England - New Forrest - June 2007 - We took a quick trip to the New Forrest. It's just outside Bournemouth, and you pass through it when you go most anywhere. The New Forrest was named about 1000 years ago, when the King (can't remember who) decided to plant the forrest, to be used for such things as warships. Right now, the New Forest is known for it's New Forrest Ponies. The Ponies roam free, but they are actually owned. I'm not sure if you could ever use one or buy one, as most of the time they just run around the forrest.

We just stopped at a small rest stop, and as you can see, the ponies come right up the cars.

Here's one pony asking Kim and Seth for directions.

Yes -- they hay is over that way!

As a thank you for such kind directions, the pony is going to give Seth a hug.

The ponies were quite tame and non-agressive. We went to Canada (as you do) and brought our own lunch. When we tried to eat it, there were a couple ponies that decided that our sandwich was too much for us, and wanted to assist us in our eating. I spent the entire lunch pushing the horse away. They can be quite pushy when they want to be. (Not these ones, as they were quite happy just being)

All the best from the New Forrest.