Drifting on the New Forest

Posted on September 1, 2014 by newforestcommoner
The annual pony drifts, or round-ups, take place each autumn.

The annual pony drifts, or round-ups, take place each autumn.

Being a commoner on the New Forest involves continuing a pastoral system that is steeped in history. In the 16th century Henry VIII, who is better known for marrying six wives and establishing the Church of England, created laws that continue to resonate on the Forest even to this day. Throughout his reign Henry VIII was under constant threat of war. As a consequence he wanted to ensure that he could mobilise an army that were at their fighting peak. Henry became concerned about the quality of native horses and ponies that could carry his knights into battle and so, in The Horses Act of 1540, decreed that no stallion under 15 hands and no mare under 13 hands was permitted to run out on common land, or to run wild. He ordered that annual round-ups of the commons be enforced, and that any stallion or mare found to be under the height limit had to be destroyed, along with any foals that would not make the required size.

Annual round-ups
The annual round-ups ordered by Henry VIII continue to be conducted every year on the New Forest, but instead of being used to cull under height ponies the ‘drifts’ are now used to sort out the ponies either for removal from the Forest, branding, worming or tail marking. There are generally about 40 drifts conducted between August and November, which take place across all the areas of the Forest. The object is to round up as many of the free-roaming ponies as possible in highly co-ordinated actions that are conducted by the Agisters with the support of the commoners – on foot and on horse-back. The riders work in teams herding the ponies towards stock pens, known as ‘pounds’ where commoners on foot are deployed to receive them. The drift is incredibly fast-paced with dozens of ponies driven at full gallop through the Forest. It is no place for the casual spectator and there is no room for error.

Pounds and sense
The ‘wild’ ponies (more accurately described as ‘semi-feral’) are really canny and will exploit any gap in the stock pens or weakness in the chains of people channelling them towards captivity in order to escape. There is a huge sense of responsibility for all those involved on the drift. A person in the wrong place can divert a herd of ponies away from the pound (which is the wooden stockade-style holding pen). Lost opportunities to catch and check stock are incredibly frustrating for the commoners, as it may some time before the ponies can be caught again. One certainly has to have huge admiration for the riders and their mounts that cover the terrain quickly and nimbly whilst chasing a galloping herd. But without a doubt the person who gets my full admiration on the drift is the person who is in charge of the gate to the pound. He or she needs to be in the right place at the right time otherwise the whole drift could fail. Their timing and good sense have to be perfect because they have got to let ponies into the pound without letting the ponies previously captured escape. The drifts are very co-operative and well co-ordinated events but of course with a history going back to Tudor times they are also very well rehearsed!

CAUTION: pony round-up in progress

The drifts are no place for the casual observer and there is no room for error.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Verderers of the New Forest have announced that the ‘drifts’, or pony round-ups, are an essential part of the management of the semi-feral herd to maintain the health and welfare of the ponies.

For their own safety, members of the public are urged to avoid the area of the drift on the planned dates.

The dates of the #NewForest drifts are advertised to alert visitors and road-users to beware, NOT as an invitation to attend. #workingforest

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Abandoned horses and ponies

Posted on August 25, 2014 by newforestcommoner
The Agisiter ensures welfare standards of the free-roaming animals are maintained.

The New Forest Agisiters ensure welfare standards of the free-roaming animals are maintained.

Owning a pony is a dream for many. For those of us lucky enough to have our own pony (or ponies) it is a hugely enjoyable, if a somewhat expensive and time consuming, activity. I feel that some months it would be far more practical to have my wages paid directly to the vet, insurance company, farrier or feed merchant! The realities of trudging miserably through muddy fields in the cold, dark and rain of mid-winter, with barrow loads of hay, never seemed to feature in my original aspirations of getting a herd of ponies. Nevertheless, much of the satisfaction I get from keeping them is to ensure that my animals are well cared for – come rain or shine. I make provisions, even sacrifices, to ensure that I can meet my responsibilities to them. Owning a pony has moral and legal obligations. So, I do feel a great sense of sadness when I hear of horses and ponies that are neglected or abandoned because their owners can no longer afford them or simply do not want to look after them any more.

