About Us

Poplar Ponies is owned and operated by Emily Black in Florence, South Carolina.  Emily is an avid dressage rider with over 25 years of experience in the equine industry.  The farm covers almost 80 acres with large grassy pastures planted with coastal Bermuda.  We constructed the farm with our ponies in mind and the goal to allow a very natural lifestyle.  Every pony has 24/7 outdoor access either living out or having a stall with pasture access. This means they get constant fresh air, movement and grazing which keeps everyone strong and feeling their best.  The young ponies & mares with foals live in groups to allow for appropriate socialization and development.  The older ponies who are in training have their own stall/pastures.  This allows them to interact with their friends over the fence but we don't have those annoying kicks/bites to deal with.  Their diet is mainly forage based with ration balancer provided as needed, which works well for these easy keepers.  Having happy, healthy ponies is our top priority!

The New Forest Pony is an exceptional breed, one that excels in multiple disciplines - from dressage to driving, endurance to eventing, hunters to hacking -

making it the perfect all around equine for show or pleasure. 

New Forests are noted for their more horse-like movement, friendly, easy-to-train temperaments and a great sense of humor.  Suitable for children and adults alike, the New Forest is a hardy breed that can bring decades of happiness to entire families.

Breed Standards from the New Forest Pony Society of North America

  The following are the standards to which purebred ponies must adhere for entry into the NFPSNA studbook as a purebred New Forest Pony:

Color

• Purebred New Forest Ponies may be any color except piebald, skewbald, spotted or blue-eyed cream. 
• Single dilute chestnut stallions (commonly referred to as palomino or very light chestnut in color)
  with dark eyes are eligible as licensed stallions.
• Double dilute chestnut stallions (commonly referred to as cream or perlino in color) are not
  eligible as licensed stallions, nor are they eligible for full registration into the main section of the
  studbook.. 
• Completely blue eyes are not permitted. 
• Partially blue eyes/eyes with missing pigment/heterochromia, where the non-dark portion does not exceed one-half of a single eye, are eligible to be registered as mares and geldings, but not licensed stallions.
• White markings other than on the head and lower limbs, loss of, or absence of, pigment in hair or skin that is not known to have been associated solely with skin trauma is not acceptable.
• For the purposes of entry into the purebred section of the studbook, a pony shall not have any white markings behind the head, above a horizontal line level with the bony protuberance of the accessory carpal bone at the back of the knee in the forelimb, and the point of the hock in the hind limb, unless proven to be due to trauma/injury.

Height

• The pony must not exceed the maximum height for the breed of 148 cms or 14.2 1/8 hands at the withers.

Type

• New Forest Ponies should be of working type with substance. 
• They should have sloping shoulders, strong quarters, plenty of flat bone, good depth of body, straight limbs and good hard round feet.  
• The ponies are quite capable of carrying adults, while narrow enough for small children.

Action

• This should be free, active and straight, but not exaggerated.

Temperament

• The New Forest Pony has an ideal temperament and should be very easy to train.