Port Meadow (Or, Encounter With Incredibly Adorable British Ponies)

As much as I enjoy Oxford, I'd been feeling locked up in the city this week -- so, this morning, I headed out to Port Meadow. It's a sprawling open meadow in northwest Oxford, a short walk from St. John's, in which one can literally open the gate and go tramping through herds of horses and cows, while seeing flocks of geese by the river with Oxford crew boats rowing past. Such quintessentially lovely English scenery, and I felt like someone in a British provincial novel the entire time. I'd heard about Port Meadow from some Rhodie friends, and had somehow never made it out here the last time I was in Oxford.

Anyway, it had been cold, cloudy, and gloomy this morning, so I zipped up a rain jacket, only to find that the skies cleared up and the sun broke through and exposed some brilliant blue sky as soon as I arrived at the open space. The shades of green were glorious. There are few defined walking paths through the meadow, and I saw a few people walking their dogs hither and thither, through some lone cows grazing, so decided to follow them. A handful of cows turned to a big herd, and I stopped to get up close and personal with a few curious ones as I passed.

I'd heard that there were some horses here, too, and was hoping to get at least a glimpse of a few, since I've missed my big equine buddies (and riding, of course) since I got to Oxford. I'm hoping to remedy my horselessness soon, but more on that later. As I continued my walk, I saw a couple of familiar equine shapes in the distance and decided to get a little closer.

These horses, far from being shy, were unfazed at my approach and a few of them decided to follow me around and say hello. They were all fat, hairy, and adorable. (A few needed a good hoof trim from living on their own for so long, but all seemed happy to be living unfettered in the outdoors.) Plus, picture not included here but a tiny Shetland stallion was trying to have his way on top of a large horse-sized mare, which was one of the more interesting sights (and examples of size incompatibility) I've seen...

A couple of horses turned to more, and then to many more, and soon I was weaving my way through new four-legged friends as part of my walk. My favorite: these two absolutely, incredibly adorable ponies who marched right up and snuffled at my pockets. They were both tiny, slightly larger than miniature horse size but not by very much! I think I would have been just as smitten even if I hadn't been feeling so horse-deprived. Such velvety noses, such thick manes, such fuzzy ears. SO. CUTE.

Actually, many more horses, from Shetlands to Gypsy Vanners, marched up as soon as they saw me, nuzzled around a bit looking for carrots, and then wandered off. Could you get any more picturesque? I think now Port Meadow is going to leap to the top of my list of favorite Oxfordshire walks...