New Forest Pony Breeding and Cattle Society
A Company limited by guarantee registered in England & Wales with No:3421046. Registered Charity No:1064746
The Corner House, Ringwood Road, Bransgore, Christchurch BH23 8AA
Tel & Fax: 01425 672775 email:
NEW FOREST PONY BREEDING AND CATTLE SOCIETY
RESPONSE TO THE NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK PLAN CONSULTATION DRAFT
Who we are, who we represent, and the Society’s place in the Cultural Heritage of the Forest
The Society dates its current formation to 1938, following the merger of two earlier-established organisations, one of them dating back to 1891. The earlier Burley and District New Forest Pony and Cattle Society held its first show in 1906, and the annual Stallion and Breed Shows are an important part of the cultural heritage and traditions of the area. We were immensely proud to celebrate the centenary of our Breed Show two years ago.
Registration of New Forest ponies has taken place for a century. The first New Forest Stud Book was produced in 1910, but only two volumes were produced before World War One intervened. Registrations were then sent to the National Pony Society until 1960 when the first red New Forest Stud Book was published by the Society. We are now proudly working on Volume 50. Many people have a full set gracing their bookshelves and the red New Forest Stud Book is, in its own right, an important part of the cultural heritage of the area.
Up until 1949, registration required that the dam must have run on the Forest, but this precluded the breeding of ponies away from the Forest and so was dropped. This enabled the breeding of ponies on studs to take place and this has been an important feature since the 1950s, with studs located in and around the Forest and elsewhere in the country. There are a number of important studs located within the National Park and today many commoners run mixed herds, and this enables the combination of the very best stud and Forest lines.
A mass of EU legislation now covers the UK equine industry. The Society’s studbook was recognised under Commission Decision 92/353/EEC. Under the Horse Passports (England) Regulations 2004 the Society became a Defra-approved Passport Issuing Organisation (PIO). We are currently in a transitional period with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 504/2008 of 6 June 2008, which revokes the above regulations, due to take effect on 1 July 2009. We are required by law to submit mandatory data to the National Equine Database.
The Society is both a registered charity and a registered company limited by guarantee.
There are 1313 records on our membership database, including Joint and Family categories.
The number of local membership records in Post Code Districts SO40, SO41, SO42, SO43, SO45, BH23, BH24, BH25, SP5, SP6 – 485 (36.9% of total) – the actual number of people will be higher as many are in Joint and Family categories.
Local members are drawn from the commoning community, stud breeders, riders of all levels from ‘happy hackers’ to top showing and competition riders, of all ages (from 0 to 92), and from a wide range of employment backgrounds.
As the keeper of the studbook, the Society is the guardian of the registered New Forest pony breed. In the dual role of keeper of the studbook and as a PIO the Society is almost certainly the major equine data holder in the region. Given that the NPA has selected the New Forest pony as one of its icons, and that so much of the Draft National Plan relates to horse-keeping, the Society is very disappointed that the NPA chose not to consult directly with the Society in the preparation of the plan.
It is against this background that the Society looks now to the NPA’s Draft Plan for policies that will be fairly applied to all our members and which will positively support the New Forest pony breed. Many members have contacted the Society, asking that the views below are expressed, and the Society has the full backing and support of the National Pony Society and the British Horse Society (BHS) (which has also submitted a separate response). Regrettably, the Society is fearful that many of these proposed policies are divisive, and we do not want to see policies that will set one group of our members against another, in a discriminatory fashion.
Chapters 1 and 2: Portrait of the New Forest National Park and the pressures, trends and opportunities
Chapters 1 and 2 (pages 9-25) describe the NP, as it is now and the issues and future trends which are likely to affect it.
Q5: Are there any changes or additions that would improve these chapters?
Chapter 1 is a 12-page portrait of the New Forest, and although very briefly alluding to commoning on page 10, 14 and 15, no adequate description of it is given, beyond three references relegated to the Glossary. The New Forest Pony does not get one single exclusive mention on these pages, which is somewhat surprising given the historical importance of the indigenous semi-feral herd, and the selection by the NPA of ‘the iconic New Forest pony’ as a New Forest Special Quality (page 19).
Chapter 8: Working Together
Pages 88-101 includes the approach to working with different kinds of organisations, a series of priority actions for the next 5 years and headline indicators and targets. The actions, indicators and targets need further development and detailed comments on these are particularly welcome as part of this consultation.
Q20: Priority actions: (a) Which priority actions do you particularly support or feel should be taken forward urgently? (List up to 10 of the actions using the reference numbers in the Plan; please also indicate whether your organisation would be willing to take the lead on any of these actions)
(page 93) PA10 Produce land management guidance for the keeping of horses aimed at recreational users and equestrian businesses.
The Society would be willing to take the lead/be actively involved in this. The Society, through the BHS, subscribes to the ‘Strategy for the Horse Industry in England and Wales’, prepared by the British Horse Industry Confederation in partnership with Defra, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Welsh Assembly Government. Progress has already been made on:
Action 35: Encourage Local Authorities and others with land management responsibilities to work with the Horse Industry, to develop pasture management projects in order to promote good land management and provide ‘best practice’ advice.
And
Action 36: Code of Practice for good land management – explore the possibility of developing a joint industry/government code of best practice for all land owners/managers in the Horse Industry, to encourage better land management (taking into account equine welfare as well as biodiversity and wildlife conservation), building on the good work of Surrey County Council and others.
