This update doesn't have anything to do with the feasibility study or the court case but I thought you might like to know - especially as it is good news. I know many people find it hard to understand how anyone could turn out their ponies on the New Forest when there is always risk that a pony might be run over. However, the joy of seeing ponies living a very natural life, keeping their family bonds, and socialising with other animals is an absolute joy to watch. I write extensively in my books about the way my heart feels fit to burst when I used to come across my ponies in some hidden valley or standing next to the lily-embroidered pond at Janesmoor. 

Since the ponies came off the Forest they have been contented enough but obviously limited in where they can go, what they can do, and what they can eat. The thought that after seventeen years of being out, they might spend ten boring years in made me wonder if I had made the right decision - and there's no doubt that since this campaign started and the police have increased their ambitions under Operation Mountie, the risk of being run over seems to be lower. How long the police will be able to keep this up and whether our campaign will be successful in the long run is in some doubt. I don't feel that I want to 'lend' my ponies to all the New Forest authorities and all the businesses that benefit from these poster animals when there is still a risk and also of people feeding and petting them all year round. 

I am so pleased to tell you that in the next couple of weeks, Nelly, Blue, Patsy and Pie, and Jack, who has not been out since he was six months old, will be moving to a conservation reserve run by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust where they will have 75 acres to roam. This idyllic setting is extremely well-fenced and has no roads running through it. It is quiet and the dog-walkers that use it tend to keep their animals on a lead. They will share with five cattle and the numerous wild animals that live there too including roe deer and muntjac. They receive daily visits and inspection from a dedicated group of volunteers and the ranger for the area. 

Photo: Juma's Auntie Blue by Janesmoor Pond