The Gallery
Learning about and practising commoning on the New Forest.
In medieval times a forest meant an area preserved for royal hunting, and not a wooded area as it does today.
The Agisiter ensures welfare standards of the free-roaming animals are maintained.
The ‘architects’ of the New Forest.
The New Forest landscape supports many species of plants, insects, birds and mammals. It should be valued as a reserve for nature.
One of many gatherings where Commoners can exchange news, information and knowledge.
Pannage season is part of the ancient commoning rights and a popular tradition.
Traditional management practices, particularly commoning, have conserved the ecological diversity of the Forest.
Category Archives: New Forest
Being a New Forest Commoner
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
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Christmas on the New Forest
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
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The ticklish impertinence of the New Forest fly
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
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New Year and good health!
Shortly after the New Year begins, it seems that we are bombarded with advertising on television, social media, in magazines and via the Internet for holidays in the sun or sure-fire ways of getting fit or losing weight. It always … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner
Tagged Commoner, dogs, fitness, Folk cures, good health, green gym, Healing plants, health, Herb-lore, Herbs, medicine, natural remedies, New forest, New Year, ponies
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New Forest: good fences make good neighbours.
‘Good fences make good neighbours’ is an oft-quoted phrase that could have been coined with the New Forest and its free-roaming animals in mind. Whilst the New Forest is referred to as ‘the largest tract of unenclosed land in southern … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, Pannage season
Tagged boundary, cattle, Common of Mast, commonable, Commoner, fencing, free-roaming, good fences make good neighbours, Lane Creepers, New forest, Pannage, perambulation, pig, piglets, ponies, unenclosed, Verderers, wild
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New Forest: autumn drifts in
A sure sign of autumn in the commoner’s calendar is the commencement of the pony drifts that take place each year. The drifts are round-ups that are conducted by the Agisters and commoners with the aim of collecting together as … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift
Tagged Agister, autumn, Commoner, community, district, drift, New forest, ponies, pony, pound, round-up, Tradition, Verderers
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New Forest: haymaking in the sunshine
It’s been a busy week this week. I’ve been collecting bales of hay off the fields to be stored and used over the winter for my animals. Haymaking has been part of the farming calendar for over 6,000 years and … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony
Tagged cattle, couchancy, deer, diet, harvest, hay, haymaking, Hocktide, levancy, Michealmas, New forest, oath, ponies, Saxon, winter heyning
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New Forest: some stallion stories
To celebrate the New Forest pony breeding season, which runs from Monday 14th May until Monday 18th June*, and is when licensed stallions are released to run with the free-roaming Forest mares, I thought that I would take a look … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Stallion
Tagged aggressive, Agister, agricultural show, animal, breeding, Eclipse, foal, Hampshire, horse, horseflesh, horsepower, kicked, Lymington, Lyndhurst, mail coach, mare, Marske, money, pets, pony, prize, Salisbury, Southampton, stage coach, stallion
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New Forest: pony mares go boy mad!
Each year pedigree 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, New Forest pony
Tagged alpha mare, breeding, courtship, flehman, foals, herd leader, mare, New forest, rough wooing, season, stallion
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