Branding of New Forest ponies is indefensible | Brief letters

Wild pony treatment | Bring back prefabs | Cyclists and pedestrians | Fighting Reform | House of GuinnessCountry diary is usually a balm for the soul, but the New Forest dispatch (27 September) made me sick. In celebrating the forest’s “beauty and traditions”, we learn that wild ponies are rounded up, with new foals branded and ponies having their tails cut. Why is this still happening? Human habits should never trump an animal’s quality of life.Jason Rose
Musselburg