Every now and then a pony or horse will appear on the open Forest that has been dumped by its owner. According to animal welfare organisations horse abandonment is a growing nationwide problem. Many of the horse rehoming centres up and down the country are turning away cases, as they just do not have the resources to take in any more unwanted or rescued animals. Abandoning an animal is a serious offence and can result in a six-month prison sentence and/or a fine of £20,000 under the Animal Welfare Act. Of course while, on the face of it, the New Forest has vast stretches of open grazing and thousands of acres of heathland and pasture it is only really suitable for maintaining the livestock that is habituated to its environs. Domesticated horses and ponies simply released into the ‘wild’ of the Forest are not necessarily going to thrive or even survive.

Only people with Rights of Common can legally ‘depasture’ their ponies, cattle, donkeys or mules, having first registered their entitlement with the Verderers of the New Forest and then paying the appropriate fees per animal depastured. The free-roaming ponies on the Forest each carry the identification mark of its commoner owner. The Agisters, who are employed by the Verderers, work with the commoners to ensure that the bylaws are upheld, the welfare of all stock is maintained and the appropriate fees are paid. It is the Agisters who have to deal with any abandoned horses and, if possible, recover any costs incurred. Abandoned animals generally have issues, such as injuries or health problems, that require immediate and costly intervention.  People who dump horses or ponies in the New Forest, or anywhere else for that matter, are not only abdicating their responsibilities for the animal but they are also passing the legal and financial burden of its welfare and maintenance on to others. The moral obligations and responsibilities of keeping a pony, for these people, almost seem to be the last considerations when, in fairness to the animal, they really ought to be the first.

Only ponies habituated to the New Forest are turned out.

Generations of ‘wild’ ponies have learned to survive and thrive on the New Forest.

Private land owners looking for advice on ‘What to do if a Horse is Abandoned?’ should visit the British Horse Society Abandonment and Fly-grazing webpage.

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Many colours of the New Forest.

Posted on August 18, 2014 by newforestcommoner
The New Forest heather covers the landscape in lilacs and purples.

The New Forest heather covers the landscape in lilacs and purples.

While walking in the Forest of late it is very evident that autumn is fast approaching. The early morning mists that weave silken ribbons of silver vapour through the valleys and woods are a telltale sign. Some of the leaves on the trees are already beginning to turn and will very soon produce a magnificent display of autumnal colour. The heathland is a mosaic of lilacs, purples, greens and browns that dovetail in bold blocks across the landscape. It is little wonder that with such natural beauty and vivid colours for inspiration the New Forest has been a magnet for artists, poets and writers. I walk the territory that my ponies haunt and find pleasure in the hunt for them. The natural beauty of the New Forest and the tranquility of the early mornings are quite restorative and, if I am able to find my mares, I am amply rewarded for my pre-dawn start.

The colour of ponies
The herd that my mares belong to comprises mostly bay coloured ponies, which is a brown body with a black mane and tail. There is another herd that I often see in the same area, which is predominantly made up of grey ponies and so these I ignore. I look first for the herd with mostly bay ponies in it and then begin to try and identify some of the individuals. One of my mares is the colour of dried bracken, which is such a bright copper colour that she stands out from the others in the herd, so I tend to look for her first. She is usually in the company of her little sister, a bay yearling filly, and the pair are easy to spot from a distance. They show no signs of recognition when I go up to them. I have a good all round look to check they are in good health, with no obvious injuries, but make no attempt to touch or pet them. They are fairly ambivalent to my presence and regard me with only mild curiosity.

Architects of the Forest
The wild ponies make such a pretty picture grazing amongst the heather and gorse. Of course it is their foraging habits that have earned them the title ‘architects of the Forest’. However, while they may have created the landscape it is nature that has coloured it in. Ponies have dichromatic vision and only see in blue and green. Anything else in the colour spectrum, for example red or yellow, will just be processed as yet another shade of green. Given the time of year, although the New Forest ponies make up much of the beauty of the landscape, the many colours of autumn will be sadly lost on them.

I look forward to finding my ponies and checking them over.

I look forward to finding my ponies and checking them over.

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Smugglers in the New Forest.

