My afternoon client had cancelled while she awaited swab test results for her horse that lives close to some of the yards that have had a recent bout of strangles. Hopefully the horse won't have strangles but better to be safe than sorry. I never mind cancelling under these circumstances.
Instead I spent an hour wandering about with the ponies and cows at Godshill where there is certainly an atmosphere at the moment. The ground is still warm and the gorse still steaming from recent controlled burning and whether it is this, or a glut of caramelised fibre, the ponies and cows feel quite uneasy, distracted and feisty. It feels like a scene out of West Side Story with gangs of ponies and cows surging towards each other and then having a stand off. I have never felt at risk from cows on the Forest before but today I felt that I needed to keep my wits about me and make sure that I had some easy cover in an emergency.
