These horse and buggies have appeared on Ramsgate seafront

The horse and buggies on Ramsgate seafront Photo Mark Stanford

Photographer Mark Stanford has captured this unusual sight in Ramsgate today (August 20).

Some nine horse and buggies are on Ramsgate seafront, with the owners giving people an opportunity to pet the animals.

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Mark, who works on the harbour’s pilot boats, said: “I have never seen anything like it in 30 years of working down here!”

Some of the group appear to be staying in vans at Westbrook Bay. This video of one of the carts being ridden along the prom was taken by Roisin Heffernan.

The buggies are called a sulky – a lightweight cart with two wheels and a seat for the driver, generally pulled by horses or dogs and used for harness races. The horses used to pull them are Standardbreds.

A member of the group, Mickey Lee, posted to social media to explain the drive was in memory of his son Brandon Lee Wells. Schoolboy Brandon died after being hit by a car in St Peter’s Road in 2009. A white ‘ghost bike’ stands as a memorial to Brandon at the site.