On a packed weekend at the end of February the England National Cross Country Championships returned to Hampstead Heath after two years of COVID – nearly 8,000 runners sploshing squidgely through the deep mud generated by recent heavy rainfall.
This was not only extremely hard going for the runners but turned large swathes of the heath into ploughed fields. How was grass ever to be persuaded to grow again?… Step forwards Operation Centaur.
Operation Centaur lives in Richmond Park where their 15 shire horses are used for land conservation in the park and in adjoining boroughs and are occasionally hired out, as in the heath’s case, to repair damaged landscapes or access crowded woodland areas.
To quote from their site:
‘Horses can work efficiently alongside engine-powered machinery, such as traversing otherwise inaccessible woodland slopes in timber extraction. Innovative horse-drawn machinery can provide solutions to modern conservation challenges, such as helping control bracken in sensitive acid grassland habitats. At other times, a habitat may benefit from re-introducing traditional land management practices, such as cutting hay in regenerating wildflower meadows.
Working horses also have additional benefits in conservation, offering low noise disturbance to wildlife, as well as lower soil compaction and impact on flora, when compared to heavier machinery. Horses also have a low carbon footprint.’
In the case of the heath our two vistors, Joey and William, pulled a harrow – a large loosely linked chain with spikes on the under side – across the chawed up ground flattening out the larger bumps and aireating the mud but compacting it far less than would have happened with engine powered machinery.
In the short video below (apologies for the wind noise – it was a pretty blowy day) you will see the horses being unloaded out of the trailer, being harness up and setting off up the hill. (Note their gleaming shaggy white fetlocks as they set out – and then look at them at the end of the video!) Then you will see them harrowing runners’ route – and notice how Tom controls them only with those very lightly held long reins and by a few quietly spoken words.
If you are interested in the work the horses do take a look at the Operation Centaur site. I was particularly intrigued by the land management section – especially the bracken control.
‘Large areas of SSSI acid grassland in Richmond Park are being lost to encroachment by bracken. Many management methods have been trialled, but working with the horses has proved the most effective in stopping bracken spreading.
Our horse-drawn bracken rollers are designed to bruise the bracken stems as they pass over the vegetation, with multiple passes improving the effect. This forces the bracken to use its stored energy in repairing itself, rather than growing and spreading through its system of underground roots, or rhizomes. This work is undertaken during a discreet window in late July/ August, when bracken has reached its maximum growth, but is yet to begin storing winter energy in its rhizomes.
Using horses also helps by limiting compaction of sensitive soils, and impact on flora. While working, we have found we are able to be responsive in avoiding late-nesting birds, and the many historic anthills in the park that date back hundreds of years. Similar benefits are found when working in woodlands, being able to avoid young and sapling trees, fallen logs, and accessing hard-to-reach places.’
And who would not enjoy working with those wonderful horses anyhow? As part of Heath Hands we were invited to accompany Joey and William across the heath, protecting them from inquisitive dogs and children – although they were very gentle and easy going and totally unphased by either the yapping dogs or admiring walkers.
Here they are at the end of the job being unharnessed ready for the journey home. And where are those beautiful white fetlocks now?…..
Searching for pollinators on the heath