Ben Fogle's country travels: a visit to the New Forest Last weekend, I took my children, Ludo and Iona, for their first visit to the New Forest. The New Forest has always been one of my favourite national parks. There is something uniquely exciting about its wild ponies. Nearly 3,000 roam the forest; ponies have done so for 2,000 years. I have been lucky enough to go out during one of the autumn drifts when the wild herds are rounded up by both commoners and agisters for tail clipping and veterinary checks. It is a sight to behold, with dozens of ponies galloping across the open forest. The children were mesmerised by the "wild" ponies, unable to fathom the fact that they roam free. "But who feeds them, Daddy?" asked Ludo, worried about who would give them apple cores and Polo mints. Much to my excitement, we were staying in a tree house for the weekend. Nestled high in the tree line, it felt as if we had left the world behind. In its winter nudity, the forest was unexpectedly beautiful. From the trees, we headed south to Highcliffe beach. The slumped clay from the cliffs is excellent for fossil hunting. Prehistoric sharks" teeth are among the treasures found in the muddy quagmire. These Barton Bed clays are also home to 600 species of shell. Judging by the number of single Wellington boots stuck firmly in the oozing clay, we thought better of venturing away from the sandy beach, though we kept a close eye for treasures loosened by the recent storms. The beach was denuded by the great storms of 2007, and the storms of early 2014 have further eroded the mighty landslide of mud and earth that all but blanket the otherwise sandy beach. We strode through the calm January surf, the Needles off the Isle of Wight cast in a pink hue in the distance. There is nothing like a bracing winter walk along the coastline. Our beaches are as dramatic as the weather that has formed them. The children raced in and out of the surf while our dog, Maggi dug holes in the sand. I spent much of my childhood on Dorset's Jurassic coastline and the memories came back as we watched the sun dip into the horizon. I bid farewell to the UK as I head off to Russia for the Winter Olympics.