The New Forest Drift
The Commoners check their ponies

The New Forest Drift

Each year, around October the Commoners of the New Forest conduct The Drift and round up all the New Forest ponies.

New Forest ponies in the pound

They do this for the following reasons and it is part of the old New Forest rights and laws which have been passed down through the centuries.

• Foals are taken away from their mothers so they can be weaned. I'll soon be writing about this in my latest New Forest Tales when 2 little fillies share their experiences of weaning with us!
• The Agisters, who look after the day to day welfare of the New Forest animals inspect and "mark" each pony




• Tails are cut to show at a glance which area of the forest a pony comes from - if they are involved in an accident it is easier to identify them and the area they are from
• If they have not yet been branded because they are foals or have recently been put out, they are branded with their owners unique Commoners number
• All the New Forest ponies are given a health check - if they are thin, weak, unwell or need treatment or attention in any way, their owner will be asked to remove them. They will then have to get them back to an acceptable condition to put back onto the New Forest.

• When I was out here today these New Forest ponies had been herded into a small group and sent off towards the Pound. They were concerned but if they had been out on the New Forest for a few years they would be familiar with the Commoners calls and hopefully remember that nothing nasty had happened to them previously
• The riding skills of the Commoners were really fantastic. The ponies were trying to dodge them, as they would naturally in nature, but the Commoners I saw took it all in their stride, had a great time and did
  a wonderful herding job!

• I recognised many of the New Forest ponies who often arrive outside my cottage and it was good to see none of them were distressed. They seemed happy to wait patiently for what was going to happen next.
• Once the Commoners and Agisters were sure they had done a complete round up then a fire was lit ready for the branding iron and tails were cut in the distinctive markings
• All the New Forest ponies waiting in the pound were monitored to see that they weren't becoming anxious or that there were any fights or too many kicks taking place. On the forest there is a hierarchy amongst the animals and lead mares expect other ponies who are further down the hierarchy to show respect. In a close environment like the pound a kick could become nasty

• While I was waiting for more ponies to come through I met a Commoner who was taking a mare and foal off the New Forest so that the little foal could be weaned. If they are still feeding from their mums they tend to bring her condition down. A lot of what she is eating goes towards providing good milk. She may get thin and start to lose condition
• As you can see from these photos all the new Forest ponies in this drift were standing patiently waiting for the next part of the process.
• I have to say it reminded me why I love horses and ponies but also made me think of the poor live animals we export to Europe every year and the suffering they go through before being killed. The New Forest ponies in this pound and experiencing the Drift were much luckier - most of them were going back onto the beautiful New Forest in a short time

New Forest Pony Drift

I hope you have enjoyed my New Forest pony Drift experiences with me and that it has helped you get a better idea of just one aspect of life within the New Forest National Park and just some of the history and customs that are so vital to continuing this way of life for future generations of people and animals!

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