Logging in at Spier's - now with photos!
10 March-
Gateside Primary at Spier's Parklands
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Clydesdale horse logging at Spiers Parklands, Beith
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Wesley - Clydesdale Horse at Spier's
Ken Stewart of Protec Training in Dalry has combined a bit of horse logging at Spier's Old School Grounds with an outdoor lesson, given to a lucky twenty pupils and two staff from Gateside Primary School. Wesley is Ken's five year old Clydesdale horse, fully trained in extracting logs from woodlands in a manner that keeps damage to the woodland floor to a bare minimum. Weighing nearly a ton, Wesley is a gentle giant who hauls the large logs as if they were as light as matchsticks.
Pupils were able to watch Wesley being kitted up for the job and were shown how each part of the equipment worked to bring about the close control of such a large horse in the confined spaces of a wood. A special treat at the end of the 'lesson' was feeding carrots to Wesley, a task that requires big carrot chunks on a flat outstretched palm.
The NAC Ranger Service helped to organise the event and as only twenty horses in Scotland are trained to work in woodlands in this way, it was a rare treat for the NAC Ranger as well as the Gateside Primary school pupils. The experience was greatly appreciated by all and the Spier's grounds have benefitted greatly from the work of Wesley the Clydesdale and Ken Stewart his owner and trainer.
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