I had a challenging start to my day, so I wasn’t able to put the mares and foals out to graze like I usually do.  When I finally got freed up about 2:30 in the afternoon, I decided to do something new for them.  For a while I questioned my decision, but in the end it worked out!

The something new was to take them to a part of the property they hadn’t grazed before which is quite a ways away from where they’ve been grazing the past month.  To begin the adventure, I haltered the two most dominant mares but let six ponies total out the gate, one additional mare and the three foals.  We then began walking down the road.  All three foals cavorted around us, but the third mare was quickly left behind as she grazed along the verges.  When we went farther than usual and disappeared from sight, I heard her call to us and then come trotting down the road to rejoin us just as we were getting to the destination.  So far, so good!

I let my two haltered friends loose, and all six seemed happy with the new grazing opportunity.  I returned to the house and fed the last three ponies, scoring a really nice hug from my stallion in the process.  Then I went in to get a much needed and overdue lunch. 

I needed to run to town to do some errands, so I headed out after lunch.  I drove through the gate, then a nagging thought wouldn’t leave me.  The ponies hadn’t been where I’d left them when I passed by, and I hadn’t seen them anywhere else.  I got halfway to the highway and turned around, thinking I’d best know where they were before being gone for an extended period. 

I found them fairly quickly; they had moved around a corner of the clearcut into an area I’d never seen them graze before.  All was well, but since it was a new area for them, I didn’t know where they might move to next.  They could choose to move closer to the house or farther away, and I needed to know which they would choose as the day transitioned toward evening.  I once had a mare and stallion who went away from the house and went visiting neighbors, an experience I wasn’t interested in repeating.  I aborted my trip to town and instead ran a short errand and came back to check on them, then did the same again.  By that second check, they had moved slightly towards the house, with the lead mare headed toward an area she was familiar with, so I decided I could move on to other things and didn’t need to check on them again.  The discovery of some wild strawberries that were incredibly tasty confirmed that things were heading in the right direction!

Around 7:30pm, before the sun began to set, I went outside to begin my last chores of the day.  I was about 45 minutes early, but I wanted to give myself plenty of time in case the ponies had done something unexpected.  Almost immediately that concern was put to rest when I heard a foal call at a distance and then a mare answer similarly far away.  If I could hear them, I could easily find them before dark, so I continued with my chores.  I put hay in the first mare/foal paddock, and as I was filling a tub for the second paddock, I heard a strange noise.  Then I realized it was rapid and multiple hoofbeats.  Very soon thereafter my heart pony and her foal cantered straight to me and stopped.  I led them to their gate and put them in after thanking them for making my life easy.  Then a second mare and her foal presented themselves, and I led them to their paddock and put them in, also thanking them.  And then the third mare arrived with her foal and I did similarly, again with no tack, just cooperation.  I felt triumphant!  I’d tried something new, and it had worked out well for all of us!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

You can find more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

They Try to be Helpful!

I’ve been putting this mare and foal out each day at 4:30pm to graze until sundown.  I walk them down the driveway a ways to release them in a clearcut, and they are free to find grass anywhere they like; there’s plenty for them to choose from.  The standing forest bounds them on one side and a fence on the other; the rest of the herd is a magnet that keeps them from going too far away.  I have learned, after doing this with mares for many years, that they have patterns.  Usually I know where they will be one, two, and three hours into their grazing period.

The past two nights Rose and Henry have come up to graze outside the office window just before sundown.  Last night I thought I was too busy to go out when I saw them, so I finished what I was doing before going out to put them in.  It was perhaps a half hour from when I saw them out the window, and since I hadn’t taken advantage of the helpful opportunity they had given me, they had wandered a quarter mile away.  It made a long day a little longer.  The only benefit was that I got to ride Rose in, and I really enjoy that.  Earlier tonight I was thinking I should take a camera with me to capture our end-of-day ride.

But as daylight gave way to sundown, I tried to be more mindful of the length of my day.  This time I was on the phone when Rose and Henry appeared out the window.  I quickly told my caller that I had to go; I didn’t want to miss tonight’s helpful opportunity!  And I forgot the camera, so I didn’t capture the light of the setting sun behind my ponies that was so gorgeous.  But I did tell them how much I appreciated them trying to be helpful!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one are in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Welcome Willowtrail Henry!

