<P> All ponies grazing on the New Forest are owned by New Forest commoners -- people who have `` rights of common of pasture '' over the Forest lands . An annual marking fee is paid for each animal turned out to graze . The population of ponies on the Forest has fluctuated in response to varying demand for young stock . Numbers fell to fewer than six hundred in 1945 , but have since risen steadily , and thousands now run loose in semi-feral conditions . The welfare of ponies grazing on the Forest is monitored by five Agisters , employees of the Verderers of the New Forest . Each Agister takes responsibility for a different area of the Forest . The ponies are gathered annually in a series of drifts , to be checked for health , wormed , and they are tail - marked ; each pony 's tail is trimmed to the pattern of the Agister responsible for that pony . Purebred New Forest stallions approved by the Breed Society and by the New Forest Verderers run out on the Forest with the mares for a short period each year . Many of the foals bred on the Forest are sold through the Beaulieu Road pony sales , which are held several times each year . </P>
<P> All ponies grazing on the New Forest are owned by New Forest commoners -- people who have `` rights of common of pasture '' over the Forest lands . An annual marking fee is paid for each animal turned out to graze . The population of ponies on the Forest has fluctuated in response to varying demand for young stock . Numbers fell to fewer than six hundred in 1945 , but have since risen steadily , and thousands now run loose in semi-feral conditions . The welfare of ponies grazing on the Forest is monitored by five Agisters , employees of the Verderers of the New Forest . Each Agister takes responsibility for a different area of the Forest . The ponies are gathered annually in a series of drifts , to be checked for health , wormed , and they are tail - marked ; each pony 's tail is trimmed to the pattern of the Agister responsible for that pony . Purebred New Forest stallions approved by the Breed Society and by the New Forest Verderers run out on the Forest with the mares for a short period each year . Many of the foals bred on the Forest are sold through the Beaulieu Road pony sales , which are held several times each year . </P>
who owns the horses in the new forest
who owns the horses in the new forest
New Forest commoners -- people who have `` rights of common of pasture '' over the Forest lands
New Forest commoners -- people who have `` rights of common of pasture '' over the Forest lands