Tag Archives: New forest

New Forest: newborn foals and spring arrive together

Posted on April 29, 2025 by newforestcommoner

The past few weeks of visiting the New Forest to check on my free-roaming mares have been a reminder to all my senses of just how glorious a place this is. The sound of the cuckoo, skylark and lapwing in … Continue reading →

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New Forest Stallion Areas 2025

Posted on April 26, 2025 by newforestcommoner

Each year 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 New Forest Pony … Continue reading →

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The ticklish impertinence of the New Forest fly

Posted on December 22, 2024 by newforestcommoner

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 →

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The Norman Conquest and being English.

Posted on October 16, 2024 by newforestcommoner

If you had lived in England on this day (16 October) 958 years ago chances are you would be aware that a momentous battle had just been fought, only a few days earlier, near Hastings in Sussex. Even if you didn’t … Continue reading →

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New Forest: forest laws, punishment and reform

Posted on August 24, 2024 by newforestcommoner

Nowadays we think of a forest as a place covered in trees but in medieval times it was understood to be a reserve for royal hunting. A ‘forest’ could also include whole villages and other settlements, as well as vast … Continue reading →

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Christmas on the New Forest

Posted on December 26, 2021 by newforestcommoner

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 →

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New Forest: Autumn colours signal pannage season

Posted on September 14, 2021 by newforestcommoner

Autumn on the New Forest is always a time of spectacle. The breaking dawn bursting upon the ancient landscape painted with reds, lilacs, browns and oranges is a visual treat guaranteed to draw wonder from those who rise early enough … Continue reading →

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New Forest Stallion Areas 2019

Posted on April 30, 2019 by newforestcommoner

Each year, licensed 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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