Willowtrail Henry at 31 hours

I didn’t realize how much tension I was holding, awaiting the birth of my first foal this year.  All that tension vanished, though, when Willowtrail Henry entered the world.  I was blessed to be able to act as midwife for his birth, and as always it was amazing to watch how quickly he began getting to his feet.  His abundant energy made for a long wait before he got serious about nursing, though!

The inspiration for Henry’s name comes from three places.  His father’s grandsire was Lunesdale Henry, an esteemed stallion from that longtime stud, whom I was fortunate to spend time with in 2006.  The breeder of my Henry’s mother’s mother was Henry Harrison of the no-longer Sleddale stud.  I was blessed to talk to Mr. Harrison and receive historic photos of his ponies in 2011.  Finally, the picture on the May 2019 page of the Fell Pony Society calendar is of Waverhead Henry with the late Miss Mary Longsdon, MBE.  I had great respect for Mary’s work as chairman of the Fell Pony Society and for the many things she did on either side of that part of her service to our breed.  I first spoke with Mary in 2007 and was thrilled to meet her in 2015 when I visited England.

Henry is out of Willowtrail Wild Rose, the daughter of my first Fell Pony Sleddale Rose Beauty.  I am sentimental about this line for many reasons, and I am very interested in continuing it.  Now begins the long wait to get a filly like Henry!  While my pH-of-the-milk foaling predictor was off by a few days, Rose had an incredible amount of wax an hour before Henry was born.  Long time Cumbrian Fell Pony breeder Christine Robinson called it ‘candles’ and I can see why!  I appreciate that Rose chose to foal at noon and when I was on hand to help.

Henry is my first foal by Kinniside Asi.  While I did as much research as I could in choosing Asi as a stallion, there remained uncertainty about my choice until Henry hit the ground.  No longer!  I have told Papa he did good several times!  Asi’s mother threw three colts in a row.  I sure hope Asi and Rose don’t have that sort of pattern; it will be hard to wait that long to get a filly I can keep!  I can certainly see some of Lunesdale Henry in Asi’s face; maybe someday I’ll see it in my Henry’s too.

The late Lunesdale Henry

Henry is proving to be one of the friendliest foals I’ve ever had.  And pictures are becoming harder to take as his eyesight improves; he comes to see me as soon as I get anywhere close!  What a blessing it is to share life with these ponies!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Stories about other ponies born at Willowtrail Farm can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here and on the book cover.

So Much to Look Forward To

I admit to having a chronic case of the human condition known as ‘a search for meaning.;  I find life to be incredibly rich and rewarding due to this condition, but when something unexpected happens, it tends to set me back on my heels until I can discern a reason for the event.  When my husband was killed in an accident, it threw everything in my life into question. At the time, I had more Fell Pony foals due than ever before. It didn’t take long, though, for the meaning of this to become quite clear.

Of course, had I known I would be alone come foaling season, with an increased work load and an estate to settle and a business to close, I wouldn’t have bred as many mares.  That I did breed them and that I am now alone says to me that stewarding these ponies is something I’m meant to continue doing.  And that it will likely be an important part of my new life.

From this perspective, then, there is so much to look forward to!  These foals will include the first by my new stallion as well as the last by my previous stallion, and I am anxious to compare the two.  There will be a foal from a line that I’m particularly sentimental about, and I’m hopeful it will be something I can be proud of.  I’m hoping for a foal from a line that is charismatic and has movement to die for.  And there will be two foals from a line that right now is eye candy for me.  I’m very much looking forward to more eye candy!  And I’m not just looking forward to this year’s foals but also to what they will tell me about my breeding program.  I’m always striving to produce better Fell Ponies with each generation, so I’m anxious to see what this foal crop will tell me about my progressive breeding goals.

So while my ‘search for meaning’ condition has been quite flared up of late, at least where my ponies are concerned, there is less uncertainty.  And as foaling season nears, I have much to look forward to!

