A heave and a grunt and a sudden rush as the felled tree trunk starts to move, dragged on a chain behind Etty’s stocky chestnut hindquarters.
Etty is a 12-year-old mare who works with Toby Hoad of Dorset Horse Logging. Their partnership requires mutual understanding and constant communication, as he explains: “You’ve really got to build up a relationship; you’ve got to build up trust. I can drop the reins, and she will pull out the log for me if it’s in a tight spot.”
When it comes to extracting tree trunks from a woodland, horsepower causes much less disturbance than mechanised methods. Equines are more manoeuvrable, can work in restricted spaces, don’t compact the ground and cope with wet conditions without churning up the forest floor.
Despite these advantages, Toby is one of only a handful of professionals doing the job full‑time. It takes years to train the horses and learn how to handle and care for them properly. Toby uses the French Comtois draught breed because they are short, strong “good-doers” who don’t require a lot of extra feed – traditional UK heavy horses such as shires would be too big.
The diseased ash trees being removed from the coppice are some of the last to be taken out this spring. Felling stopped on 1 March and timber extraction ceases by May. The changing season is evident all around; the wood is filled with birdsong and Etty is shedding her thick, woolly winter coat. Occasional puffs of soft, red fur fall and drift among the woodrush, offering an ideal nest lining. Perhaps some will be collected by the blackcap warbling in the blossoming blackthorn bushes, which edge the wood with white.
As the day warms, sunshine fills the new glades. Etty leans into her collar and snorts, sweat dampening her shoulders. It’s nearly time for her to have a rest and graze in the adjacent field.
Toby and his horses will soon be moving on to bracken rolling, a non-chemical way of controlling the fern by crushing it with a roller as the fronds start to unfurl. Then the team will have a short break and attend some agricultural shows before they return to the woods in September.
• Under the Changing Skies: The Best of the Guardian’s Country Diary, 2018-2024, is available now at guardianbookshop.com
