Deep in the Chiltern hills straddling Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire four Suffolk horses are at the centre of a thriving leisure rides business for cattle farmer Ian Victor-Smith of Nettlebed, Henley-on-Thames.

At the height of the season Ian sets out from Darkwood Farm, Park Corner twice a day, often with a full complement of 20 people, to ply one of his five routes through the beautiful byways of the Chilterns, driving through the beechwoods 200 yards from his home and into the Warburg Nature Reserve, run by the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire Trust.

His Country Ways business offers a variety of tours - a ploughman's lunch, a waggoner's supper, children's birthday rides, and the pint-to-pint - when his passengers visit four different inns en route. "The horses know the way home!" he says.

Companies and organisations often book rides as treats for their staff - including, surprisingly perhaps, Air Traffic Controllers from Heathrow. As the bluebells come out, it's the turn of the blind, who travel to Nettlebed from Reading for a delightful trip enhanced by the scent of the flowers and the sound of the horses' hooves on the chalk tracks.

It all started unexpectedly 21 years ago. A friend rang him up pleading with him to buy a grey horse who was liable to be sold for horsemeat. "I was a dairy farmer, and had no intention of buying a horse," says Ian. "However I went along to see him and I did buy him!" Later he found a dray for sale at Reading market and broke the horse to pull it. He took the turnout to the Woodcote Steam Rally - his first show. Now, this year, he plans a 21st anniversary return to the rally with the grey, now 35-years-old.

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He started Country Ways in 1985. He had a caravan club site on his farm and, offering to take some of his guests on a drive with him, the idea for the new business was born. His dairy farm was sold after he broke his pelvis in an accident. With his new wife, Jose, he changed to beef and today has 85 head of steers, which he replaces annually with a visit to Exmoor. His 100-acre farm, all grass, provides hay and silage, harvested with tractor-drawn machinery. Ian had always favoured Suffolk Punches of the draught breeds, and for his new business bought Jake from Mr Pattison at Reading sales. Jake, a stallion until the age of five, is now 19, the senior member of his four-horse team. Next he bought a mare from Noel Linge, Kings Lynn. Brancaster Duchess, now 13, was broken to chains by Ian. He made two visits to Randy Hiscock in Dorset, and acquired geldings, Punch, now aged five and Boxer, four. Jonathan Waterer, who operates a similar business in Devon, broke in the two young horses for Ian. After two or three days introduction back at home in Henley, Ian was using them for his business. "They were magic!" he says. The four Suffolks are all interchangeable, and used as pairs and together as a four-horse team.

The rides season starts at Easter, but Ian manages to attend a variety of shows and events throughout the year. In 1996 he took the cup at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. This year 10 are planned, including the London Harness Horse Parade at Battersea Park, where Ian drove his four-horse team. He plays a pivotal role in organising the heavy horse element of the Henley Show, and over the years has introduced John Peacock's musical drive, a parade of implements, in-hand classes, and this year, obstacle driving on the show's new showground. For each show he hires a horsebox, believing it to be the easier alternative to owning one!

The Country Ways Suffolk team benefits from a dedicated group of helpers, who enjoy accompanying him to events and help out with the rides. At the Southern Counties Heavy Horse Association spring working Ian was busy with his pair harrowing the newly-ploughed ground. Back in the box one of his helpers, TV broadcaster David Dimbleby's uncle Fred, was occupied cooking a magnificent breakfast.

Ian Victor-Smith has shown that enjoyment and determination - together with the help of some beautiful British countryside - can provide a useful part-living using draught horses. Hundreds of people have taken enormous pleasure in travelling through the countryside at the pace of his horses, and seen how the heavy breeds have a real role to play in today's frenetic world.

Country Ways is based at Darkwood Farm, Park Corner, Nettlebed, Henley-on-Thames, Oxon RG9 6DR. Tel: 01491 641324 to book a ride.

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