Mehitabel
11th Oct 2005, 01:49 PM
Breed description
New Forest Ponies may be any colour except piebald, skewbald, or blue eyed cream. Palomino or chestnut with flaxen mane and tail ponies cannot be used as stallions. White markings are allowed on the head, and on the legs only to the knee or hock. The height limit is 148cm, there is no lower limit.
They are narrower than some of the other large breeds, but should still have substance. They are a riding type of pony, with sloping shoulders and a good depth of body. Movement should be free, active and straight without excessive knee action.
History
The New Forest pony, or at least 'ponies hwo live wild on the New Forest' goes back as far as we can find records - they are mentioned as far back as 1016. At some point between then and the end of the 19th centurey, they becamse owned privately, as they are today. The first efforts to standardise and improve the breed came at the end of the 19th century - premiums for stallions on the foreast were first awarded in 1891, mares and youngstock started to be rgistered in 1906, and the first stud book was published in 1910. At the time, a lot of outside blood was introduced into the breed. In 1938, the society joined with the NPS and no outside blood has been permitted since. Some lines do show the influence of the outside blood still.
A further and more detailed history can be found here - http://www.newforestpony.com/history/dmpt1.htm
Current
The ponies you see out on the forest when driving around all belong to someone. They are identified by brands, and by the patterns cut in their tails. They normally run in herds, and have their particuler 'haunts' where they can normally be found.
Stallions are allowed out onto the forest only at certain times of the year, over Spring. This is to reduce the number of foals, since supply was outstripping demand and they were going at market for very low prices, to make sure that the foals are born at the optimum time for survival, not too early or late, and also to improve the standard of the new generations of ponies.
This scheme, where the stallions are 'depastured' or taken off the open forest between July to the following May, hasd been running for a couple of years now and has really made a difference to the quality of the youngstock. For a more detailed explanation, see here - http://www.newforestpony.com/News/stallspec04.htm
http://www.newforestpony.com/News/stallions05.htm
The NF society website is extremely informative - http://www.newforestpony.com/
New Forest Ponies may be any colour except piebald, skewbald, or blue eyed cream. Palomino or chestnut with flaxen mane and tail ponies cannot be used as stallions. White markings are allowed on the head, and on the legs only to the knee or hock. The height limit is 148cm, there is no lower limit.
They are narrower than some of the other large breeds, but should still have substance. They are a riding type of pony, with sloping shoulders and a good depth of body. Movement should be free, active and straight without excessive knee action.
History
The New Forest pony, or at least 'ponies hwo live wild on the New Forest' goes back as far as we can find records - they are mentioned as far back as 1016. At some point between then and the end of the 19th centurey, they becamse owned privately, as they are today. The first efforts to standardise and improve the breed came at the end of the 19th century - premiums for stallions on the foreast were first awarded in 1891, mares and youngstock started to be rgistered in 1906, and the first stud book was published in 1910. At the time, a lot of outside blood was introduced into the breed. In 1938, the society joined with the NPS and no outside blood has been permitted since. Some lines do show the influence of the outside blood still.
A further and more detailed history can be found here - http://www.newforestpony.com/history/dmpt1.htm
Current
The ponies you see out on the forest when driving around all belong to someone. They are identified by brands, and by the patterns cut in their tails. They normally run in herds, and have their particuler 'haunts' where they can normally be found.
Stallions are allowed out onto the forest only at certain times of the year, over Spring. This is to reduce the number of foals, since supply was outstripping demand and they were going at market for very low prices, to make sure that the foals are born at the optimum time for survival, not too early or late, and also to improve the standard of the new generations of ponies.
This scheme, where the stallions are 'depastured' or taken off the open forest between July to the following May, hasd been running for a couple of years now and has really made a difference to the quality of the youngstock. For a more detailed explanation, see here - http://www.newforestpony.com/News/stallspec04.htm
http://www.newforestpony.com/News/stallions05.htm
The NF society website is extremely informative - http://www.newforestpony.com/