New Forest Tour with Afternoon Tea

Journey Time: Inclusive as part of the tour

 

Your journey Starts in the morning from the local area and will travel through Dorset’s finest villages. Enjoy a relaxing coach tour through the enchanting New Forest, taking in its ancient woodland, roaming ponies, and peaceful villages. After your scenic journey, unwind with a delicious afternoon tea at the Laguna Hotel in Bournemouth — the perfect finish to a delightful day out.

 

- There are around 5,000 ponies roaming in the New Forest.

- Ponies have been roaming the forest floors for over 2,000 years.

- They may seem wild, but every pony in the New Forest has an owner. These are called Commoners.

- The ‘New Forest Pony’ is a native breed, which is on the ‘at risk’ register.

- The New Forest Ponies’ early ancestry can include other strains, such as Dartmoor and Welsh stock. 

- As well as New Forest Ponies, there are also Shetlands and some other ‘unregistered’ breeds, but all of which are approved on the forest, with their own Passport, and are branded by their owners.

- Around 30 pony drifts occur each year, during late summer and autumn, so the ponies can have a health check.

- Stallions are released onto the forest every year (around May and June) for 4-6 weeks, to breed with the female ponies, who are on the forest all the time. The ‘Stallion Scheme’ was bought in to help reduce overbreeding of foals.

- Foals are born in the spring time, with the gestation period for ponies being 11 months.

- Sales of New Forest bred ponies take place at Beaulieu Road Pony Sales Yard. Some of these New Forest ponies have gone on to win National competitions.

- The New Forest Ponies’ full diet is natural food from the open forest and woodlands. Which is also an important role in helping maintain the New Forest landscape, including keeping the grass short.

- The acorns that fall on the forest floors during the autumn are poisonous to the ponies, which is why the pigs are released onto the forest, to eat up all of the acorns.

 

Relax and indulge in a traditional afternoon tea at the Laguna Hotel, where freshly made sandwiches, tasty quiche, scones, and homemade cakes are all served directly to your table. It’s a delicious, friendly experience — and you might even get to meet some of the Laguna Travel team, putting a friendly face to the voices you know from the other end of the phone.

The New Forest