Harnessing horse power to fight wildfires – and benefit people
Equestrians in Spain and the UK have shown how horses can improve their environment as well as reducing fire risk
Harnessing equine power has already proven useful in the fight against wildfires in the UK and Spain – and this may benefit horses, people and the environment.
An owner in Valencia realised that his dream of sport horses in a natural environment also has the benefit of reducing the risk of fires, and a project to boost the value of ponies on the Welsh hills has found similar.
Donna Oldbury-Thomas of Coventry University told H&H the Power Ponies project came about as the number of hill-bred Welsh section As has dwindled.
“We’ve always had the ponies but we’re down to about 300 wild-bred ponies left now,” she said. “They’re the ones with the genes and skills to survive in the wild, but you can buy a pen of Welsh mountain foals for £10. There’s no value people can subscribe to.”
Dr Oldbury-Thomas and Peter Morgan of Torcoed Stud came up with the idea of involving the ponies in “bashing bracken”. Bracken is a native but invasive species that increases fire and tick risk, and reduces biodiversity.
Through her research, Dr Oldbury-Thomas found out that bracken, when burned, produces highly toxic emissions.
“It’s nasty stuff and the only way to protect our landscapes, communities and firefighters is to put bracken breaks in, in the short term, and have far more committed conservation grazing in the long term,” she said. “You need a mixed grazing regime, and stock that knows what it’s doing. So that means cows, sheep, goats, horses, who are native and knowledgeable, and this comes back round to pony power.”
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A “virtuous cycle”
The ponies do eat some young bracken but they also roll on and “nest” in it, crushing it, and will push through it to water, allowing other animals to reach it and helping create a “virtuous cycle of more accessible, eventually improved grazing and the bracken going back”.
Dr Oldbury-Thomas said it is not a quick process but if the ponies stay, the solution is permanent, rather than the fast but less effective – and far more toxic – method of poisoning the bracken.
The fire prevention was almost a secondary benefit, which has become the main one. There are 1.3m acres of bracken in England and Wales, and it prevents other plant species growing, emits greenhouse gases and is flammable. And if it does burn, not only is the fire itself a major risk, firefighters are also at risk of breathing in the toxic fumes.
In Spain, stud owner Rafael Peris wanted to have horses who live as naturally as possible, as many in his region spend more time inside than out in herds. He then realised that this not only benefited the horses’ welfare – as it meant more forage for them, for which he did not have to pay – but also that the horses’ grazing activity removed potential fuel for fires.
Virtual fencing
“During the big fires in Spain this summer, there were several cases where the fire did not go into areas where the animals were, as there was not the grass to propagate them,” he said. “It’s very interesting and some authorities are taking this example.”
Mr Peris uses “virtual fencing”; he can set boundaries electronically and the horses wear collars that pulse when they approach them. This means they are safe, well fed and removing potential fuel. The authorities agree; the Valencian government has increased funding to €500,000 (around £430,000) for grazing to help prevent fires in the region. And he believes the principles could also benefit the UK.
“Although wildfire conditions differ from those of Mediterranean Spain, the principle has a much wider application,” he said. “Extensive grazing with horses can be used as a complementary tool for wildfire prevention and a sustainable method of managing woodland edges, conservation areas, firebreaks and other vegetation-rich or difficult-to-access land.
“The principle is simple: rather than repeatedly removing all vegetation using brush cutters, tractors and other machinery, horses can perform part of this work naturally and continuously. The system combines land management, sustainability and animal welfare: the horses live year-round across large natural areas, move freely as a herd and simultaneously perform a practical environmental function.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.