It’s a grey April morning. Clouds hang low over the beach of Koksijde, 30 kilometres southwest of Ostend, and a light drizzle falls. Stefaan Hancke, 65, stands in a bright yellow oilskin suit, fastening an old wooden saddle around the belly of Dina, his sturdy Brabant mare. After checking his seat one last time, he swings into the saddle and drives the horse into the 9°C water, letting the cold waves lap up to the horse’s belly. Together, man and horse plow through the choppy water in wide loops, searching for Crangon crangon, the grey shrimp.

With his glasses and round, friendly face, Hancke could easily be mistaken for a retired gentleman who enjoys quiet afternoons in front of the television. But he is neither retired nor sedentary. On the contrary, he is one of the last horse f ishers on Belgium’s North Sea coast. His family has lived on their farm, located about two kilometres inland from the beach, since 1722, where they farm and raise chickens, goats, sheep, and – of course – horses. Past injuries sustained to her legs meant that the mare, Dina – whom Hancke rides today – was once destined for the slaughterhouse. Today, she is happy, healthy, and an integral cog in the familial system.

“The cold water has really helped her,” Hancke says, patting her flank. “She thrives in it now.”

Horse fishing has been practiced along the North Sea for centuries, once a common tradition stretching from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany all the way to Britain. In Koksijde, it has been documented since 1502, and today, the town is the only place left along the coast where shrimp are still caught with horses.

The technique is a simple yet effective one: horses drag an eight-metre-wide net behind them, with two wooden planks attached at the front. The fishers use the planks to disturb the crustaceans, startling these normally nocturnal shrimp at low tide and driving them upwards and into the net. The best fishing season runs from May to July and from September to November, when water temperatures hover between 8°C and 12°C. “The less wind, the better,” Hancke notes.