Hit-and-run drivers kill two New Forest ponies in a day
Two ponies were put down in the New Forest after two separate hit-and-run incidents on Thursday morning (15 October).
The first incident was at 6.30am by a railway bridge at Burbush, on the Thorney Hill to Burley road.
A dog walker saw an estate car hit a rose-grey yearling filly.
The pony suffered a broken off fore leg and was humanely destroyed by a New Forest agister.
Then at 8.20am a bay pony, wearing a reflective collar, was hit by a dark convertible car, between two railway bridges at Setley on the A337 south of Brockenhurst.
The pony also broke its leg and was humanely destroyed by an agister.
Neither driver stopped at the scene.
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A reward of up to £1,000 is offered to anyone providing information that successfully convicts a driver who fails to report an accident with a commoner’s animal.
Anyone with information regarding these incidents should contact the Verderers’ office on 023 8028 2052, or the police on 0845 045 4545.
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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.