John Deere and the Exmoor Pony Project

You may remember that we discovered the newly orphaned young foal, Lady Luna, in the remote Hoar Oak Valley, in Exmoor National Park, back in September 2017. Her mother had sadly died that morning and the young foal was nestled in the bracken next to her. We had two Exmoor ponies, Monsieur Chapeau and Monty with us, along with walkers who'd joined our Heritage Exmoor Pony Festival Walk that day. Everyone was upset a the situation. Even worse, as the mare and foal were in such a remote moorland area, far from any road or even a track accessible by a four wheel drive and trailer, the foal's future looked bleak. Wild-born foals are virtually impossible to catch without being gathered in with the herd to the pens or the farm. And Lady Luna was all on her own. 

As the walkers took a break for sandwiches by the ruins of Hoar Oak Cottage, I sat with Lady Luna and started to make a tentative connection. She remained calm and eventually let me gently stroke her face and neck. Even  then, I knew it was still very unlikely that we could catch hold of her, and there was no possibility of her following us off the moor. In these situations, the farmer will usually come out and despatch a young foal so it doesn't starve. The little foal had won all of our hearts and we left her to finish the walk feeling very sombre. 

Nick and I consulted with the herd owners, the Floyd family, and later on that day, we all returned to Hoar Oak Valley to see if we could somehow catch the foal. We left our truck and trailer at Cheriton Ridge and made our way into the valley on the quad bike. Crucially, Nigel Floyd had brought his John Deere Gator, which was the only vehicle with its small stock cage, that could get down there and transport the foal. 

Everyone waited patiently while I approached the foal, who was still standing by her mother's body. She made a sorry little sight in the gathering twilight as it started to rain. Bad weather was on the way and this would be her only chance of being rescued. Fortunately, she remembered me from earlier and we made our connection again. She stayed still enough for Nick and Nigel's son Tom to approach and gently embrace her. Soon she was safely in the Gator and we made our way back off the moor and transferred her to our truck and trailer. It was decided that her best chance of surviving was to come to our Exmoor Pony Project for her rehabilitation. She required round the clock car for a couple of weeks, then started to gain strength and gradually recover. 

We were all thankful for the John Deere Gator. Without it, Lady Luna would not have been rescued. Now, she is a beautiful three year old filly, happy and settled in her new herd at our farm. 

I am in the process of writing Lady Luna's story, which I hope will be published alongside my other books in due course.