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

There are more stories like this one in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.

Shelley Goes Visiting

What a blessing it is to be having a real winter!  Normal amounts of snow that will hopefully keep the fire danger down this summer and will provide plenty of irrigation water for hay crops.  And what interesting timing.  With my husband gone, I’m now solely responsible for snowplowing and filling stock tanks and moving hay bales and all the other chores of the farm in winter (and I’m grateful for all the help I’ve been offered, too).  It didn’t take me long, though, to know that there aren’t enough hours in the day.

It’s normal when practicing progressive breeding to have ebbs and flows in the size of a breeding herd.  As one works to produce better ponies with each generation, it’s common to retain daughters.  Then a need for a second stallion emerges, and the population grows.  Then when those daughters begin to produce offspring, it becomes time to select which females to retain and which to rehome to keep the herd size realistic.  

I knew I was reaching the point where I was going to have to make some difficult decisions this year.  With my husband’s passing, though, I began to see opportunities to reduce my pony population that I might not have seen otherwise.  For instance, I had kept my Fell Pony mare Restar Mountain Shelley III open (unbred). While I wasn’t interested in selling her, an idea occurred to me. My friend Tina has a two year old Fell that she hopes to eventually use for riding and driving. I thought Tina might find it appealing to have a full grown mare to ride until the filly is ready to go to work.

While the idea made sense logically, I wasn’t fully prepared for how much I would miss Shelley.  Fortunately, letting her go temporarily is already producing gifts.  Tina asked for some video of me working with her, so she would better know what Shelley responds to.  My heart was warmed when Tina observed how much Shelley enjoys being with me.  The feeling is definitely mutual!  Then I got the pictures here of Shelley encountering new beings in her life with quiet acceptance and curiosity.  That’s my girl!

Having Shelley go visiting has definitely freed up some time each day.  Her departure is the first of several.  My goal is to get from five paddocks of ponies down to two while I adjust to life without my husband.  It won’t surprise me at all if I’m back up to five paddocks again a few years out!

There is still a void here that Shelley used to occupy.  It is hard to see her stall empty, her tracks still in the snow, her voice not greeting me at feeding time.  But I take great solace from knowing Shelley will be coming back to me before long, and in the meantime Tina will have lots of stories to tell me about my girl.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

Luck Isn't Random

I am often told how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place surrounded by beautiful ponies.  I am indeed grateful for this amazing life I lead and that people find it admirable, but I’ve always been a little hesitant to acknowledge the other aspect of ‘luck’ that’s sometimes inferred, its randomness.  I was pleased to read about some research, then, that says that indeed luck isn’t random.  Dr. Tina Seelig, a professor in management science and engineering at Stanford University, says that luck “is something you can create for yourself by identifying and developing opportunities.” (1)

Two decades of research have led Dr. Seelig to find three things we can do to increase our chances of having good things happen to us.  The first is to take small risks.  When I got involved in sustainable agriculture, taking a small risk to steward rare breeds instead of conventional ones seemed a small chance with large rewards.  Never would I have imagined I’d end up with a herd of Fell Ponies in the mountains of Colorado and friends worldwide who love them!  I think of ‘taking small risks’ as poking the universe to see how it responds.  Shortly after I bought my first Fell Ponies (before email and social media were prevalent) I sent a paper letter to a long time breeder in Cumbria, not knowing if I would hear back.  Not only did I get a response, but that initial letter led to regular correspondence then more ‘penpals’ and eventually trips to Cumbria to visit the people I’d been corresponding with.  That small risk of sending a letter definitely had long term ramifications, nearly all positive.

The second thing Dr. Seelig recommends is to show appreciation.  “When someone does something for you, they’re taking that time that they could be spending on themselves or someone else, and you need to acknowledge what they’re doing.” (2)  I am grateful to my parents who were persistent in requiring a “thank you” whenever a courtesy was shown to me.  I’ve been surprised how many people don’t practice that simple custom.  I try to always give credit and express appreciation for all I learn about these ponies (as well as other things in life), and I have definitely benefited in ways I would never have imagined.

