A COMMUTER in the New Forest is urging drivers to slow down after she witnessing a foal grieving for its mother on a Fordingbridge roadside.

Bernadette Sims, a veterinary nurse from Alderholt, is pleading for better enforcements of slower driving after she saw the heartbreaking sight on Roger Penny Way.

She was travelling along Roger Penny Way, between Fordingbridge and Cadnam, on Tuesday morning when she saw the dead horse.

A foal was seen stood over it, she said, while a herd was seen nearby, prompting Ms Sims to call for more to be done to reduce the speed on Forest roads.

"This morning while driving across the forest from Godshill to Cadman I came upon the most horrendous sight.

"A dead pony with agister aware posted on it and it's last years foal standing over its dead mothers body and a little way from this, the rest of the herd were looking on.

“I just think something needs to be done," she said.

“There were three (horses) looking on, at a respectful distance away. I find it awful and I’m in the veterinary world.

“I’ve been using that road since I was 17 and I have never seen anything quite so heart-wrenching.

“It hits home how much this shouldn’t happen.”

A spokesman for the Verderers told the Journal that it isn't just the speed of the vehicle that causes problems, but also drivers not paying attention to animals near the roads.

He said: "Of course cars need to slow down, but drivers need to have more common sense when driving on Forest roads when driving past animals.

"When passing an animal, slow down and keep your distance because animals are unpredictable. Sometimes the speed limit is too fast for the conditions and drivers need to pay attention and remain alert."