Pack Ponies - Walking Dorset, Camping Wild.
Non-ridden horse experiences
The Ponies & Us
Evie
Evie joined us in 2019 and changed our lives. She is a 13 hand Gypsy Coblet and we adopted her from the RSPCA. She is a people pony - she loves to please and has taken to all kinds of work with a quiet curiosity. She loves going out - her ears prick up and she is excited to step forward.
Due to her early experiences, Evie really loves her food, so we have to manage her diet carefully.
Bob
Bob made the long journey from the RSPCA Lockwood Equine Centre with Evie at just 4 years old, and burst into our lives with a personality that can't be ignored. He has grown so much in his time with us - from the baby that followed us around and asked for cuddles to the teenager that likes to show off his new skills, he makes our hearts burst on a daily basis!
Bob and Evie are the best of friends and will often cuddle up together.
Natasha
"Growing up in the tranquility of the Dorset countryside, a lifelong horse enthusiast, yet embarking on this journey with Evie and Bob is the best decision I ever made! Packing our way through the Dorset countryside, through natures embrace, creates a bond between Equine and Human that touches the soul."
Karen
"It's such a privilige to see the effect the ponies have on people - I love hearing how they've inspired and reconnected our guests with nature and each other"
Equine Facilitator & Mentor
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Our Story
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The Ancient Trails Company has evolved from our love of Dorset - this land, these hills, our history, the traditions and just the whole darned beauty of the place. There is nothing like leaving your car behind, and walking away on an adventure with the ponies. Carrying what you need, stopping when the view demands it and being immersed in a network of trails that have connected farms, villages and towns to each other across Dorset for hundreds, even thousands of years. To place your feet where, for generations past, others have planted theirs and to look out at an essentially unchanged view of rolling fields, tiny villages and magnificent backdrops is something beyond special​.
To do all of this with the ponies packing kit, well, it's the stuff of dreams. The ponies love it too, they prick their ears up, they stride out and genuinely enjoy the adventure - they will even stop to take in views just as we do.
We don't ever want these pack pony adventure days to end, so we sleep out too. On one of our first camps, a flock of geese flew right over us, so close we could hear them exhale, a stag called out in the night and through the gaps in the trees I saw that Mars really did glow red amongst the sea of white diamonds in the sky. We want to share this with you.
We believe in what we do. This is healing. This is growing. It is awe and beauty, connection and clean air and the simple needs of times gone by, it makes our days worthwhile and we love it.
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We feel so strongly about this that we have taken our practice one step further to offer this within the context of Equine Facilitated Learning - a model of therapy that perfectly enhances what we see and experience with the ponies on a daily basis ourselves.
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