# Grey gelding near Tadley in North Hampshire



## lynd (8 May 2010)

yesterday a small grey gelding 11.2 ish appeared in a field that we use for our horses.  Checked with everyone round about and nothing known about it.  Very scared and wearing a red headcollar with the remains of an old green lead rope attached.  Got a finger on it's nose and it knew all about buckets.  Looks elderly but difficult to tell as it won't be caught.
Have left a message with Berkshire horse watch and field owner is calling the police. Any info contact me on 07973 506775.  have taken some video and will load onto you tube and post a link shortly.


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## lynd (8 May 2010)

Our email address if you know anything about this pony is:-

LostPony@ronaldduncan.com

The video is at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIdxBoOsWc

Thanks


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## T_K (8 May 2010)

I've noticed recently (as I live in Cumbria and a lot of ponies have arrived) that the travelling community tend to put bits of leadropes on the horses headcollars. I would keep an eye on the poor pony in case someone is planning on coming back for him (round here they dump ponies in any old empty field and then either add more or take them away a few days later).

Poor little mite.

ETA I have shared the video on Facebook and Twitter, hope that's OK.


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## dozzie (8 May 2010)

lynd said:



			Our email address if you know anything about this pony is:-

LostPony@ronaldduncan.com

The video is at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIdxBoOsWc

Thanks
		
Click to expand...

You are just up the road from me! I dont recognise it at all. Had a similar incident a few years ago with a pony that had escaped from a field behind the  house on Ashford hill, lefthand side,  before you go down into the village, next stop the ship.The house that sits overlooking the valley.  Put a flyer through his door just in case.


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## lynd (9 May 2010)

Hi both - he could be a travellers horse as there is a small community nearby and they do avail themselves of the local estates grazing, but I don't recognise this as one of their horses which also tend to be quite friendly.  I am wondering if someone has been to Reading sales and picked up a childs pony which turned out to be anything but!  He is petrified of people moving near him and if you try to touch more than his nose, he swings his back end round very quickly.  The headcollar is there for good reason as he would be completely uncatchable without it - but getting a lead rope on him would really distress him currently.  He's in a field at Brimpton Common, on the road to Brimpton opposite the Pineapple pub (the triangle), the gate is double padlocked and he must have been hauled in through a deep ditch and over held down barbed wire, so his arrival can't have been pleasant.  Must have been at night as none of the neighbors have seen or heard anything. Generally the travellers use less overlooked fields for grazing and also there is no water in this field.

I am going to post pictures in local shops etc and just see if he will trust us a bit more - he's certainly keen on buckets of food and took an apple from our hand, so a few days might make a difference.  I could also put my mares down with him - they are fully in charge of the equine world and he seems quite lonely..... but if the travellers are coming back for him potentially.......  I am rather attached to my girls!! Although I am not sure that they are very keen on stroppy TB's!


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## lynd (9 May 2010)

mystery solved - went to the travellers site this afternoon and he belongs to a family there.  He is actually a MULE - and a very pretty one too!  I did have my preconceptions rattled as I met a very nice young man who was delighted to hear where he was and explained that he came from nasty circumstances, is scared of people and goes walkabout.  Now I see the gypsies utlilsing all sorts of free grazing near us for their thin trotters, so took this with a large pinch of salt.  One of the trotters was tethered on the roadside, so said to him - "pretty pony??" only to be told not ours and not happy about its treatment!  He then took us to see his horses - non of which I recognised, all in good condition and very friendly.  Hmmm a leson in judgement I think!!


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## dozzie (9 May 2010)

I thought he looked like a mule.  Drove past this morning just to be nosy! Not quite what we normally see being trotted up the Brimpton/Pineapple Straight.

Glad it is sorted. I wonder if it is the same family who owned the Shetland. They turned up with a passport when collecting the stallion and seemed genuine. Stallion was also in good condition.


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## Ravenwood (9 May 2010)

When I watched the video - I thought he was a donkey but didn't like to say so!

Very glad to hear that you have found his owner


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## lynd (10 May 2010)

We couldn't work out what he was either!!  I hadn't realized that mules could be so small, but I guess they come in all sizes.  Dozzie - this is probably the same family, they have one of the coloured trotters but not the one that I normally see thashing up the straight!  The chap I saw often rides near here on a very pretty palamino, and we sometimes see him in the woods.  They have some nice horses......including a very pretty andalusian!!  PM me if you fancy a catch up, currently we are reschooling an ex racer and bringing on 4 youngsters. Hoping to be riding the TB later this year!!


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