Posted on August 11, 2014 by newforestcommoner
New Forest ponies were used in smuggling activity to carry contraband from the coast to places in the Forest, where the booty could be distributed. Their surefootedness and suitabily to the terrain made them perfect accomplices.

New Forest ponies were used in illicit smuggling activity their surefootedness and suitabily to the terrain made them perfect accomplices for the ‘Gentlemen of the Night’.

The more I learn about the ancient system of commoning the more I realise that it has always been a very pragmatic way of life. The commoner’s intimate knowledge of the Forest and their canny resourcefulness enabled many, who often lived a subsistence existence, to supplement their incomes. In times past many commoners would have been involved in so called ‘free trading’, otherwise known as smuggling. This illicit activity was an important part of the black economy in the area for nearly five hundred years. For the majority of the eighteenth century a shilling a day was a fair wage for most workers, so the additional financial rewards made by smuggling played an important part in peoples lives.

Customs & Excise
Customs duties on imported and exported goods were well known as far back as Magna Carta. But smuggling did not become a large-scale activity until the reign of Edward I (1239 – 1307) when taxes were imposed to pay for his many military campaigns. The initial duties were small, but as the Hundred Years War progressed in the 14th century successive monarchs increased the tax in order to fund troops and further fighting. During the Civil War Oliver Cromwell also introduced Excise, which was a tax on products made and consumed at home. People cared little for the difference between these two taxes though. What they really cared about was that the goods they were buying were becoming either increasingly expensive or actually unaffordable. Thereafter many residents in the coastal areas of southern England, including the New Forest, used all their cunning and ingenuity to avoid paying Customs and Excise by free-trading in goods, such as tea, tobacco, alcohol, lace and silk.

Gentlemen of the Night
Stories abound in the New Forest of secret tunnels, passages and cellars in cliffs, under common land and in farm buildings. Many of the older inns and taverns in the Forest were frequented by smugglers who would meet at these public houses to plan their illegal activities. Gangs of smugglers became local heroes and their exploits were the stories of legend with their daring adventures and evasions of the law being exaggerated to out-do the gangs from neighbouring districts. However, the ‘Gentlemen of the Night’ were not always men. One of the most romanticised smugglers from the New Forest was Miss Lovey Warne. According to legend she was actively engaged in smuggling and would ‘would hitch up her skirts, jump on her horses and join her brothers Peter and John in a contraband run.’ Her principle role though was to alert the smugglers to the presence of revenue men. She would wear a cloak of brightest scarlet and walk across Vereley Hill, where she was clearly visible for miles around, and so warn the smugglers of danger.

From free trade to the tourist trade
The indomitable New Forest pony was also an important part of the supply chain carrying contraband either in packs or on wagons from the coast to meeting places in the Forest where the booty was then distributed. Their surefootedness and suitability to the terrain meant that they were able to carry smuggled goods day or night. The smuggling way of life died out from the middle of the 19th century. When Britain adopted a free-trade policy in the 1840s it reduced import duties significantly, effectively making smuggling no longer an economically viable activity. However, by then the New Forest had begun to be popular with Victorian visitors and, ever a practical people, the commoner’s were subsequently able to increase income from the newly developing, and quite legitimate, trade in tourists.

The New Forest pony was an important part of the smugglers supply chain, carrying contraband either in packs or on wagons from the coast to meeting places in the Forest where the booty was then distributed.

The New Forest pony was an important part of the smugglers supply chain, carrying contraband either in packs or on wagons from the coast to meeting places in the Forest where the booty was then distributed.

Photo of pack pony supplied by kind permission of the New Forest Packhorse Company.

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Pilgrimage to the New Forest Show 2014

Posted on August 4, 2014 by newforestcommoner

Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to the New Forest & Hampshire County Show, a three-day celebration of local and countryside related activities. I always attend on the Wednesday, which is traditionally the day that features the New Forest ponies. It’s a great opportunity for me to catch up with people, look over the ponies in the showing classes and watch the elegant turnouts in the Private Driving Classes. I generally spend the whole day at the showground, from early morning until late in the afternoon, and there still doesn’t seem to be enough time to take it all in.

