New Milton Equestrian Supplement Autumn-Winter 2018

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EQUESTRIAN ∙ Autumn/Winter 2018

Lawnmowers of the New Forest

N ew Forest livestock – and in particular New Forest ponies – are often known as the “lawnmowers of the Forest”, maintaining the landscape for all, including horse riders, to enjoy. Here Commoners’ Defence Association chair Dr Tony Hockley

reflects on the special qualities grazing

livestock bring to the Forest…

It is easy to forget how fortunate we are in the New Forest, with open access for riders away from the roads. There are very few places in Britain that can really compare. Add to this the extraordinary natural environment, full of species once common throughout Britain, but now extremely rare and we really do have countless reasons to be grateful. This very special, open landscape - with riding embedded in its culture - is maintained by the constant grazing by local people’s livestock. This exists through their vocational commitment to commoning, which they do alongside their normal, busy lives. Constant close-cropping of the dominant vegetation ensures that the New Forest does not revert to impenetrable scrub, maintaining habitats for rare species, as well as extraordinary public access. The relationship between commoning and riding is a close one

Stock tracks created by commoners’ animals form routes that we can all follow, whether on foot or on horseback, navigating the heather, brambles, gorse and mires. The commoners’ animals are intelligent lawnmowers, adapting their grazing through the changing seasons. The dry and hot summer of 2018 demonstrated this natural adaptability very well. As the heaths dried, the livestock moved to the shade of the grazed woods and damp valleys, ensuring that grazing followed the growth of the vegetation. This is one of the many reasons why no-one, commoners included, should provide supplementary food or water for the animals. To do so disturbs this natural grazing management, and trains them to stop doing what is most important to the biodiversity of the New Forest, and from learning to cope with the seasons. For the rider, the wonder of this natural system means that we can not only enjoy a landscape criss-crossed with stock tracks and close-cropped lawns, but

also quiet lanes with hedges restrained by grazing, and even woods with a “browse line” below which most riders can pass. Anyone on a pony can usually pass below with a minimal need to duck. Everyone who enjoys the Forest can help support the “lawnmowers of the New Forest”. Riders, perhaps, have more of a responsibility than most given the special bene ts they enjoy in this corner of England. The relationship between commoning and riding is a close one, not least because a large part of the practice is maintained in order to produce one of the world’s most versatile ponies, which has now become a rare breed. There really is no easier way to check on our animals than to do so from horseback. Riders, whether commoners or not, are often the rst to spot any problems and

report them to the owners, Verderers or agisters. This is a tradition well worth maintaining. Riders can also do their best to avoid accidently driving livestock onto the roads, passing between them and the road whenever possible. It is also important to resist the temptation to damage the stock tracks or grazing by building jumps or using the old “schooling rings”, a relic of past commercial exploitation which has now disappeared. The grazed Forest gives us so much to enjoy, and riders can play a positive part in maintaining its special nature for everyone’s bene t, not least the next generation of riders.