Thamesmead is a neighbourhood in south east London in the Borough of Greenwich. There is a group of social housing developments built in the 1960’s and 1970’s that were built on former marshland and now is home to 50,000 people and some other four legged residents. Horses! Most of the horses are Gypsy Cobs also known as Colored Cob, Irish Cob and in the USA Gypsy Vanner. These are small horses, stocky with cob conformation, and most of them are piebald or skewbald ( white and brown or white and black). Their owners are traditionally the Pavee and Roma people also known as Travelers.
These Gypsy horses live in Thamesmead in a completely urban environment. They live outside grazing on the grass in between the buildings. Their owners take quite good care of them and ensure they have water in tanks available and also bring them out grain feed in buckets.
I am not sure if the horses are ridden or pull the traditional Travelers’ vans. Apparently there are large horse fairs where the Gypsy Cob horses are bought and sold. They are also now recognized as an official breed in the UK.
These photos were taken by my son about five years ago. If anyone has more information about these horses in Thamesmead I would love to know about them. Please leave a comment below.
HorseAddict 
great post! I know where I’m heading this weekend
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My son took those photos and when he heard I was doing a blog post on Thamesmead he advised me not to go there on my own. That’s a protective son for you! I hope you will find it interesting.
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The pictures are so amazing and I loved reading this post. It was very enlightening ♡
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I think Gypsy Vanners are one of the most beautiful breeds of horses. They’re gorgeous and cost a fortune here!
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Yes I like them too. These ones in Thamesmead are living a different but good life. I doubt they are sold for any fortunes!
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Very interesting!!!!!! 🙂 🙂
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This is really a unique situation, but it appears to work
just fine for all involved.
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I think there is a tradition among the Travellers that they have their horses in non-traditional settings. But you are right it does seem to work well.
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Cool!
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Got to know something new about the horses in U.S. and U.K.
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I don’t know if you’ve already done this in the past, but… you race horses, right? Could you write a short post about your favorite horse? I think a lot of people would like it 😁
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I don’t race horses actually I’m a dressage rider. I did write two posts earlier about the “greatest horse” . Several horses were mentioned in the first one and then people responded with their suggestions and so I put up a second post. I’ll look those up and repost. At the moment my favourite horse is the one I ride now, Biasini. He is the hardest working and most talented horse I have ever had. Thanks for your suggestion!
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Thank you so much!
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After your suggestion I am reposting my earlier post on the “Greatest” horse in the world. 🙂
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Thank you 😊👍🏻
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Amazing! It’s cool to think that horses live in the city and not in the farmland, like you would normally expect. 🐎🐎
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Yes and I think they have a pretty good life. They are grazing out of doors and clearly are regularly groomed and fed well as they are in good weight with healthy coats.
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That’s really cool
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Very interesting information. Find it odd to be like this.
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