Horse power

The streets echo again to the sound of hooves

-  Angelique Chrisafis

The clip-clop of hooves marked the start of the morning rubbish collection in the Brittany town of Hennebont, as Dispar, a Breton draft horse, pulled a small cart towards the waste bins.

"This job is so much nicer with an animal," said Julien, who usually worked emptying bins on to a motorised rubbish-truck but was training in horse-drawn techniques. "People see you differently, they say hello instead of beeping. This is the future, it saves on pollution, petrol and noise. And it makes people smile."

Faced with climate breakdown, the energy crisis and modern stress levels, there is a growing movement in French towns to bring back the horse and cart.

Florence, an estate agent in Hennebont, stepped out of her office to watch the horse-drawn bin cart pass. "When I hear the sound of the hooves it's just total happiness to me," she said. "It brings a kind of gentle calm in these frantic times. It brings a bit of poetry into daily life, a reminder that things can be more simple."