BY AUDREY PAVIA
In a dense British forest of birch and oak, as old as the Ice Age, lives a special breed of pony. Semi-wild and living off the grass that grows in the clearings, the pony has long called this forest his home. His cousins, the other mountains and moorlands breeds, can be found throughout the British Isles.
The New Forest Pony takes its name from the ancient New Forest in southern England just 100 miles from London, where it has lived for centuries. Once the hunting grounds of William the Conqueror in 1067, the New Forest became a place where medieval farmers could graze their livestock. That tradition continues today, and the New Forest Pony is the predominant equine in the forest.