The ponies at the Reserve are being monitored from all angles. As well as the official Lookers, we have householders on one side and even the cricket club members on the other. It is delightful to receive photos of them between visits.
And photos from the private Lookers' blog where everyone records their visits and any non-urgent problems.
As well as training by HIWWT, the Lookers have a set of rules - and plenty of contacts - about who and when to contact in an emergency which includes problems with a trough, gates and fencing, and anything which would present a danger to the livestock such as fly-tipping, recent fires and BBQs and dens. Blog etiquette requires that we don't go on about irrelevant matters - a bit like this one, it's mostly about horses and cows.
Having had ponies out on the New Forest, where you have to work on the basis that No News is Good News, it's good to get a concrete reports every day or so. I was happy seeing my ponies once a week on the Forest knowing that accidents, incidents and collisions tend to get reported, but some Commoners' ponies are very good at eluding their owners for weeks or months on end and Agisters cannot be expected to put in a personal report on every pony they see on their travels; as it is they are very good at spotting problems even from the most subtle signs.
I don't want to speak to soon, but none of the ponies have put on vast amounts of weight, despite having access to 75 acres and plenty of long grass. My only worry about them is the amount of flies.