Agricultural improvement and innovation
Over the years the show has grown in size and is now held for three days – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – in the last week of July. The show was established just after the First World War, in the early 1920’s, to highlight and nurture agricultural improvement and innovation. This philosophy continues today and the New Forest Agricultural Show Society, which is a registered charity, aims to ‘promote and encourage the development of agriculture, forestry, equestrianism and horticulture and encourage the improvement in the breeding of stock’. Originally it was a small, one-day event held at Bartley Cross. Entrance for the first show was charged at two shillings and four pence, when between 1,000 and 1,500 people attended. There was even an hour’s break in the middle of the day for people to take their lunch!

Catching up
Since then many changes have occurred and, to me, it seems that the show improves with every year. Nowadays nearly 100,000 people attend the event, which was moved to its current New Park location in the mid-1950s. I spend much of my time at the show talking to the organisations that represent New Forest interests and its flora and fauna. The depth of knowledge and the dedication that is communicated by these people, the majority of whom are volunteers, always impresses me. I also catch up with many of my commoning friends, the Verderers of the New Forest and the Commoners Defence Association, as this is probably one of the only occasions to find them all in the same place at the same time.

Practical roots
In the days before the invention of the mobile phone and electronic mail, these events were a great opportunity for the commoners to get together, exchange information, view the livestock and organise the commercial, practical and social activities of the Forest. Such traditional practices and customs remain an integral and influential part of the New Forest today. Of course many of these traditions have very practical roots. The decision to hold the show during the mid-week dates back to the earliest one-day shows, which were always timed to be on the last Wednesday in July. Why? Because Wednesdays were always ‘early closing’ days and organisers could then expect greater local attendance!

Carriage driving is always a popular attraction at the New Forest Show.

Carriage driving is always a popular attraction at the New Forest Show.

Of course the star of the show is the New Forest pony!

Of course the star of the show is the New Forest pony!

 

 

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Commonable animals and road traffic accidents

Posted on July 21, 2014 by newforestcommoner
Agisters attend to the welfare of the commonable stock at all hours and in all weathers.

Agisters attend to the welfare of the commonable stock at all hours and in all weathers.

Recently I was talking to someone who had heard about a particularly nasty hit and run fatality in the New Forest that had involved a pregnant donkey. The details were utterly horrific and the witness who discovered the dead animal and her unborn foal spread across the road were deeply shocked and affected by what they had seen. The owner of the donkey was understandably distraught. Indeed, those who know the details of the incident were also distressed by it.

Some free-roaming animals are killed or injured in road traffic accidents in the Forest each year. Hit and run incidents, though, are particularly distressing. Even animals that are quite seriously injured can flee the scene after an impact with a vehicle. Drivers should not assume that because the animal has run away it is unscathed. Calls to the Police or Verderer’s Office to notify them of accidents involving livestock on the New Forest will enable the Agisters to be called out and attend the scene promptly to find the animal involved. Without notification an injured animal can be left in great pain and distress for many hours or even days before its predicament is discovered. “Do the Agisters go out at any time, day or night, to search for a pony that may be injured”, I was asked. “Yes they do”, I answered. In fact they go out at all hours and in all weathers. The Agisters primary concern is for the welfare of the commonable stock and they go to great lengths to find and tend to injured animals.

The first death of a commonable animal in a road traffic accident was recorded at Brook in 1903. Since then the number of incidents has been climbing. Last year (2013) there were 54 ponies, 17 cattle,  and a sheep killed on New Forest roads. While 19 ponies, nine cattle, a pig, a sheep and two donkeys were injured. The person I was talking to was surprised to learn that one of the biggest contributing factors to road traffic accidents involving the ponies and cattle on the New Forest are the people who feed the animals in the car parks or who deposit food on the roadside verges. When this happens the food bonanza encourages the ponies and cattle into the areas where they are exposed to the dangers of vehicular traffic. Ponies have the mental capacity of a two year old child and when lured by the offer of a tasty treat what animal (or toddler) would be able to calculate the risk compared to the reward? Indeed the people who think they are being kind by giving titbits to the ponies are not only teaching them to not fear cars but they are unwittingly exposing them to real harm too.

