My experience as a zookeeper taught me a lot about animal behaviors. I’ve been photographing this free-ranging herd of Welsh ponies for 11 years. They’ve accepted me, in that they ignore my presence and reveal some of their world. I join them as they gather close to each other under the old cedars. Their behavior sometimes shows me “darker” moments which I try not to anthropomorphize. I open to whatever happens. This image is of the matriarch resting while another tail brushes by.