BHIC is looking at developing a draft Code of Practice and communications programme to enable effective delivery of information to both horse owners and local authorities.
Chapter 9: Development Control Policies
Q22 Are there any changes to the policies in this chapter that you wish to suggest, or any new policies that should be included? Please specify and give reasons.
Policy DC9: Agricultural Buildings, page 113 –114 and page 153
P114: “This policy seeks to enable development necessary to sustain agricultural activity, including commoning. But, development associated with agriculture can have a substantial environmental impact, and the Authority will not support buildings or other structures that would be damaging to the ecology, landscape or character of the National Park.
In the case of buildings required for pony and horse breeding, the Authority will need to be satisfied that the enterprise is a commercial operation carried out by commoners in conjunction with grazing on the New Forest.”
The New Forest pony breed is thriving and the New Forest is one of the most important pony breeding areas in the country, with the largest semi-feral herd in the country and a number of local studs. To many people, the New Forest is the New Forest pony, and the Society looks to the Authority to operate policies that will support the continuation of New Forest pony breeding.
The Society accepts that both the needs of horses, and the effects of horse keeping are taken into account in the planning system. Any development will have an impact on its surroundings and the Society does not wish to see the character of the landscape of the New Forest adversely affected, any more than anyone else. However, the Society does not see why buildings used for pony breeding have been singled out in this policy. As stated in the introduction, stud breeding of New Forest ponies has been going on for over 50 years, and in relation to our members, the paragraph quoted above is divisive and discriminatory.
There is a limited scope for farm diversification in the Forest area, and in many instances, the only possible way is in to ponies. How will a ‘commercial’ pony breeding enterprise (whether run by commoners or not) be defined? A profit-making definition is unlikely to be realistic as commoning is generally a part-time occupation and many people would consider their pony breeding as a ‘hobby’ – albeit an expensive, time consuming but ultimately rewarding one. The Society requests clarification: are all buildings used for stud purposes actually considered agricultural? Buildings are needed for: foaling, weaning and handling of foals, veterinary purposes, stallion keeping, and for shelter (for welfare).
Keeping a stallion demands knowledge, time, expertise and facilities. In 2007, only 42 stallions were selected by the Verderers to run the Forest in the breeding season. However, many more than this are kept within the Forest, and this is necessary in order to maintain a wide gene pool of bloodlines.
The Society is particularly concerned to establish that the proposed stocking density (DC12) will not apply to stallions running with mares (many of whom will have foals at foot) during the breeding season.
Analysis of 2007 stallion covering returns of the breeding New Forest stallions standing in the National Park area
· 21 stud stallions were kept by Commoners. They ran with a total of 175 mares, an average of 8 mares per stallion. The highest number of mares running with one stallion was 32, one covered 23 mares, two covered 16 each.
· 11 former or retired Forest-run stallions, owned by Commoners, stood at stud. These stallions covered a total of 67 mares (average 6). Three stallions covered 13, 11 and 10 mares each.
· 9 stallions were owned by small private studs. These stallions covered a total of 54 mares (average 6), with 2 stallions covering 12 and 11 mares each.
· 4 stallions were owned by commercial equestrian businesses with a commoning interest. These stallions covered a total of 30 mares, with one stallion covering 16 mares.
· 3 stallions were owned by a commercial equestrian business. These stallions covered 10 mares.
There will also be an unspecified number of young entire colts being grown on to assess their stallion potential. Approximately 20 two- and three-year-old colts come forward each spring for inspection. The Society’s stallion licensing procedure is rigorous and multi-stage, involving inspection and vetting.
Many stallions are worked on the drifts and/or are ridden competitively, some at the very highest level – two local stud stallions competed in early October at the Horse of the Year Show and a team of four local stallions won a national dressage title at the British Riding Clubs Championships in September. Are they then considered ‘recreational horses’?
Out of the breeding season, most stallions still need to be kept in a secure or isolated paddock. The 1 hectare policy is particularly ludicrous in relation to stallions.
Simply put – no stallions, no iconic New Forest pony.
The Society therefore expresses serious concern about this treatment of pony breeding enterprises in the proposed land use planning system. Guidance which positively encourages planning authorities to support equine-related activities was introduced in 2004, in Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7), ‘Sustainable Development in Rural Areas’. This states that ‘Local planning authorities should set out in their development documents their policies for supporting equine enterprises, whilst maintaining environmental quality and countryside character. These policies should provide for …breeding businesses. They should also facilitate the re-use of farm buildings for small-scale horse enterprises (that is, enterprises involving up to ten horses) that provide a useful form of farm diversification.’ With this in mind, the Society asks for the removal of the paragraph: In the case of buildings required for pony and horse breeding, the Authority will need to be satisfied that the enterprise is a commercial operation carried out by commoners in conjunction with grazing on the New Forest.”
Policy DC12: Recreational Horse Keeping, page 117-118 and page 155
The Society makes the following comments In relation to the wording of the proposed policy:
Erosion of the Forest: The evidence shows that the number of horses in riding schools has actually fallen. Erosion is also caused by other recreational users, such as walkers and cyclists, and those participating in organised recreational events. There is no justification for placing recreational horse keeping/riding under a heavier planning burden than these other activities.
Landscape impact: It is felt that this policy is largely driven by non-horse or non-rural people for its aesthetic value only. Most of the items listed in the Explanatory Note are of only a temporary nature. A preferable approach would be education and encouragement, not confrontation. Is it not possible to use incentives, and subsidies/funding for items such as gates, fencing, and planting of boundary hedgerows?