Yesterday after firing the kiln I walked up Rhyswg Road which goes up the North face of Cefn Rhyswg, to take a little food and fresh drinking water to Mountain Man
We went out in his Landrover to check ponies, he stayed in and drove, I took photos with his camera and my phone.
Bogey Buster coming to greet me
We went to the Northern end, checked over Pen yr Heol from the police mast and above the old coal mine and quarries, went to the South where I walked up Twmbarlwm.
We saw about a third including a group we've been concerned about, not having seen them all Winter. They are all looking very well, having all been bred here or on higher mountains.
Then I walked down the old road that goes down from Rhyswg Fawr to Cwmcarn, on the South face of Cefn Rhyswg.
Through the last gate, onto "Lloydy's Fields" (called that since 1930)
Past the house where Mountain Man grew up.The Winter has really taken it out of him. He is not well, and now I guess he has been hiding that from me for at least six months. He has strained his back again, too.
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13 comments:
Hope Mountain Man gets better soon too. That really is a lovely area you live in.
heartbreakingly so when you see how some of it is being treated.
It's times like these that make you really appreciate the beauty that can still be found. Hope MM sees that it is worth looking after himself so that he can continue to be out on the hills checking on his ponies
sometimes I think it is the ponies keeping him going. He has been making an effort to see me nearly every day though
Looks like Spring is with you.....some lovely, evocative pix. Of course, I know the area, albeit not very well, having lived for many years not to far off. Those Welsh Mountain Ponies are a hardy breed, to say the least. We had them on the commons around our place above Llangattock, Crickhowell: very wary, cautious and fleet hooved, when neccessary. We took a very young, near new-born foal in once. It was stranded, starving on the common, by roadside on the old tram road over to Brynmawr. We watched it getting wetter and wetter, weaker and weaker, over a few days - with no signs of mother - before collecting it and taking it home. We had it out in the hall, with electric underfloor heating and fed it etc., for a few days before it gave up the ghost. A wonderfully gangly thing, it was, when it lurched to its hooves. Very sad, it were, but probably inevitable. Our neighbouring farmer thought we'd done the right thing but always expected it to fail!
I so enjoy your walks and travels..... and best to Mountain man.
yeractual, if the herd had detected something not right with the foal, the stallion would have moved them away and left it. If they can't survive for any reason, it is wrong to keep them alive as that will breed weakness into the herd if allowed.
Tough, but then they are bred to be hardy.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to let nature take its course. Sometimes, from the purest of motives, when we intervene and try to help a creature, what we are doing is only delaying the inevitable.
It sounds as though Mountain Man is in the throes of a deep, deep depression, of which not eating is a significant symptom. Bless you for caring. You may be his only lifeline.
(o)
Wol, I know that he has the weight of his past marriage breakup on his shoulders. He lost so much and blamed himself.
She wanted him down off the mountain for his own good and tried to boss him into it. You just don't tell him what to do, you have to get him to see an idea and accept it.
The mountain, the ponies and his garden are the lifelines, I hope I'm one too.
He was advised to lose weight about four years ago and has done so too efficiently.
I don't think the doctor realised the calorie expenditure of a farmer, especially one who walks not drives.
Anorexia is not an easy one to deal with.
Gwynneth..thank you for sharing the beauty of your area and your walk..oh to walk those fields!
Spring! :)
Have another great day.
What a beautiful mountain. Stay strong. x
A magical place indeed! And the ponies...such sturdy little things. Meant for the terrain there. Lovely bluebells. Hope MM is better now. He's lucky to have someone watching out for him.
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