THE NEW FOREST, 3,000 WILD HORSES, ANCIENT TREES, LOVELY VILLAGES, FUDGE… DEC. 2019

“ALAN, GET AWAY FROM THERE, SHE’S STAMPING HER HOOF…A WARNING”

alan skeoch
Dec. 2019


“DO NOT take another step!”
“Just a little loser…better picture.”
“Alan, get away from her, she’s stamping her foot…a warning to you…she could charge.”
“Nonsense…never saw her make a move.”
“She is a wild horse.”
“Looks  pretty docile to me.”
“These horses  have lived  here in the New Forest for hundreds of years.
Free…to do whatever they want.  This is their turf not ours.  Get back here to the car, Alan.”








“The sign says  we are entering the New Forest National Park but the land looks like
any other part of southern England.”
“Use your eyes and  ears…didn’t you hear the rumble as  we crossed that cattle grid?”
“Cattle grid?”
“A  bunch of pipes  laid across  the road…no animal can  cross without getting a broken leg…the
whole 219 square miles  of the new Forest has Cattle Grids.”
“Why?”
“To keep  the wild horses from running completely free.  They have a huge area already.”
“ Are they really free?”
“Mostly free, yes, but they are owned  by residents who round them up
each year for medical checks and stuff  like that.   And the stallions  have to
be controlled a bit more.  If stallions had free rein in the New Forest they might
give tourists a  run for the money.  So the stallions are penned up until April and
then turned  loose to do what comes naturally.”
“How  many  New Forest ponies  live  here?”
“I’ve heard  there are as many  as 3,000.  Why not start counting.”
“Must raise hell with private property.”
“Not much private property here in the New Forest.  90% of  the land is  public land…owned
by the Crown.”
“This is a giant managed forest…Oaks dominated as property of the Royal Navy.  Many are
still here today.  Cropped from time to time.”
“How can  oaks be  cropped>”
“200 year old oaks…the kind that were across sprouts  at time of Napoleon are now
ready to be cropped.  Many generations of New Forest residents have come and gone
before a single mighty oak is cropped.”









“We are lucky that it’s pouring rain  today”
“Why?”
“Not many tourists.   In summer  the roads can be jammed  with
rubber necks and vehicles.”
“Are horses ever hit by cars?”
“Often, especially at night.  The road sings  caution drivers but accidents 
do happen.”



“There once were enough snakes  in the New forest to keep this snake catcher busy.”
“Stiff have snakes”
“Adders are all gone.”





“This is Lyndhurst, the largest town in the New Forest.  There are quite a few towns and
villages…rather quaint.”
“What so grand about Lyndhurst?”
“Like?”
“Two things.  First is the  large Ferrari luxury car show room…cars worth $100,000 and upwards…Strange to see  
such  luxury in the centre of a forest that is devoted to freedom of  animals.  But there it is.”



“And the second thing?”
“Fudge.  They make great fudge here…all flavours maple of  course but whisky fudge as well and a whole
slew of other fudges.  Good stuff.”






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