Roy Murray Horse Logging & working horse

19/01/2024

Ever wanted to learn horse logging? Here's your chance

17/01/2024

The up side of this cold weather is the ground is frosty enough to drag some logs without leaving the marks we would leave in the previous deep mud.
Uggy has been getting a bit out of practice and there's some relearning to do but calling today a success

31/12/2023

A Happy New Year to all. It has been fairly eventful. At the start of the year we had thought it may be Bella's last, but she proved there's not much that keeps her down and has even had a few sneaky bursts out of retirement. Uggy has been slowly progressing in her draft work and we look forward to doing some logging jobs with her in 2024

22/12/2023

Many thanks to Gary Finnie General Building and Landscaping, sending us this picture that one of their customers has made up:

18/12/2023

📸 Watch this video on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/aQmCP5ouGsZj1tvm/

Really good video from Madgwick Carriage Masters.
I've had run away horses before in a training environment but been lucky to avoid any damage or injury, but when things go wrong with big horses pulling big kit they have much more potential to go wrong on a grand scale

15/12/2023

Winter is the perfect time for hedge-laying. This ancient art reshapes the plant to create a structure (brilliant for wildlife habitats and granting shelter) and facilitates new growth, making a thicker plant.

But it doesn't just need to be field borders. In the second photo I've included these bushes in a garden were laid. They had been getting massively tall, but to simply cut them down would have created so much waste. Laying them like this has made them a manageable size without the waste.

29/11/2023

Well Bella was retired, but she had been getting a few bad manners creeping in with retired life and had quite a bit of energy, so she's back doing some of the physically easier work, giving her something to focus on. We took our time and let her pause as and when she needed but she took it all in her stride

29/11/2023

I was privelaged to be doing some work with Gary Finnie Building and Landscaping yesterday. This really is what horse-logging is about: getting some heavy kit through difficult terrain with the minimum impact.

(We also saw some red squirrels but they disappeared when the cameras came out!)

23/11/2023

Another hedge completed (despite it blowing a hoolie)

10/11/2023

There's still more to do, some tidying up, some more to lay, some more heatherings, but we'll on our way with the first big hedge of the year

06/09/2023

So as nesting bird season comes to an end hedge-laying season begins. But it doesn't need to be restricted to hedges on field margins. This Holly tree was outgrowing it's garden. Rather than cut it all down we have done some pleach cuts and 'laid' a basic form of hedge (unlikely to win any points in a competition but it will get good regrowth and it forms a compressed structure which will provide good habitat).

21/08/2023

Positive progress with Uggy-the-logging-horse. Her outlook is much happier (before she would hide her head in the corner when she saw the harness, now she's happy to put it on). Back to her proper sized log (forced perspective in the photos, it is quite chunky) and pulling with some confidence. Previously she had been apprehensive when she felt big resistance.
It seems she needed the big logs to gain courage to pull the small logs and the small logs to gain the belief she could pull the big logs

18/08/2023

Your chance to see Chaos Rising on the big screen and ask us, the cast & crew, all your (film related) questions

CHAOS RISING's second screening event, with cast and creator Q&A!

18/08/2023

A positive training session with Uggy. A smaller log than we would have liked to train with but she made it work. Also important getting her used to having the swingletree pulling behind her without any log (this is a lot noisier and therefore scarier to most horses)

11/08/2023

A little bit different from our usual posts. Many of you know Bella and have seen her logging work. Well she also has had other jobs. Here's her work in Chaos Rising, a fan funded indie film we worked on. I'll include a link to the film below if you haven't seen it. This was a real passion project, there's still time to support it so please subscribe to the YouTube channel or perhaps donate to the Kickstarter

https://youtu.be/TSGa_GO3Ewk

13/07/2023

A little bit difference from our usual posts but a few years back we were involved in an amazing film project, Chaos Rising. I've screen shotted Bella's amazing charge through and the link to the full trailer is below. Would be great if anyone could share the trailer and back the Kickstarter

https://youtu.be/kfiU8CmF_7Q

25/06/2023

Back to training for Uggy. Honestly I was terrified beginning this session- Uggy has had some dramas with logging and when things go wrong with 3/4 tonne of horse with a log chained to it they go wrong big. But she did well, despite the horrendous cleg assault. Many thanks to Julie Stewart of Kilmarnock equestrian centre and Carlton carriages for some great tips and pointers for teaching a wary draft horse.

(Also want to say the forced perspective in these photos do Uggy no justice- these were some big logs in reality)

16/06/2023

We have moved! Slight difference to costs as we are now based in the Scottish Borders instead of West Lothian

13/06/2023

13/06/2023

Nothing like a good rummel after a hard weekends' work.
Uggy has got a way to go to being a professional logging horse but there's some steps in the right direction

13/06/2023