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New Forest Commoner

@newforestcommoner.bsky.social
427 followers 216 following 48 posts

Keeping the history, ecology and cultural traditions of the New Forest alive through practice of 'commoning'. Sharing information about #NewForest & #commoning.

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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
It’s been revealed that sewage is pouring into the rivers inside national parks at twice the rate that is occurring outside the protected areas threatening the ecology of precious landscapes like the #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Welcome to the #NewForest. Filly foal, Xluna with her dam, Pippa.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Legend tells of stallions from the sinking ships of the Spanish #Armada (July 1588) swimming ashore and breeding with #NewForest mares. It’s a charming tale but, for many reasons (not least because no ships were sunk near Hampshire’s coast), it didn’t happen.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
DYK, traditionally horses were measured in ‘hands’ (approx. 4 inches) i.e., the span of a man’s hand across the palm. Dealers counted the number of times they could place one hand on top of the other from floor to wither (base of neck where it meets the shoulders) to calculate the horses height.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
The free-roaming ponies of the #NewForest live in small bands that are fragmented groups from larger herds. They are semi-feral, rather than wild, and are owned by ‘commoners’ (people with ancient rights) who look after them. #commoning
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
A reminder of the symphony of colour that sings in summer across the #NewForest. To maintain the harmony, protect the #NewForest newforestassociation.org
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
“Nature…….where life is reproduced and occurs, has the right to integral respect for its existence and for the maintenance and regeneration of its life cycles, structure, functions and evolutionary processes.” Rights of Nature, Article 71 of the Ecuadorean Constitution #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
It's so disappointing to travel across the #NewForest roads and see the litter tossed from cars onto the verges. Please, don’t be a #tosser - keep the Forest clean and take your rubbish home. #DontBeATosser
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 04/01/2025
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike." #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Smuggling, or 'free-trading' as it was otherwise known, was big business in the #NewForest during the 18th and early 19th centuries. Contraband included tobacco, tea, lace, and spirits. New Forest ponies were employed to carry the illicit goods from the coast to inland 'docks' for dispersal.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Backup grazing is vital to #NewForest commoning by supporting animals when they are not turned out onto the open forest. Backup grazing in the New Forest serves a variety of important ecological, cultural, and economic purposes.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
The free-roaming #NewForest ponies get to live their best lives. They can choose their own friends, go wherever they want, find shade or shelter when it suits them, and pick from a wide variety of herbage, vegetation, and minerals. Plus, their commoning owners check on them regularly.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Who to call….. #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
The free-roaming #NewForest ponies were regarded as the ‘tribal god’ to the commoners because they were (are) so important to their culture, economy, and community.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
A letter written in 1759 said of the character of the #NewForest residents, “I would not hang a dog on the testimony of 50 of them”.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
The free-roaming ponies on the #NewForest are perfectly adapted to their habitat and have evolved to cope with even the bleakest conditions.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
The Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act 1971 finally repealed the last vestiges of medieval forest law and with it the right of the sovereign to wild animals (except swans and royal fish). #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
The medieval meaning of 'forest' was a legal term for unenclosed land where the wild beasts were protected for the benefit of the king - rather than a place filled with trees. #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
All nature has a feeling: woods, fields, brooks Are life eternal: and in silence they Speak happiness beyond the reach of books; John Clare (1793-1864)
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
The free-roaming #NewForest ponies have access to a wide variety of herbage and minerals. They can self-medicate against ailments and internal parasites.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Although the free-roaming ponies can wander all over the #NewForest, they prefer to stay in territories making it easier for their commoning owners to find them. #MeetJosh
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Biodiversity is one of the #NewForest’s ‘special qualities’.
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
In 1888, Rev. Gunning, the Vicar of Boldre, complained to the Court of Verderers that the 'disgusting' behaviour of the male donkeys on the #NewForest prevented respectable people visiting him and stopped his daughters from looking out of the windows or going out! #OoherVicar
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
In the year 1198 the legal penalty for trespass against the King's deer was mutilation - such as by the loss of an eye or testicles. (Just imagine if that law hadn't been repealed.) #medieval #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
The establishment, in 1974, of the ‘Sandford Principle’, in which the conservation of the natural environment was to have priority over other demands on the landscape, has enabled the #NewForest to retain much of its ecological biodiversity and cultural heritage. #special
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit." Edward Abbey #special #NewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
The 'wild' ponies on the #NewForest are actually classified as semi-feral and are all owned by local people with common rights. #commoners #RealNewForest
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
It's so disappointing to travel across the #NewForest roads and see the litter thrown from cars onto the verges. Please, don’t be a #tosser - keep the Forest clean and take your rubbish home. #DontBeATosser
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New Forest Commoner @newforestcommoner.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Injured livestock or animal accident on the #NewForest? Know who to call:
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