The New Forest ponies are free to roam and like other travellers use the roads to get from A to B.

The New Forest ponies are free to roam and, like other travellers, use the roads to get from A to B. But feeding the ponies teaches them to not fear cars and lures them into the car parks where they are exposed to real danger.

NB: If you find a sick, injured or dead pony, cow, donkey, pig or sheep (other than one involved in a RTA), call the Verderers’ Office: 02380 282052 during normal office hours, or 02380 283141 at other times.

For sick or injured deer, ring the Forestry Commission on 02380 283141.

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New Forest: lowland heath and commoning

Posted on July 14, 2014 by newforestcommoner
The New Forest is a landscape of irreplacable habitats that supports a diversity of wildlife.

The New Forest is a landscape of irreplacable habitats that supports a diversity of wildlife.w

For all its wilderness qualities the New Forest is an area that has actually been managed for over a thousand years. Generations of commoners, and their free-roaming ponies and cattle have maintained the landscape and, through their traditional practices, provided for a diversity of plants and wildlife. As a result the New Forest boasts many scarce species and habitats including lowland heath. Lowland heath has declined greatly in extent during the last two centuries – in England it is estimated that only one sixth of the heathland present in 1800 remains. The UK supports about 20% of the lowland heath in Europe and it is a habitat even rarer than tropical rain forest. The New Forest is a stronghold for lowland heath and the numerous highly specialised plants and animals that depend upon this incredible habitat. It is particularly important for reptiles, such as the adder, the rare sand lizard and the smooth snake. A number of scarce birds use lowland heathland as their primary habitat, such as the nightjar and Dartford warbler. Many scarce and threatened invertebrates and plants are also found on lowland heathland.

Heathland occurs on acidic, impoverished, dry sandy or wet peaty soils, and is characterised by the presence of a range of dwarf-shrubs, which include various types of heather and gorse. These natural resources have traditionally been harvested and managed by the commoners of the New Forest. Ling heather, particularly, had many uses, such as basket making, brushes and besoms, rope making, bedding, dye, fuel, thatching and wattle. The flowers could even be used to make a satisfying tea or heather ale. Bracken, which is also found on heathland was used for roofing, bedding for livestock or mixed into their feed for bulk. Even the prickly gorse could be harvested with care and was used for fuel or fodder during the hard winter months. It was widely regarded as a medicinal tonic and its flowers could also be used to make a popular variety of wine.

Improving standards of living and advances in farming, technology, and conservation techniques meant that the labour-intensive harvesting, predominantly by hand, and ancient land management practices, which maintained the heathland, were no longer necessary. Nowadays the preservation of the heathland continues to rely upon the grazing of the commoner’s animals but regular mechanical cutting of the bracken and controlled burning of vegetation is employed to mimic historical management practices. The free-roaming ponies and cattle prefer to feed upon the younger age classes of heather and gorse, so the management techniques of the heathland encourage new growth, which creates food for commoning stock but is also beneficial to a huge variety of flora and fauna. The utility of the heathland vegetation to the commoning way of life has ensured its survival and along with it the many species of insects, small mammals and birds. This cycle of management, which has lasted for hundreds of years, if maintained, will offer the New Forest heathland the prospect of relative ecological stability for many more years to come.

Heather is one of the dwart-shrubs that typify lowland heathland habitat.

Heather is one of the dwart-shrubs that typify lowland heathland habitat.

VIDEO: Majestic Heathlands – by Simon King/New Forest National Park Authority 

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New Forest: William the Conqueror and divine retribution

Posted on June 30, 2014 by newforestcommoner
The red deer is Britain's largest land mammal and it is a true native species and a resident of the New Forest.

William the Conqueror created the New Forest for royal hunting.

I was inspired to read more about William the Conqueror, after attending an event at the Chalke Valley History Festival (2014). Apparently after the Norman invasion, which followed the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he attempted to integrate with the English but the natives simply refused to act like a conquered people. So, he decided to get tough. Really tough. Constant rebellions in Mercia and Northumbria caused William to adopt tactics so merciless that the period, known as the ‘harrying of the north’, is infamous. So great was his wrath that men, women and children were slaughtered in their thousands and the devastation to the land was alleged to have been so great that it caused a famine, which lasted for nearly a decade. He began to ruthlessly subjugate the English people and replace the native hierarchy with his own. One historian went so far as to say that William I was so cruel to the English that men, women and children were left nothing but their eyes to weep with.

