Author Archives: newforestcommoner

About newforestcommoner

Keeping the history, ecology and cultural traditions of the New Forest alive through practice of 'commoning'. Sharing information about #NewForest & #commoning.

New Forest: newborn foals and spring arrive together

Posted on April 29, 2025 by newforestcommoner

The past few weeks of visiting the New Forest to check on my free-roaming mares have been a reminder to all my senses of just how glorious a place this is. The sound of the cuckoo, skylark and lapwing in … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony | Tagged April, breeding, celebrity, commoning, court, foal, gelding, gestation, June, mare, May, New forest, newborn, pony, season, stallion, territory, Verderer | Comments Off

New Forest Stallion Areas 2025

Posted on April 26, 2025 by newforestcommoner

Each year stallions are released onto the open forest to run with the free-roaming mares and sire the next generation of New Forest pony. The stallions are carefully selected by the Verderer’s of the New Forest, the New Forest Pony … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest Stallion | Tagged areas, breed, breeding, foal, mare, New forest, pony, season, stallion, turn out | Comments Off

Being a New Forest Commoner

Posted on January 1, 2025 by newforestcommoner

For me, being a New Forest commoner is an enormous privilege that has drawn me into a community of people who share a passion for the New Forest landscape, its flora, fauna and cultural heritage. A commoner is a person … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner | Comments Off

The ticklish impertinence of the New Forest fly

Posted on December 22, 2024 by newforestcommoner

In 1895 a local newspaper published ‘Notes on Injurious Insects’.[1] Chief among these perilous mini-beasts was the forest fly (Hippobosca equina) aka horse louse fly, side-fly, or crab-fly, a bloodsucking pest that ‘causes great annoyance to the horses in the … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony | Tagged cattle, crab fly, equine, Forest fly, George Samouelle, Hippobosca equina, horse louse fly, horses, insect, New forest, ponies, side fly | Comments Off

The Norman Conquest and being English.

Posted on October 16, 2024 by newforestcommoner

If you had lived in England on this day (16 October) 958 years ago chances are you would be aware that a momentous battle had just been fought, only a few days earlier, near Hastings in Sussex. Even if you didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest | Tagged Anglo Saxon, Domesday Book, English, Great Survey, King John, King William, Lionheart, Magna Carta Libertatum, New forest, Norman conquest, Norse, Nova Foresta, Parliament, pirates, raiders, Richard, The Queen Wills It, United States Constitution, Verderer | Comments Off

New Forest: forest laws, punishment and reform

Posted on August 24, 2024 by newforestcommoner

Nowadays we think of a forest as a place covered in trees but in medieval times it was understood to be a reserve for royal hunting. A ‘forest’ could also include whole villages and other settlements, as well as vast … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest customs | Tagged 1079, assizes, back bear, bloody hand, boar, Charter of the Forest, Coronation Charter, coronation edict, Court of Attachment, Court of Eyre, Court of Swainmote, deer, dog draw, edict, Forest, Forest Law, hunting, judiciary, Lord Chief Justice, Magna Carta, Manwood, mutilation, New forest, New Forest Act 1877, Norman conquest, punishment, stable stable, venison, Verderers, vert, William the Conqueror, Ytene | Comments Off

Christmas on the New Forest

Posted on December 26, 2021 by newforestcommoner

With Christmas fast approaching I have been thinking about some of the New Forest traditions and folklore connected to the festive season. The idea was sparked during a recent visit to check my stock, when I saw a man harvesting … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony | Tagged Boxing Day, Christian, Christmas, Commoner, Culture, Evergreen, festival, heathen, holly, ivy, mistletoe, New forest, pagan, point to point, Red Squirrel, Salisbury Journal, Sciurus vulgaris, squirrel hunt, yew | Leave a comment

New Forest: Autumn colours signal pannage season

Posted on September 14, 2021 by newforestcommoner

Autumn on the New Forest is always a time of spectacle. The breaking dawn bursting upon the ancient landscape painted with reds, lilacs, browns and oranges is a visual treat guaranteed to draw wonder from those who rise early enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Pannage season | Tagged acorns, ancient, autumn, breaking dawn, chocolate, colour, Common of Mast, commoners, commoning, New forest, Pannage, pigs, pony, pork, Rights of Common, tradtional | Leave a comment

New Forest Stallion Areas 2019

Posted on April 30, 2019 by newforestcommoner

Each year, licensed New Forest stallions are released onto the Open Forest to run with the free-roaming mares and sire the next generation of New Forest pony. The stallions are carefully selected by the Verderer’s of the New Forest, the … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest Stallion, Uncategorized | Tagged 2019, area, breeding, Commoner, foal, mare, New forest, season, stallion | Comments Off

New Forest: one extreme to another

Posted on January 27, 2019 by newforestcommoner

I was checking my diary recently to see what I was doing this time last year. My diary isn’t a detailed chronology of events and on some days there are no entries at all. Strangely, this often means I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off