Orphan Foal Lady Luna in the Daily Mail!

The rescue and rehabilitation of orphan wild-born foal Tipparlake Lady Luna attracted the interest of the Daily Mail and photographer Murray Sanders came to visit us for a photoshoot.

Still only about three months old, we were wondering how Lady Luna would respond to a stranger with a camera, but Murray immediately put her and the other ponies in her small herd at ease. She and fellow foal, Holtball Dick Turpin, even decided to lie down and let me sit with them, giving a good photo opportunity - although Lady Molly was a little too interested in Murray's impressive camera gear!

With inside shots in the bag, it was time for some action shots in the pasture. Murray ideally wanted a cantering photo, with Lady Luna showing how she's recovering her condition, energy and zest. She duly obliged and produced a wonderful canter where the light was amazing. She was also engaging and happy to pose for interactive shots.

Of course, the ponies love their mud wallow and cantered down the hill towards it with enthusiasm. Murray saw the muddy water and gasped, "I hope she doesn't....." as Lady Luna gave a spectacular trot right through the middle of it. Fortunately, she decided not to stop and roll and managed to retain her fluffy coat along with her newly mud-coated legs.

The resulting feature has appeared in Sat 25 November's Daily Mail as a wonderful double page spread, which also mentions the Exmoor Pony Project and my new book, Wild Herd Whispering. So we are very grateful to the Daily Mail for this opportunity to promote the gorgeous ponies of Exmoor National Park, and the work we're doing to help safeguard them, and encourage kind, trust-based handling and management of them.