Estate's horse carriage rides to end after 17 years

Popular horse and carriage rides will end at a stately home after 17 years.

Hawthorn Heavy Horses has been working at Hylands House near Chelmsford, Essex, after receiving Heritage Lottery funding.

It blamed financial pressures and recently losing horses to retirement behind the decision to stop the carriage rides.

In a statement, it said, "now is the time to stop", but the team would remain on site "in other capacities".

"Whilst we have loved almost every minute of what we have done, the stark realities of running a working horse business in the current financial climate is not one to be taken lightly," it added.

Over the years, six horses have been providing carriage rides for tens of thousands of people, and were used at weddings, birthday parties and Hylands events such as farmers' markets, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Hawthorn Heavy Horses said it would work with Chelmsford City Council, which owns Hylands estate, to oversee other horses working on the site for woodland management and events.

The horses have helped make significant improvements to the estate's woodlands through coppicing and thinning, as well as shifting timber to sell on as local sustainable firewood or products such as planks and beams.

"It is very much hoped that horses will still be making a regular appearance in the park, both to continue the woodland management but also for events," the statement continued.

"The council's estate volunteers are already doing an excellent job in the woods and taking care of many of the projects that we started, and other contractors are being lined up to undertake some of the bigger tasks."

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