Heavy horses help manage bracken at Green Farm, Surrey.

While horses are no longer a common sight in modern farming, we recently welcomed some very special helpers to Green Farm in Surrey. 

Daniel Brown Horseman and his Comtois horses joined us at Gravel Hanger to roll bracken across the site's sloping heathland. This traditional approach helps us reduce our carbon footprint while minimising the potential impact that heavy machinery can have on sensitive habitats. 

Rolling bracken is an effective way of managing bracken since it reduces the vigour of the plant by forcing it to try and repair itself where the stem has been broken.  

Since the stem is still attached to the roots, the plant puts energy into repair, giving the surrounding heather and heathland vegetation more of an opportunity to compete and become more dominant on site. 

The heather and bilberry spring back up as the roller passes so it's a good way of targeting bracken specifically. 

Helena Darragh, our Head of Conservation, said; “Using the heavy horses is much gentler than machinery, giving opportunity for animals to seek refuge from where the horses are walking on site and avoiding damage to the ground and vegetation we want to promote.  

“They're also able to tackle the steep slopes of Gravel Hanger without trouble. ...and horses are also great fun to have on site!” 

The horses who helped us at Green Farm were called Corrina, Bumble and Anna. Anna used a slightly narrower roller on site, which made it easier to move between the gorse patches and navigate the slopes."

The horses will be back later in the year to knock the bracken back again and in future years, as part of our ongoing heathland management on site. 

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