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: Verderer
New Forest: Stallion Areas 2016
Each year stallions are released onto the Open Forest to run with the free-roaming mares to sire the next generation of New Forest pony. The stallions are carefully selected by the Verderer’s of the New Forest, the Commoners’ Defence Assocation … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Agister, breeding, foal, mare, NFCDA, NFPB&CS, stallion, Verderer
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New Forest: annual colt and stallion inspections
I attended the annual Stallion Inspections at Beaulieu Road last weekend, to watch the selection process for the colts and stallions that will sire future generations of New Forest pony. The weather was forecast for sunny intervals and, when the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged breed, breeding, colt, Commoner, foal, inspection, mare, New forest, NFCDA, NFPB&CS, Open Forest, pony, sire, stallion, stud, Verderer
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New Forest: £1000 reward to find hit-&-run drivers.
I attended the Verderers’ Court recently (March 2016), which is something that I try to do whenever I am able. Apart from meeting my fellow commoners and catching up with all their news, it’s an excellent way of seeing the … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged £1000, Agister, cyclists, death, donkey, fatal accident, foal, hit and run, New forest, police, pony, reward, road accident, road incident, Swain mote, Verderer
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New Forest: modern tools and ancient practices
Commoning is an agrarian system that has been practiced on the New Forest since before the Norman Conquest in 1066 and is one of the most ancient forms of agriculture known to man. The basic principles, of farming by using … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony, New Forest Pony Drift, Pannage season
Tagged access, Agister, commoning, Customs, drifts, emergency services, Forestry Commission, gateway, heritage, horsemen, illegal parking, New forest, Norman conquest, Pannage, point to point, traditions, Verderer, working forest
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New Forest: encroachers and embezzlers
Visitors to the New Forest are often delighted with the Olde English charm of its cottages, farms and former labourers dwellings. With an abundance of thatched roofs and cottage garden planting schemes, the quaint and pretty villages are the semblance … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest
Tagged Commissioners, embezzlers, Embezzling, encroachers, Forestry Commission, hovel, New forest, New Forest Act 1877, Office of Woods, Rural Rides, smuggler, squatter, thieves, vagrant, Verderer, William Cobbett, Woodgreen
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New Forest: stallions vs geldings – boys will be boys!
Regular visitors to the New Forest will be aware that at the moment (updated May 2017) the stallions have been set loose to run with the free-roaming mares, causing much excitement among the herds of semi-feral ponies. Generally speaking the New … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged biodiversity, bull, Byelaw, castrated, colt, courtship, filly, gelding, herd dynamics, mare, New forest, Open Forest, pig, pony, sheep, stallion, territory, Verderer
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New Forest: killing with kindness.
Since writing last week (March 2015) about people hand-feeding and petting the free-roaming ‘wild’ ponies on the New Forest I’ve had several readers get in touch to tell me about incidents they’ve witnessed. Some of these incidents have included families … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Agister, alkaloid, architect of the Forest, Byelaw, colic, digestive system, donkey, equine, fatal, herbivore, New forest, New Forest pony, poison, toxic, Verderer, wild ponies
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New Forest: visitors feeding ponies could be spreading equine disease
Keeping free-roaming ponies on the New Forest is a pleasure and a privilege. Walking through the woodland pathways and along the heathland tracks in search of my mares are journeys always full of anticipation and enjoyment. At this time of … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest pony
Tagged Agister, bacteria, Beaulieu Road Sales, bio security, contagious, donkeys, Dr Green, equine distemper, feral herds, horses, New forest, ponies, Pony Drift, respiratory disease, strangles, strangling, Streptococcus equi, Verderer
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New Forest: the perils of ponies living wild
My ponies have gone back out on the Open Forest (January 2015). For a while now they have been indicating that they have had enough of being kept on the holding. They have seemed restless and impatient to be back out … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest Animal Road Traffic Accidents, New Forest pony
Tagged feral ponies, Hampshire County Council, hand feeding, horses, New forest, New Forest Transport Strategy, pony, Reflective Collar Initiative, road sense, road traffic accident, road traffic collision, RTA, RTC, Verderer
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Bringing the ponies home.
When the clocks go back each autumn the daylight hours become fewer and the weather is generally more inclement. It’s a testing time for the commoners and can make searching for stock on the Open Forest quite an undertaking. I … Continue reading
Posted in New Forest, New Forest Commoner, New Forest pony
Tagged colt-hunting, homing instinct, New forest, New Forest pony, Open Forest, round-up, Verderer
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