We recently took part in the first ever Celtic Rainforest festival in the Elan Valley. Lovely spot right under the magnificent dam! Really great event. We hope to be back working in the rainforest there soon.
JUNE 2024 : Carnog recently carried out two projects requiring gentle timber extraction on two very inaccessible sites – Pentre Wood in Shropshire for the Woodland Trust, and a slate quarry in Wales for Natural Resources Wales. The two case studies have been written up to show some of the unique ways horses can offer a great solution. You can download this open source ‘Sensitive and Specialist Forestry Operations’ by clicking here.
June 2024 : We are really pleased to launch our new website. We are now mobile friendly! We have updated a lot of the content as well as showing new photos and videos. Whilst I am not very good at blowing my own trumpet, one of the new additions to the website is to share some of the references we have received over the years. They show just how much the work we do has been valued and the real depth of experience that we have. I am chuffed looking back at all we have achieved. It makes it exciting to think of all there is still to do with the horses.
We recently received this reference from some work we carried out for the Woodland Trust in November 2022
“The skill with which Barbara and her horse worked to haul the timber up the side slope to the path, turn it, secure it then take it down the path to a very limited drop-off and stacking area was breath-taking. However, the main reason Carnog Working Horses suited this situation so well was the whole operation was undertaken with such calm control on the part of Barbara and Tyler. Walkers on the path who had to wait a short time to be allowed through were treated to the sight of this professional outfit in operation and to a chat with the always enthusiastic and informative Barbara. A very difficult operation was done with very little disruption and left no evidence of the forestry-scale extraction of about 100 tonnes of timber on a very narrow and steep footpath through this Ancient Semi-natural Woodland.”
May and June 2024 : Come and join us on our smallholding in north-east Wales for an Introduction to Working with Horses course. I work full time with my horses through the seasons carrying out low impact land management from horselogging to bracken control and field work. Click here for details.
December 2023 : I treated myself to a new uniform, branded with the brilliant new Carnog logo.
December 2023 : Artist Sally Duckers produced two new images of the Carnog team which are available as greetings cards and prints. From her designs we are developing a new logo which appears on the new uniform.
September 2023 : We worked in a record 35°C on this challenging site. Ultimate care and dainty hooves were required to ensure that felling and extraction on these old workings left them as we found them with the historic features preserved. We completed this first trial stage with close observation by CADW and NRW and impressed them with our approach so will be back for further work soon.
March 2023 : For the eleventh year Carnog Working Horses one day ‘Introduction to Horse Logging’ courses at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) near Machynlleth. The course gave a practical introduction to working with horses in low-impact woodland and land management. More information can be found on the CAT website and we will share news of the new courses when programmed.
February 2023 : We were working at this small farm woodland site, a larch and beech plantation which was overdue for thinning. It was one of the steepest hills we have ever worked, but the horses took it in their stride. Thankfully, the timber was all coming downhill.
January 2023 : We burnt off any Christmas excess with a hard start to the year, coppicing near the Wrekin. Although the trees were small it was a long, up and down extraction route, so the horses worked hard. The woodland owner is a wonderful craftsman (M T Greenwood Crafts) and turned the wood, a mixture of hazel, rowan, holly and silver birch, into woodland produce including bowls and spoons. (Photo: Neill Mapes)
