Heavy Horses

Working horses

CONTRACTING 2007 (updated October 2007)

The bulk of my professional work is in Childer Wood and Meephill Coppice where I have been increasingly basing my activities over the past few years.

This has led to the the Creation of CHILDER WOOD HEAVY HORSE CENTRE. This is not a public centre open as a tourist attraction. It is a serious working woodland where I am demonstrating that horses can be used economically and efficiently in contemporary forestry and that the management of small woodlands can be economically viable. Horses are used for all the timber extraction and for moving tools and equipment as well as control of brambles and bracken. In short, for everything. The work in Childer Wood was recognised by a Bronze Award in the British Horse Loggers Woodland Management Award in 2007. Judged by Geraint Richards, Head Forester of the Duchy of Cornwall Woodlands and Graham Taylor of Prior and Ricketts Silviculture, the Award was made against a very strong entry and is very pleasing.

Using a team of horses and a comprehensive range of horse logging equipment, coupled with on site processing, CHILDER WOOD HEAVY HORSE CENTRE is an entirely commercial venture with income generated by the sale of timber and timber products.

Extracting saw logs to a Woodmizer mobile saw mill

I do still contract out my services and my work this year involves quite a few interesting projects.

Over the past few years I have had the privilege of workling for various wildlife and woodland trusts, the Forestry Commission and many owners of private woodlands, both small and large. I have demonstrated horse logging and horse work at shows and at working demonstrations and I have developed a range of horse logging and woodland management equipment.

Bracken Bashing has really taken off and the period end of June to early August is full steam ahead! Four teams were working for some of the season and the amount of workk is really starting to build up and we are already considering work for next year!. I have cleared bracken and brambles from areas of Childer Wood and have scarified with the HRH Horse Harrow to create a better seed bed,. This has resulted in very strong oak regeneration and a much more varied and rich woodland flora.

Scarifying for natural regeneration on a training course

We have just returned from a large team contract in a beautiful hard wood called Roberts Wood. Owned by Felix Dennis, who is creating huge new areas of native hard woods to extend and join existing woodlands to recreate the Forest of Arden. Stunning in scale, ambition and also in execution. This contract was also indicative of the trends in horse logging. 10 years ago I would have kept this wonderful contract to myself and made it last as long as possible but I am now far too busy so we called in a team of cutters, a few helpers and a team of horses - five on site and four working at any one time. In this way we were able to complete the job in a week and enjoy each others' company.

The team on site

The team was Peter Harmer, Mark Smith and David Roycroft felling; Miranda Hancock and Karen Kilshaw crosscutting, stacking and general horse work; Mark and Kirsten Turnbull and myself with horses. Horses were Ella, Dot, Thistle, Painter and Sally. Two horse drawn forwarders were used to bring out the 2 metre poles to the stack with the other horses skidding to track side and taking the larger poles to the stack.

Not strictly a contract but a bit of news. Nicky More, an acknowledged equine artist, was commissioned to paint a tryptich for the BHS centenary celebrations. Ella was chosen to represent horse logging on the Working Horses panel.This photo was taken after I had signed one of the (obviously) signed copies and shows Ella, myself and Nicky holding a signed copy. I have one of the unsigned copies on my office wall and very fine it is too.

Ella, Nicky and Doug with the painting at the Three Counties Show.

Oak and ash saw logs in the arch

Poplar saw log on the forwarder

I have been working with Eco Dysgu, an environmentally based educational 'more than profit' community business. Peter went down to help select the trees and fell them. I then went down with Jacob, Ella and Dot to extract the timber (large logs down a steep and narrow dingle - terrific) and then returned with the Woodmizer LT40 to mill the saw logs. The timber will be used to make beds and other essential items in the renovation of an old pit horse hospital to turn it into a residential education centre. I will be back down to run two gate making workshops to turn some of the timber milled into farm gates for the fields at Eco Dysgu. This innovatory project is being run by two exceptional women who were once told by one old misogynist that they could not organise a trip to the toilet! Instead, they have created a vision, encouraged partnerships and raised money, realising their aims and impacting on the lives of hundreds of children, offenders and drug users.

Woodmizer on site with sycamore planks.

10' Marches field gate and 12' "Sunburst" Marches Field gate made at Eco Dysgu/Eco Learn in October 2007 from the oak in the woods.

Then we learnt that the current owner's grandfather made gates of which there are some still in use. We liked the gate and have now made the first Tondu Gate in some years. This is another fine example of a quality hand made gate built to a local design.

10' "Tondu" field gate

To enquire or order these gates or to commission one to your own design (a copy of a farm original?) <<click here>>

End June to August will see me and quite a few others this year sweating and swatting flies behind the bracken basher. And a few shows....

Mark and I in Moccas Deer Park in 2004

Oaks and Shires, the annual project in Solihull, will be going ahead this year in November during National Tree Week (woodland management and schools groups) and 24th November, Public Day.

Jacob at Oaks and Shires in 2006

Later on in the year we will be felling and extracting large oaks for the Duchy of Cornwall in Herefordshire. The work is important in itself but will also feed into a study that HRH The Prince of Wales has requested into the benefits and costs of horse extraction as against mechanical extraction. This will also be a team contract again and we have already bracken bashed the area under the oaks (controlling the bracken and the brambles) so that when the oaks are felled the extraordinary amount of oak regeneration will be released to grow on for the future.

Thistle and Crunchie bracken bashing in Aconbury for the Duchy

The work has started and a good team has been put together to fell, cross cut and extract soem very large oaks. The work is taking place in December and will continue into January 2008.

Jacob with large oak saw log in the forwarder and Dot and Thistle extracting the tops in the Bergans beast (with canine support)

Other contracts of interest will be posted as they arise!

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