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.
Tag Archives: foals
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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New Forest Stallion Areas 2018
New Forest Stallion Turnout Areas 2018 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 … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony, New Forest Stallion
Tagged areas, breeding, foals, generation, mare, New forest, season, stallion, the Commoners’ Defence Association and the New Forest Pony Breeding & Cattle Society, turnout, Verderers of the New Forest
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New Forest: lost a pony and found a stallion
This week (May 2016) I found one of my mares that I hadn’t seen in a while. The Agister had seen her. Other commoners had seen her. Possibly many visitors –walkers, cyclists, horse riders, bird watchers etc. – had seen … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged dam, foals, Forestry, Lynx effect, mare, mating, New forest, sire, stallions
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New Forest: stallion-silly-season
I was pleased to see that British astronaut, Major Tim Peake, had posted images of the south coast from the International Space Station, circling 404km (251miles) above the Earth. It clearly showed the area of the New Forest and the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged bluebells, foals, fox cubs, mares, New forest, silly season, stallions, trees
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New Forest: pony breeding through the ages.
Anticipation is mounting across the Forest, as the annual Stallion Inspection approaches. Owners will currently be working with their ponies to ensure that they are prepared for the show ring and can walk and trot whilst being led and are … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Beaulieu Abbey, Beaulieu Road, breeding, colts, confirmation, courser, cull, destrier, drift, foals, garron, hand high, Henry III, Henry VIII, hobbies, mares, Middle Ages, monastery, monks, New forest, pack horse, palfrey, ponies, pony, rouncey, round-up, stallion inspection, stallions, stud farm, sumpter, trot, walk, war horse, warhorse
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New Forest: that’s what pony friends are for!
If you have been out on the New Forest recently (July 2015) you may have noticed that the free-roaming ponies seem to be doing a lot of ‘mutual grooming’. Two ponies will stand next to one another and scratch or … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged allogrooming, foals, friendship, herds, horses, instinct, mares, mutual grooming, New forest, ponies, social bond
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Stallions on the New Forest
There has been a lot of excitement on the New Forest recently due to the stallions being released onto the Open Forest. This is an annual event and, this year (2014), ten male ponies have been turned out to run … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift
Tagged Arabian, Commoner, cull, Eclipse, Elizabeth I, foals, Henry VIII, mares, Marske, Michaelmas, nature, New forest, New Forest Pony Breeding & Cattle Society, slaughter, stallions, Thoroughbred, Tudor, Verderers, Victorian, wild
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New Forest: picnics and ponies
The late spring and early summer is a much favoured time of the year for many Forest dwellers and visitor alike. It is the time when the lushness of nature returns to the Forest, our migratory birds have again taken … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged bacchanalian, British, feast, foals, Forest Byelaws, King, May, merry, New forest, nobles, picnic blanket, picnics, ponies, sandwiches, titbit
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Going under cover at the Beaulieu Road Pony Sales
I haven’t visited the Beaulieu Road Sales in a long while and was pleasantly surprised by the improvements that have taken place in my absence. The first thing that greeted me as I crested the railway bridge on the road … Continue reading
Pony Drifts: round-ups New Forest style
For me, one of the most exciting activities held on the New Forest has to be the series of annual round-ups known as ‘drifts’. The objective at these round-ups are to sort out the ponies either for removal from the forest, … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest Pony Drift
Tagged Agisters, Commoner, drift, foals, galloping, horse-back, New forest, New Forest pony, pony, Pony Drift, round-up
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