Jason Rose objects to the traditional care and management of New Forest ponies (Letters, 29 September).

Though the ponies are free-roaming, they are not “wild”. Each is owned and cared for by a New Forest commoner, and grazes the forest thanks to ancient rights in use for more than a millennium.

Different cuts of tail (a harmless practice) determine which agister (local official) they fall under, while the brands (which cause only a few days of discomfort) determine who they belong to.

These are necessary measures to clearly identify, from a distance and in all conditions, those who are responsible for maintaining ponies’ health, and are vital for recovering them in case of accident or theft (such as in August, when two out of a group of six ponies taken from the national park in July were found in a rural area of a London borough). Chips and tags are removable, and not consistently or easily legible.

I don’t believe any group of ponies in the world has a better quality of life than those in the New Forest.
Brice Stratford
Board member, New Forest national park authority