We are a husband and wife team who set up Hawthorn Heavy Horses after many years gaining expertise in horse management and countryside conservation. Matt graduated from Writtle College with a degree in Rural Resource Management and went on to work for conservation charities and local authorities, and whose work has included management of SSSI woodlands, grasslands and heathland. In addition Matt has ridden and worked with horses since the age of 13. Claudia has always been around horses, and having gained a degree in Equine Studies from Writtle went on to specialise in working with heavy horses, which included training and showing heavy horses, carriage driving and teaching at a specialist land-based college.

Since 2004 we have been working to combine our two areas of expertise and set up a working horse business, as we believe that horses have an important role to play in land management now and in the future. Whilst many people see working horses solely as a demonstration of past practice, developments in harness and working horse machinery in Scandinavia and the USA allow horses to make a significant contribution to the management of sites. This is especially important where working practice needs to be both environmentally sound and sympathetic to users and wildlife, avoiding noisy and polluting machinery.

After undergoing additional training and work experience in horse logging, including experience in Finland with a professional horse logger, we were able to start our business in 2008 with the help of our first big contract, the Hylands Horses Project, which is a three way Partnership with Chelmsford Borough Council and Writtle College. We are also proud members of the British Horse Loggers, who do much to promote the working horse and its benefits to land managers and the environment.

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