Years ago, my mum and her dog lived in a small village on Dartmoor. I used to visit her, and loved seeing all the Dartmoor ponies wandering around when walking on the moors - but they always largely ignored us, wandering off if we got too close.
However, one day mum's dog dashed off into the undergrowth - there was a crack, and a squeak, and she reappeared with a freshly killed rabbit in her jaws, which she brought straight to me!
Being a squeamish city-dweller, I squealed in horror and backed right off. As I did so, a small herd of Dartmoor suddenly came over and clustered round me. They were very gentle, nuzzling into me, it was very sweet (although that close up I could see all the ticks and fleas on their coats 🤢) but they kept me there till I had to quite firmly push my way out.
I don't whether they were protecting me from a perceived threat (why though, I'm not a pony!) or they thought I was the threat - but they displayed no aggression, and when I backed off I hadn't backed off towards them, they had come over to me.
As I say, this happened years ago, but I've always wondered why, so thought I'd ask and see what you all think! 