New Forest ponies
* Well for almost three years Mary and I have dodged the Covid bullet . However we are now both suffering from the Virus so far the symptoms seem reasonably mild. Though I do feel incredibly tired .Hopefully all the vaccines we have had will at leat blunt its impact
This was taken on my first visit to the New Forest in Hampshire . I was hoping we might spot some of the wild ponies I had read about , I need not had worried there were ponies everywhere also pigs goats deer and donkeys roaming around; you need to drive cautiously in the Forest. The photo was taken on a walk on some of the open pastures in the forest .I have never seen unfenced horses before in England, it was rather delightful
If you have the time the text underneath gives an explanation as to how the system works its rather peculiar and archaic
The breed of horse is indigenous to the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England, where equines have lived since before the last Ice Age; remains dating back to 500,000 BC have been found within 50 miles of the heart of the modern New Forest. DNA studies have shown ancient shared ancestry with the Celtic-type Asturcón and Pottok ponies. The grass in the New Forest always looks remarkably tidy, it is a direct result of animal activity. In fact, their grazing and browsing supports rare plant species including wild gladiolus and chamomile. This in turn helps the wider ecosystem and encourages other species to thrive here including the Dartford warbler and the southern damselfly. In fact, the southern damselfly lays its eggs in the water-filled hoofprints of ponies (and cattle) nearby to the streams that pass through the New Forest.
All ponies grazing on the New Forest are owned by New Forest commoners – people who have "rights of common of pasture" over the Forest lands. The ancient tradition of commoning dates back from before the days when William the Conqueror made this area his private hunting reserve and imposed strict laws on the locals. In return for this, the locals were given the rights to graze their animals on the ‘common’ (this being the land which is now known as the New Forest).
An annual marking fee is paid for each animal turned out to graze. The population of ponies on the Forest has fluctuated in response to varying demand for young stock. Numbers fell to fewer than six hundred in 1945, but have since risen steadily, and thousands now run loose in semi-feral conditions. The welfare of ponies grazing on the Forest is monitored by five Agisters, employees of the Verderers of the New Forest. Each Agister takes responsibility for a different area of the Forest. The ponies are gathered annually in a series of drifts, to be checked for health, wormed, and they are tail-marked; each pony's tail is trimmed to the pattern of the Agister responsible for that pony.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO
WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT .
New Forest ponies
* Well for almost three years Mary and I have dodged the Covid bullet . However we are now both suffering from the Virus so far the symptoms seem reasonably mild. Though I do feel incredibly tired .Hopefully all the vaccines we have had will at leat blunt its impact
This was taken on my first visit to the New Forest in Hampshire . I was hoping we might spot some of the wild ponies I had read about , I need not had worried there were ponies everywhere also pigs goats deer and donkeys roaming around; you need to drive cautiously in the Forest. The photo was taken on a walk on some of the open pastures in the forest .I have never seen unfenced horses before in England, it was rather delightful
If you have the time the text underneath gives an explanation as to how the system works its rather peculiar and archaic
The breed of horse is indigenous to the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England, where equines have lived since before the last Ice Age; remains dating back to 500,000 BC have been found within 50 miles of the heart of the modern New Forest. DNA studies have shown ancient shared ancestry with the Celtic-type Asturcón and Pottok ponies. The grass in the New Forest always looks remarkably tidy, it is a direct result of animal activity. In fact, their grazing and browsing supports rare plant species including wild gladiolus and chamomile. This in turn helps the wider ecosystem and encourages other species to thrive here including the Dartford warbler and the southern damselfly. In fact, the southern damselfly lays its eggs in the water-filled hoofprints of ponies (and cattle) nearby to the streams that pass through the New Forest.
All ponies grazing on the New Forest are owned by New Forest commoners – people who have "rights of common of pasture" over the Forest lands. The ancient tradition of commoning dates back from before the days when William the Conqueror made this area his private hunting reserve and imposed strict laws on the locals. In return for this, the locals were given the rights to graze their animals on the ‘common’ (this being the land which is now known as the New Forest).
An annual marking fee is paid for each animal turned out to graze. The population of ponies on the Forest has fluctuated in response to varying demand for young stock. Numbers fell to fewer than six hundred in 1945, but have since risen steadily, and thousands now run loose in semi-feral conditions. The welfare of ponies grazing on the Forest is monitored by five Agisters, employees of the Verderers of the New Forest. Each Agister takes responsibility for a different area of the Forest. The ponies are gathered annually in a series of drifts, to be checked for health, wormed, and they are tail-marked; each pony's tail is trimmed to the pattern of the Agister responsible for that pony.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM.
I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO
WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT .