Benny and Dougal

We spent Christmas and New Year in Devon with our daughter Sam. Sam has Benny and Dougal – the 2 cobs.
I rode Dougal a couple of times but the weather wasn’t very conducive to going too far.
On the last ride Sam and I went round the block and half way we had a tractor behind us and needed to get on the grass verge to let it pass. There were 2 ponies coming in the opposite directions who also had to come on the verge. Once the tractor had passed, Benny and Dougal tried to follow the other ponies and took a bit of persuading that they weren’t going the same way. We stood on the verge until they calmed down and reassured them.
We decided to walk the ride as Dougal was still a little excited after seeing the other ponies. Dougal jogged a little and Benny had to trot to catch up. They walked through the ford which was flowing well.
They were possibly a bit lively due to being in all night – the other rides had been afternoon ones.
Benny has settled well, although still hasn’t been out very far on his own.