IN days of old, when wagon wheels rolled, the horse was the living, breathing engine that delivered goods, won battles, provided transport, ploughed fields and saved lives.
Then came the steam engine, the start of a mechanical revolution that goes on from one trendy new invention to another. The horse patiently looks on, grabbing attention wherever he goes, wisely knowing that he is far from being a thing of the past. He is still asked to plough, to deliver, to transport, to thrill and delight. While the broken engine awaits its repair, the horse once again comes to the rescue, uncomplaining but determined to complete its task.
Those gleaming tractors and vehicles will one day be crushed into scrap, but the power of the horse goes on forever. We are going to meet just a few of the many horses still at their magnificent work, toiling alongside humans as they have done for thousands of years.
NICHOLAS CARTER is head coachman at Hook Norton Brewery in Oxfordshire, where horses
