Forestry professionals and the wider public will have a great opportunity to see working horses in action as part of a commercial timber harvesting operation at the award winning Borders Festival of the Horse this May.

For several years now, Forestry Commission Scotland and Treefest partners have been working with the festival's organisers British Horse Society Scotland (BHS) to help celebrate everything that makes Scottish Borders "Scotland's Horse Country".

This year, the Commission's staff are working with British Horse Loggers, Lothian Estates, Royal Scottish Forestry Society and BHS (Borders) to lay on a series of horse logging demonstrations near to Jedburgh.

Iain Laidlaw of Forestry Commission Scotland said:

"The Treefest Partnership are delighted to be working with a range of partners to lay on demonstrations that will be of interest to many people. The demos are not just for the public and I would encourage forest managers and woodland owners to come along and see why modern horse logging is often a viable option for timber harvesting, particularly on sensitive sites."

Kielder Forest based horse logger Danny MacNeil and his team will be working for several weeks in the Lothian Estate Woods near Jedburgh with main demonstrations on Saturday 17th May (3-6pm) and Tuesday 20th May (2-4pm & 6-8pm). Anyone interested in visiting the horse logging outwith these times should contact Iain Laidlaw on 07831 327319 .
A Kielder Erdő lovas közelítője, Danny MacNeil és csapata  több héten át dolgozik majd a Jedburgh közeli fő demonstrációs területen, ahová délutánonként várják a lovas közelítés iránt érdeklődőket.

Ann Fraser of BHS is delighted that horse logging is going to be part of the 2008 Festival of the Horse:

"Few people have seen horse logging in action and it will give them a great chance to see an example of the skill of horses in a real work situation rather than being in recreation or sport."

The rest of the Festival runs from 16th to 26th May and offers 11 days packed with activities and events for both riders and non-riders. For full details of horse logging demos and the rest of the Festival from guided rides to International Horse Trials, Kelso Races to talks on Border Reivers and horse friendly accomodation check out