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 Year and good health!

Posted on December 27, 2018 by newforestcommoner

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 | Leave a comment

New Forest: registering foals with the Breed Society

Posted on November 4, 2018 by newforestcommoner

Pure bred, forest born, New Forest foals are an important asset to the New Forest’s ecology, culture and economy. This week has therefore marked an important milestone in my commoning career to date, as I have registered my foals with … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest pony | Tagged application, Book, breed, Burley, cattle, Cow, foal. stallion. mare, identification, Improvement, marks, New forest, NFPB&CS, Society, stud | Comments Off

New Forest: good fences make good neighbours.

Posted on September 9, 2018 by newforestcommoner

‘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 | Comments Off

New Forest: autumn drifts in

Posted on August 18, 2018 by newforestcommoner

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 | Comments Off

New Forest: haymaking in the sunshine

Posted on July 13, 2018 by newforestcommoner

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 | Leave a comment

New Forest: some stallion stories

Posted on June 10, 2018 by newforestcommoner

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 | Comments Off

New Forest: pony mares go boy mad!

Posted on May 13, 2018 by newforestcommoner

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 | Comments Off

New Forest Stallion Areas 2018

Posted on April 19, 2018 by newforestcommoner

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 | Comments Off

New Forest: swallows – the heralds of summer.

Posted on April 14, 2018 by newforestcommoner

I was very excited this week by the return of the migrant barn swallows that have, for many years, been resident in the stables on my holding. Their journey from Africa to the New Forest each spring is hazardous and … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest, New Forest flora & fauna | Tagged Africa, barn, barn swallow, birds, herald, hibernation, Hirundo rustica, migration, myth, New forest, pest control, spring, summer, swallow | Comments Off

New Forest: the heritage of the 1960s

Posted on March 10, 2018 by newforestcommoner

In 1966 the Financial Times newspaper published an article about a map of the New Forest that mapping agency – Ordnance Survey – was planning to produce. This map would be different from any previous style of tourist map because … Continue reading →

Posted in New Forest | Tagged 1960s, 1970s, camping, car, caravan, cyclist, Forestry Commission, heath, lilac, map, New forest, Ordnance Survey, purple, riding, tourist, visitor, walker, wildlife | Comments Off