Future farmers told about the value of horse power

A pair of heavy horses have been used in a display to show university students how animals can still play a role in modern land management.

The working horses visited the campus at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester on Thursday.

Kate Mobbs-Morgan, who runs Rowan Working Horses, demonstrated the horse's abilities and explained how they could be more beneficial than heavy machinery.

"It's talking about the fact that there is still very much a place for using horses in current land management work," Ms Mobbs-Morgan said.

"The machinery, with the best will in the world, makes a heavy impact on the soil," she said.

"If you have a sensitive or a difficult access site, the horses are ideal."

Ms Mobbs-Morgan said it was "really exciting" to teach the next generation of land managers that horses were still a "viable option".

She explained that the horses carried heavy objects such as logs through an intricate system of harnesses, which the human guiding them had to be attuned to.

"The horses take first place. They're trained to do the work but I always feel with these guys they work with me because they want to, it's not a chore," Ms Mobbs-Morgan said.

Honey Waymark, a student who watched the demonstration, said she thought it was interesting.

"It's really nice learning about it," Ms Waymark said.

"It's really good to have an opportunity like this, it's good to introduce it into an agricultural university."

Edward Bonn, from Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group South West, added: "An interesting thing is we think the last time horses were on campus was in the 1850s.

"Bringing the horses back today is bringing back some continuity, when horses were used in a similar way on campus."

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