Forest Laws of Venision and Vert
No wonder then that the chroniclers associated the creation of the New Forest in 1079 with extensive depopulation and destruction of churches. But in this William I was probably unfairly accused. Modern historians believe that the topography of the Forest would not have been able to support large settlements, so there could hardly have been any mass evictions from the area on the scale alleged. Nevertheless he did impose ‘Forest Laws’ to protect the beasts of the chase for royal hunting. A court system and tier of officials, including Agisters and Verderers, were established to uphold and administer the legal framework. The laws of ‘venison and vert’ resulted in extreme punishments, such as blinding, having a hand cut off or even the death penalty for transgressors who were caught disturbing or poaching deer, felling trees, clearing forest land for agricultural use or fencing the land (even if the land belonged to them). After the creation of the New Forest the inhabitants were forbidden to do anything that would impede the chase during the hunt.

Death on the Forest
The English hated William I and his harsh laws, so it was seen as divine retribution when the New Forest claimed the lives of two of his sons and a grandson. Richard of Normandy perished by the effects of a ‘pestilential blast’ while out hunting; William II (Rufus the Red) was slain by a stray arrow, which had ricocheted from a tree after being fired at a stag; and, Richard, the Conqueror’s grandson, ‘met his death from having his hair become entangled in the boughs of a tree, as he was eagerly pursuing the chase’. Nevertheless, although hunting-mad William I had restricted the liberties of the Forest inhabitants he did compensate them, in a manner of speaking, by allowing their domestic animals roam freely to graze. In doing so ‘Rights of Common’ and the commoning tradition was established in law and practice, and the rest, as they say, is history.

King William II (Rufus the Red) was killed in a hunting 'accident' in 1100.

William the Conqueror’s son, William II (Rufus the Red), was killed in a hunting ‘accident’ in 1100.

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Shades, sleeping ponies and the dreaded New Forest fly

Posted on June 23, 2014 by newforestcommoner
In the heat of the day the ponies seek relief in areas known as 'shades' but not all of there are under trees.

In the heat of the day the ponies seek relief in areas known as ‘shades’ but not all of these areas are under trees.

The warm weather of late has driven the ponies to find relief from the sun and the heat of the day. They gather together in places known as ‘shades’ that, unlike the name would suggest, aren’t always under the cover of trees. Some of the shades frequented by the ponies are out in the open but will have a discernable breeze that keeps them cool. Often too you will see ponies lying flat out quietly snoozing in the sun. This surprises people, as they generally believe that horses and ponies sleep standing up. I’ve met several visitors who believe that they have seen ‘dead’ ponies on the Open Forest and I have no doubt that other commoners and the Agisters will have encountered the same concerns. However, if you wait quietly and watch the ponies as they sleep, for though they seem dead to the world, the occasional flick of the ear or even a slight lift of the head to have a look around will indicate that they have been in a deep slumber. Ponies can doze whilst standing but to get a really good rest they need to sleep lying down. In the herd environment one of the ponies will stand sentinel and keep a look out while the others lie down and rest.

Airborne pests
Flies are very active at this time of year and swarm around the ponies in great numbers. The ponies that roam freely on the New Forest have every opportunity to protect themselves from these airborne pests, unlike many of their domestic counterparts. The wild ponies can seek shelter in the gorse or under trees and act cooperatively to relieve themselves from the worse of the swarm. The herd will stand close together and accept the benefit of a companion’s tail to swot the flies away while one of their herd-mates receives the same from them. The ponies know where to stand when the flies are at their most tormenting and will seek out the insect-free breezes that criss-cross the valleys and hill tops even on the stillest days. Visitors to the Forest will notice that some of the ponies often stand beside the roads with their heads facing the traffic. They’ve learned that the back-draft from passing vehicles is also a good tactic for reducing pestering flies.

