Pony treats

Meet one of the locals of the New Forest National Park — the ubiquitous New Forest Pony.
You cannot miss them wherever you are in the Forest because there around 3,000 of them and they have been habiting the moorlands of the area since time immemorial.
This one and a number around this afternoon was happy and content to munch on prickly gorse bushes, but however much you would like to feed them . . . official advice is don’t!
There is a Forest bylaw which actually forbids the feeding of animals in the Forest and if someone spots you doing it, you could be landed with a £200 fine, and a stain on your good character through getting a criminal record.
It’s as well to remember that these ponies are wild in the sense that they can roam anywhere within the Forest, and are not tame — so even if it looks gentle and sweet enough to eat out of your hand, it can pack a hefty kick or a viscous bite.
Yet the ponies are part of the fabric of the 120 square miles of the New Forest, along with deer, cattle, and yes, pigs.
The ponies are rounded up twice a year so that necessary care like tail clipping, and checks by vets can be undertaken. Some will be sold, and pony sales are held several times a year at special stockades near Beaulieu Road in the Forest.

Oh, and if you are driving through the Forest, remember that animals have the right of way.