The Last Horsemen

Yesterday the sound of curlews and skylarks filled the air as I looked for a geocache on a farm that still uses heavy horses. Seeing the hand-ploughed field, I was reminded that years ago, we visited friends who used to live nearby. Reared on James Herriot and the delightful story of two elderly carthorses that enjoyed a long and happy retirement, I asked the farmer what happened to his horses when they were too old to work.  I was shocked and crushed on hearing that they ended up on a French dinner plate or a in a dog food tin!