Hit-and-run drivers kill four horses in New Forest
The New Forest Verederers are appealing for information after four ponies have been killed in hit-and-run incidents on the forest in 12 days.
In the first crash, on 15 May, head agister Jonathan Gerrelli was called out at 1am to a dead filly foal at Hilltop, Beaulieu.
Debris at the scene indicates a Subaru Legacy may have killed the foal.
Overnight on 23/24 May a roan filly was hit on the A326. She had a broken hind leg and was destroyed when found.
On 24 May at 10pm a brown mare was found with a broken fore leg just off the B3056 near Pig Bush.
And last night (26 May) a bay mare was found with a broken leg. It is thought the road crash had happened on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the Verderers said: “The ponies will have suffered severe pain from their broken legs and would have been in considerable distress.”
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
A reward of £1,000 is offered for information about these incidents that leads to a conviction.
Contact WPC Alison Tilbury at Hythe Police Station on 08450 454545 or clerk to the verderers Sue Westwood on 023 8028 2052.
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.