WoodLots Feature

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WoodLots Feature - February 2002
Horse Drawn Timber Extraction: Frankie Woodgate considers the history of this sensitive and sustainable woodland management tool Frankie Woodgate owns and manages a 30-acre block of ancient semi-natural woodland in the Weald of Kent, where she undertakes all extraction work with horses. She has many years’ experience in working and managing broadleaved woodland and holds a BSc (Hons) in Countryside Management. Her BSc dissertation entitled “The Role of Draught Horses in the Forests and Woodlands of the UK”, was based on a 12-month research project sponsored by the Royal Forestry Society and Kent County Agricultural Society, and involved in depth case studies throughout the UK and Sweden. An article based on the research was published in The Quarterly Journal of Forestry (Vol 93 pp.229-306).

	Hoofing it into the 21st Century: The Fall and Rise of Draught Horses as a method of Timber Extraction Horses have been used to pull timber from the forests and woodlands of the United Kingdom for centuries. As recently as 1960, horse extraction accounted for 50% of the total national timber production (an estimated 0.65 million m3). At that time, some 400 horses were employed in Forestry Commission woodlands alone. The decline of the working forest horse began after the Second World War as rising costs of labour and an increasing demand for home grown timber led to the mechanisation of extraction to cut costs and increase production. The decline of the horse was so dramatic that by the mid-seventies the use of horses for timber extraction in the UK had virtually been consigned to the pages of forestry history.
	However, the last 10 to 15 years have witnessed a growing reversal of this trend. The relative advantages of horse drawn over mechanised extraction systems have begun to be recognised within the forestry industry. Global and regional concerns with forest biodiversity and sustainable woodland management have prompted a reassessment of the role that horse drawn timber extraction systems can and do play in forest and woodland management. Whilst mechanised systems have reduced the direct costs of forestry operations, the potential damage that mechanisation can inflict on the woodland resource and environment has become an important issue as the long-term costs have been recognised. Horses are light, quiet and manoeuvrable. Their use minimises damage to natural regeneration, coppice stools and the standing crop; avoids compaction, ruts and damage to the woodland floor; and produces no exhaust or noise pollution. Horses are once again being worked within the forests and woodlands of the UK, undertaking a broad range of extraction operations on a variety of sites. Modern horse logging equipment has been developed that reflects and complements this diversity of woodland sites and timber products. Thus, as a sustainable management technique the use of horses combines the most vital elements of its history with the advantages of modern technology.

In the next edition of Woodlots, Frankie will consider some of the horse logging options available to woodland owners, managers and contractors. Frankie will be hosting a Spring Horse Logging Demonstration and Training weekend to be held at Pond Wood, near Tenterden, 6-7 April 2002. For further information please contact Frankie Woodgate on: 01233 850347 / 07740 795351 The British Horseloggers Association - South East: John Bunce Tel: 01344 771063. www.fcauk.com/Horseloggers.htm
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