11th January, 2012 And so the killing begins

And so the killing in 2012 begins. At dawn this morning this pony was killed by a driver. I don't know whether it was a hit and run. Once again the B3078 where commuters play Russian Roulette with our ponies every dusk and dawn. 40 mph is the maximum and NOT the minimum speed limit and yet MOST cars exceed the limit. It is difficult to see in the failing light but that means you have to slow down and if the lights of the cars coming in the other direction mean that you can't see what is to the left, you have to slow down. This filly is about 9 months old.

I am also sick of seeing people park on the grass in the New Forest. There are over 100 designated car parks on the Forest where parking and driving does not cause damage. Parking on the grass damages it and encourages other people to do the same. The ponies, that are so important for the natural conservation of the flora and fauna,  need that grass to eat and people are the first to complain when the ponies get thin.  How would they like it if I parked on their dinner; put my feet in their Sunday lunch??

  The Forest is gradually being eaten away from within. Not by the ponies but by people who damage the grass like this or steadily pinch bits of land. People who have just moved into our village  have put in a gravel track to their house that was never there before and still allowed workmen to park their transits on the grass either side. In no time at all it will become accepted as a lay-by and that will be the end of that.