Where are the ponies in the New Forest?

You can’t miss the New Forest ponies: don’t feed or touch them, but they’re beautiful to watch – especially the foals. A good place to see them is at Beachern Wood near Brockenhurst, the start of a lovely off-road cycle ride to the pretty hamlet of Bank.

Who looks after New Forest ponies?

commoners
Who owns the ponies? All the ponies, donkeys, cows and pigs that you will see roaming in the New Forest belong to local people called ‘commoners’ who have the right to graze their animals on the open Forest throughout the year (or part of the year in the case of pigs).

How many stallions are in the New Forest?

All animals must comply with the Verderers’ Bye-Laws: New Forest, figures currently are about 4500. At present only approximately 10-15 stallions are turned out in the breeding season to limit the number of foals being born during this period of economic difficulty.

What Colour are New Forest ponies?

According to the New Forest Pony Breeding Society, they may be any colour “except piebald, skewbald, spotted or blue eyed cream”. Most commonly, they are a bay or chestnut colour. They can also have white markings only on their head and/or limbs, and have eyes of any colour except blue.

How many New Forest ponies are killed each year?

There were a total of 38 deaths of ponies, down from 39. In 2018, 13 were killed, which was actually down from from 2017 (18). Twenty five ponies were injured and destroyed, which was up from 21 in 2017.

Why do New Forest ponies have collars?

When the ponies are rounded up as part of the drift, some of them have these reflective collars put on them to help make them more visible at night time.

Are New Forest ponies culled?

This is how the population of the New Forest ponies is managed today – and not by culling, as happens in some wild horse populations in other countries – however, there were attempts in Tudor times to improve the breed by slaughtering smaller, under-height animals.

Where do New Forest ponies sleep at night?

Ponies can doze whilst standing but to get a really good rest they need to sleep lying down. In the herd environment one of the ponies will stand sentinel and keep a look out while the others lie down and rest.

Why do some New Forest ponies wear collars?

What happens to male New Forest ponies?

These stallions are carefully selected each year to ensure a good blood-line and only approved stallions can be released. At other times of the year the stallions are kept on private land to the south east of the Forest. Young male ponies (colts) are usually taken off the Forest in January of their second year.

Are New Forest ponies sold for meat?

Around 3,000 New Forest ponies can be found wandering freely in the Forest and its surrounds and have done so for many years. In recent years however, the future of the breed has not looked so healthy. With plummeting prices, many ponies have been sold for meat.

Where do New Forest ponies go in winter?

Exact location often depends on the time of year and weather conditions – winter, for example, will often find New Forest ponies deep in the woods, sheltering from the wind and cold, whilst at other times of year, they are more likely to be out in the open.