NEW FOREST PONY
The former war hero turned popular family pony who can turn his hoof to anything, but is on the Rare Breeds watchlist
IF YOU’VE EVER visited the New Forest in Hampshire, you’ll have seen wild ponies roaming free. The earliest record of New Forest ponies dates back to 1016, when rights of common pasture were granted to people living in the forest, which was a royal hunting ground. Since then other breeds have been introduced, including Welsh, Thoroughbred, Arab and Highland, in an attempt to improve the New Forest blood.
It may surprise you to learn that the Rare Breeds Survival Trust has listed the New Forest Pony on its 2020-2021 watchlist, with between 1,500 and 3,000 breeding females registered in the UK. They make brilliant riding ponies and are a popular choice for children, yet strong enough to carry an adult.
The breed is a working type with sloping shoulders and a free, active and straight movement. Their amenable temperament makes them ideal for most disciplines and an annual breed show, including ridden and in-hand classes, is held in the New Forest.
Colts were raced in the 19th century, making them valuable, and they were gelded in order to continue racing, meaning the best lines were lost. Later, a scheme to bring in new, high-quality stallions and improve the breed again was created.
New Forests also served in South Africa with the Forest Scouts during the Boer War. They are said to have outperformed other breeds, carrying adults all day in extreme conditions and, on their return to the UK, winning the Army Jumping competition.
There are approximately 4,500 wild ponies living in the New Forest today, all of whom are owned by around 500 commoners exercising their ‘Rights of Common of Pasture’ on the 37,500-hectare forest. Only a handful of stallions are currently turned out during breeding season, in order to limit the number of foals born during the economic downturn triggered by Covid-19.