Shire Horses to Be Used at Chiswick House
Being brought in to help maintain woodland gardens
One of the horses being used in Operation Centaur. Picture: Chiswick House & Gardens Trust
February 25, 2023
There will be a chance to see shire horses at work at Chiswick House as they help out with woodland maintenance in the gardens.
From Monday 27 February to Friday 3 March, Operation Centaur’s Shire horses will be in residence working to ensure the health of the woodlands.
The maintenance requires the felling of small trees and removal scrub jobs which are labour-intensive for humans. Shire horses make light work of this kind of heavy gardening task and are particularly well-suited because they tread lightly in sensitive woodland areas. Shire horses can also access to hard-to-reach places and avoids the use of heavy machinery.
The Trust is welcoming members of the public to come and see the Shire horses in action from Monday 27 February to Friday 3 March, 10am-3pm. The Gardens are open every day from 7am until dusk.
Based at Hampton Court Palace and Royal Richmond Park, Operation Centaur operates the last working herd of Shire horses in London. The organisation aims to demonstrate that there is an essential role for working horses in conservation, and their work in wildflower meadows across Central and Southwest London has provided evidence that using Shire horses to manage these spaces results in more flowers and greater variety – with some flowers reappearing that had not been seen for decades.
Operation Centaur’s horses have previously been employed by Chiswick House & Gardens Trust to cut meadows and large areas of grassland. This large-scale mowing work would have taken the gardening team a week but was completed in one and a half days by two Shire horses.
Tom Nixon, Head of Heavy Horses at Operation Centaur, said, “Beautiful spaces such as the woodland at Chiswick House & Gardens needs careful and empathic management. Not only are our Shires the perfect solution to the maintenance needs, they also provide an opportunity to show the public that these magnificent horses are still relevant”.
Rosie Fyles, Head of Gardens at Chiswick House & Gardens Trust, added, “Working with Operation Centaur on wooded areas is an innovation for Chiswick House & Gardens Trust. It’s a treat to see these magnificent beasts at work and we welcome the biodiversity benefits they bring into these historic areas of the Gardens.”
According to The Rare Breed Society, Shire horses are an ‘at risk’ breed, even rarer than the Giant Panda and providing opportunities for them to work is the cornerstone of their preservation.
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