The dreaded Forest fly
The biggest menace in terms of flying insects that prey upon equines is the dreaded ‘crab fly’, or ‘Forest fly’ (Hippobosca equina) as it is also known, which is generally only found on the New Forest. These tenacious little devils cling on determinedly to their unfortunate hosts and travel, as one observer describes, by ‘making tracks under the ponies coat like a deer wandering through a field of corn’. I have heard tales of visiting horses being brought to the New Forest driven half mad with terror by the sensation, and normally quiet animals being rendered unrideable. Stories are even told of times past when New Forest ponies used for transport to other areas would inadvertently carry the flies away with them. As the flies moved onto the town animals all pandemonium would ensue, with the horses harnessed to tradesman’s vans, milk carts and drays bucking or bolting and causing widespread panic. The ponies born and bred on the Forest are accustomed to these pests and do not react so dramatically to them. Not all the victims of the Forest fly were equine though. Naughty Forest boys were said to collect them to put them in girls’ hair as a prank. However, although the Forest fly is a bloodsucker, most observers agree that its sideways moving method of travel is far more alarming to its host than its bite.

Ponies doze standing up but to get a really good sleep they need to lie down.

Ponies doze standing up but to get a really good sleep they need to lie down.

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New Forest: mining and pit ponies

Posted on June 16, 2014 by newforestcommoner
Commoning is a very sociable enterprise, wherever they get together.

In times past many New Forest ponies were sold for working in the mines.

I was interested in a recent news item (June 2014) that reported the potential re-opening of mines in Cornwall. The demand for metal in China and the developing world has inflated the price of tin making its recovery more profitable. Cornish mine owners are being tempted to revive an industry that was abandoned as uneconomic decades ago. Apparently the owners of some coalmines are also undertaking the same deliberations.

Relentless toil performed by ponies
Mining was an industry that was very labour intensive and ponies were recruited to work alongside the men deep underground. Thousands of New Forest ponies were among the ranks of other native breeds, including Shetland, Welsh and Dartmoor ponies to work in this demanding and dangerous industry. Pit ponies were not allowed to work in the mines until they were four years old and only stallions or geldings were generally used. They had to be sure-footed and strong, to cope with the heavy, relentless work. The temperament of the pony was very important, a good pit pony had to be even-tempered and gentle, as wilful or spirited horses were a danger to the drivers and could cause injuries to themselves and others, possibly with fatal results. New Forest ponies, with their easy-going manners and versatile natures, were ideally suited to the harness work required in the mines. Consequently the buying agents from the coalmines were regular visitors to the New Forest pony sales.

The treatment of the ponies
What you hear about the treatment of the ponies, as they toiled underground, will depend very much upon whom you speak to. The official version from the privatised mine owners, and then the nationalised Coal Board, would prefer you to believe that the health of every single pony was carefully monitored and that their well being was paramount. The miners themselves tell different and sometimes harrowing stories where profit was paramount not ponies. What is without dispute, however, are the strong bonds established between the miners and the ponies. Many stories are recounted of ponies saving miners and miners losing their lives to save their ponies during underground fires, cave-ins or other traumatic incidents.

Thousands of pit ponies working underground
According to the National Coal Mining Museum for England, the number of working ponies reached a peak just before World War I, with 70,000 ponies in 1913. After this the number declined, initially due to the demands of the War, and after that, because of the machinery that was being introduced. This meant that by 1932, only 32,000 ponies were used by mines. In 1947, the coal industry in the UK was nationalised. This made the process of modernisation quicker, and so fewer ponies were needed to labour underground. By 1962, only 6,400 ponies were used underground, and the number continued to drop. In 1978 there were only 149 ponies employed to work underground. A very small number of mines continued to employ ponies until the 1990s.

Reawakening of the mines
When the pits closed the mining communities were devastated. Many generations of the same families had worked underground.  Mining provided social and cultural identity as well as food on the table. The reawakening of the mines will certainly have implications for the communities that relied upon the jobs and economic benefits provided by mining.  I will watch with interest to see if the same reawakening has an impact on the demand for New Forest ponies to be, once more, colleagues and companions to the miners.

Thousands of New Forest ponies were used in the mining industry.

New Forest ponies were favoured because of their work ethic and kindly natures.

 

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