Meet our newest family member, Dixie the divine.

Yesterday, the cows were in the house paddock for the first time since Dixie came to live with us and they were intrigued to meet her, lining up by the horse paddock and bobbing their heads in astonishment at the strange “brown cow that whinnies”.

The stars of the show line up to meet the new Queen

It was a misty, drizzly morning and while the cows and Dixie were separated by perhaps 50 metres of paddock, the effect was magnetic. Dixie whinnied. The ladies mooed. And so on for a good half hour.

Intelligence from Dixie’s previous custodian makes it clear that Dixie’s reign will be distinguished. She reportedly loves to direct alpacas about the paddock and has an undeniably regal bearing, so, for the safety of her subjects, there will always be a little distance between cow and pony.

Not so with Dixie and Zoe, who have become almost inseparable in just a week. We are indeed blessed; the company of a dear pony at the back door is one of the perquisites of the family farm lifestyle and reminds me exactly why I came back from the city.