The third thing Dr. Seelig recommends is to embrace crazy ideas.  “Ideas that seem the craziest often have a seed of something powerful, and if you take a few minutes to think about how it might work, you open yourself up to really interesting possibilities.”  (3)  When I got involved in sustainable agriculture, using draft animal power was quite common in that community.  But I had the crazy idea that using ponies made more sense.  Talk about ‘really interesting possibilities’ opening up!  The fact that the same animal can be used in harness, ridden, driving, and for packing is truly more sustainable than having different animals for different uses.  I’ve never been sorry nor been tempted to get a bigger equine.

While luck may not be random, it isn’t necessarily easy to cultivate, either.  My mother, rest her soul, thought my change from a high tech career to one in agriculture and land stewardship was ill advised, and she reminded me of her opinion every time she talked to me (she grew up on a farm, so she spoke from first hand experience). Of course my mind was pretty good at amplifying that nay-saying from an important person in my life.  It takes consistent effort to continue taking small risks, showing appreciation, and embracing crazy ideas.  So while I’ll always wrestle with nay-sayers, including myself, there’s no question I’ll keep trying to cultivate luck.

1.  “Out of Luck?  Try This,” Stanford Magazine, December 2018,p. 25.

2. Seelig, Tina, in #1

3.   Seelig, Tina, in #1

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2019

More stories like this one can be found in my books What an Honor: A Dozen Years with Fell Ponies and The Partnered Pony: What’s Possible, Practical, and Powerful with Small Equines, available internationally by clicking here or on the book covers.

No Longer Wild as the Hills?

Drybarrows Calista hasn’t ever been too wild for a Fellfie!

Roy Ottink once described the Drybarrows Fell Ponies as “diamonds in the rough straight from the fell and wild as the hills….” (1)  This description was very much on my mind when I decided to import Drybarrows Calista.  I took reassurance from David Thompson’s description of Calista as the friendliest pony in his herd of youngstock.  Nonetheless, the journey from fell-living in Cumbria to Rocky Mountain living in Colorado requires transit via truck and plane and days of standing in stalls, so I wondered what the pony would be like that I received compared to the one that David sent me.

The pony that arrived here, despite the rigors of travel, was indeed the pony that David sent away.  I don’t think I’ve ever called a Fell Pony “sweetie” as often as I have Calista in the month that she’s been here.  It somehow seems unfair to all the other Fell Ponies I have here to so enjoy this newly arrived one.

It would be easy to assume, based on how David described Calista to me initially, that she is an anomaly in being so easy to get along with.  But a story in the recent Fell Pony Society Magazine and another on Facebook suggest that perhaps the Drybarrows Fell Ponies are no longer as ‘wild as the hills’ as they used to be.  David took his youngsters to the Fell Pony Society & Northern Dartmoor Group Study Day in April 2018.  One of the ponies “had only been brought in off the fell and haltered the previous week.”  (2)  Then Penny Walster says of Drybarrows Dissident who took 2nd in the Fell, Highland, and Dales class at the British National Foal Show in November 2018, “What a fabulous little man he has been today a massive long day at The British National Foal Show…  A month off the fell, and you could not buy this temperament…he showed like a pro!” (3)

It appears that Calista is not an anomaly but instead just another representative of the type of pony that David is producing at Drybarrows these days.  I agree with Penny’s assessment:  “Credit to you for superb breeding!”  I look forward to watching the continued evolution of the Drybarrows stud under David’s stewardship, with a little help locally from Calista to interpret it all!

1. Ottink, Roy, as quoted in Miller, Francis.“Drybarrows Fell Ponies”,  The Fell Pony Society Magazine, Spring 2015, Volume 30, p. 78

2. Simpson, Claire.  “Fell Pony Society & Northern Dartmoor Group Study Day,” The Fell Pony Society Magazine, Autumn 2018 – Volume 37, p. 79.

3. Walster, Penny.  Facebook post 26 November 2018 at 12:14AM

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2018

More stories like this one can be found in my book What an Honor, available internationally by clicking here or on the book cover.