Horses for courses - the sale and treatment of wild ponies from Britain's New Forest - Statistical Data Included

Ecologist, The, May, 2001 by Hugh Warwick

Hugh Warwick investigates the unseen trade in wild ponies, from Dartmoor to the New Forest -- and turns up some shocking facts.

How much is a pony worth? In traditional slang: [pound]25. But how much would you pay for the life of a wild pony, like those found traditionally on Dartmoor or in the New Forest; one that has been rounded up and is now standing bedraggled in thick mud? Answer: 35 pence.

Even in these times of hardship for farmers, how can this be possible? And after being sold; what then? And why is it that at a time when the trade in horse meat is on the rise, thanks to BSE, that the bargain basement offer of 'three ponies for a guinea' still stands?

Going to market

The answers to these questions can be found, at least in part, at pony markets across Britain. A pony market can be a pretty grim affair. Some are outside, like the one in the New Forest. The ponies are rounded up in a 'drift' by the Commoners of the Forest. Men on quad bikes force unbroken animals into pens. Before first light they are moved, muddy and wet, to the corrals across from the small railway station of Beaulieu Road, to wait in mud and water for the market to begin. Other stalls appear, selling tack and army surplus clothing, clustering under the trees. The burger van rolls into place.

New Forest Ponies are a remarkable breed. Hardy and easy to train, they are also supremely well-adapted to their habitat. It had originally been thought that they came across with the Celts, but it is now considered likely that they have existed wild here since the last ice age.

Since the creation of the New Forest by William the Conqueror in 1079 as an area where 'beasts of the chase' could be protected for the pleasure of the monarch, there have been attempts made to 'improve' on the native wild pony. But now efforts are being made to preserve some of the original integrity of the animal.

Dionis McNair of the New Forest Pony Society explains: 'The forest is dependent on the pony and the pony is dependent on the forest.' The reason that the New Forest maintains its characteristic mix of flora and fauna is because of the ponies. Their grazing and browsing prevent the pasture woodland reverting to dense, less diverse, forest. Given their vital role in the Forest, and the fact that they can make an ideal animal to learn to ride on, it is a shock to find that the prospective buyers at the market include a six-year-old boy who has saved up for a pony. These ancient, wild beasts have become pocket-money pets.

The common good

While the animals live and look 'wild', they are all owned by Commoners of the Forest. And in these tough times, the economics are stacked against the animal. A 4-year-old pure-bred New Forest Pony can fetch over [pound]1,000, and there are now studs all over Europe and North America breeding them. Yet, at the market, wild foals from the New Forest can scarcely be given away. And this is the key difference. The value is in the New Forest Pony; but not necessarily in ponies from the New Forest.

The price of land in the New Forest is such that owners cannot afford to rear the ponies, and the price that they fetch doesn't encourage the owners to spend money on veterinary bills. Also, the local rules designed to protect their welfare insist that ponies under the age of four cannot be ridden.

So what is a Commoner to do? There are already concerns that the population of ponies in the Forest is too dense, in particular with animals of poor stock. These suffer the double disadvantage of being worth little for sale and being less well-adapted to the harsh conditions. The Verderers, the New Forest legislative court established in the early 15th century to ensure that the local population and its animals did not interfere with the deer and its food, stipulate that a certain number of animals must be removed each year to try to maintain the ecological balance. Seemingly, in the current climate, the only option for the pony owners is to sell the animals for as much as possible. But as all the Commoners are desperate to sell, it is a buyers' market.

If the ponies are going to continue to be bought and sold, then at least it should be done in a respectful manner, with animals treated well. But what has horrified the pressure group Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), amongst others, is that even the most basic rules governing the treatment of the ponies are being flouted.

Horsing around

The provisions of The Welfare of Horses at Markets Order, 1990 are explicit. Ponies must not be dragged along the ground by their neck or tail. They must not be punched and kicked. They must not be kept in overcrowded conditions, and mares with foals must be separated from other ponies. Yet all of these laws are being continuously broken at market - in front of witnesses from CIWF.

'Sue' (who doesn't want her real name used, for fear of recrimination) has been monitoring markets such as this for CIWF, and manages to combine a rigorous understanding of the law with a practical knowledge of animal welfare. 'As the men get tired and fractious, so their treatment of the animals deteriorates and the animals become less easy to manage,' she says. 'The mud is thick and slick, so they have difficulty in keeping their feet.'