Cyclists riding roughshod as New Forest ponies suffer

Corralling of wild horses in the historic woodland is being disrupted by visitors ignoring warning signs

IT IS an ancient tradition dating back to the time of William the Conqueror.

For almost 1,000 years the wild ponies of the New Forest have been rounded up for annual health checks in a custom known as “the drift”.

But this year’s drift has been disturbed by “abusive” cyclists who have been accused of treating the historic woodland as a “playground”, putting themselves and others in danger by ignoring signs warning them off and getting in the way of the round-up.

Some have even sworn at park rangers telling them to stay away as the round-up is carried out by the agisters, the group responsible for caring for the 6,000 ponies in the national park.

The beauty of the New Forest is at risk of being destroyed by visitors who do not respect it, the group says.

It has warned that visitors who disobey signs asking them not to use certain areas and paths in the park are startling the ponies and frightening them off.

The group has said taking care of the ponies is important as the grazing animals are what makes the park’s landscape so unique, which is the very reason visitors flock to the area in the first place. Jonathan Gerrelli, head agister, explained the importance of the round-ups and said: “The drift is very much an ancient tradition. The act of the animals going out grazing is what has made the New Forest what it is today – they have very much shaped the forest.

“You would not have the lovely grassy lawns or the open heathland without the grazing animals. You would just have woodland and scrubland.

“There is hardly anywhere else in the country where you have large numbers of grazing animals turned out all year round on to thousands of acres of open land so it is a unique area.”

Mr Gerrelli explained that as the forest attracts increased visitors, it is having a big impact on his team’s ability to properly look after the horses.

He said: “During the round-up, we are getting more and more issues with people getting in the way and putting themselves in danger and us in danger.

“By ignoring signs telling them the cycle route is closed, some cyclists are getting in the way as you are gathering up herds of galloping ponies.

“It is dangerous and spooks the horses away from the designated route so we cannot catch them.

“The forest is a working forest – people look at it as a bit of playground and it is certainly not that.”

Mr Girrelli added that mountain bikers were the biggest problem as they do not stick to cycle routes and agisters cannot put signs warning people of the horse round-up all over the forest.

He said: “Although it is great for visitors to come down and enjoy it, they have got to respect it so we would ask people to take great care and obey instructions.”