Making wattle hurdles

Part of the MOT staff went to visit Aart Horden in Everdingen (The Netherlands), a former hurdler with a very suitable surname who still has a lot of knowledge about making hurdles (horden in Dutch). Hurdles are the braided willow screens that were often used in the past to stop sheep and other animals from escaping, as a gangway in scaffolding on the construction site, as an attic floor in farms, at dyke reinforcements, as a temporary bridge to cross a ditch, as an agricultural tool to cover the seed on the field, etc. . At first glance simple weaving, but the knowledge and skill of a real hurdler cannot be underestimated. Here some images as an impression of this interesting visit.