Jonny & Rachael Rider
The Rider family have been farming at Horton House Farm for 3 generations. They have 400 organic cows and operate a system of farming that is pioneering and has the highest levels of animal welfare and environmental protection.
In 2025 the Riders started a new system whereby all calves stay with their mothers for the first 3 to 5 months which is when the calves are ready to be weaned from milk. During this period the cows are not milked in the parlour so that all the available milk is kept for the calf. The cows and calves are kept in lots of small paddocks of approximately 20 animals.
Only after the calf is weaned does the cow enter the main herd where it will be milked through the milking parlour. It is a stress free, low input system where the cows are only milked once per day.
The cows are cross bred mixture of breeds includes Jersey, Red Poll, Ayrshire and Montbéliard. This diversity in genetics minimised inbreeding and the result is a much stronger and healthier animal.
As a result, some of the cows at Horton are still giving milk and having a calf at 18 years old. Antibiotic usage has been virtually zero for the last 10 years with treatment only being used, when necessary, top save the life of the animal.
The farm is Animal welfare Approved and certified grass fed by 'A Greener World’ (AGW) which is the top label for animal welfare, outdoor access and sustainability. AGW-certified dairy cows are raised on pasture, not treated with routine antibiotics or hormones, and are fed a non-GMO, organic, 100% grass and pasture diet.
The dairy herd are rotationally grazed, a regenerative principle based on moving livestock onto fresh grass every day. Grazing fresh pasture packed with
all the nutrition the animals require, they will fertilise the ground with their manure before being moved onto the next paddock. Rotational grazing is a core
practice of regenerative agriculture, putting organic matter back into the soil and allowing the land time to rest and regenerate.
