The Kilburn White Horse has been preserved for decades by a dedicated group of volunteers. As it celebrates its 150th anniversary, Lindsay Jennings looks at the history behind the horse.

THE best views are said to be from above. Soaring high in a glider which has taken off from Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire, you can see the Kilburn White Horse's pre-historic-style features in all its chalky glory - the curve of its slender neck giving way to a well defined body and full tail.

If gliding isn't your thing, there are two benches just inside the boundary of Kilburn village, marked by a sign on the road from Balk. There are a lucky few, also, who can call the wonderful view of the Kilburn White Horse their own - and they have their own views on when it's ready for a good grooming.

"Oh we get many people ringing up telling us that it's looking grey and that it's a bit of a disappointment," says Chris Scaife, a member of The Kilburn White Horse Association and one of its 'grooms'.

"But looking after it really is a big job. We could actually do with more people who would be interested in helping with its welfare."

Indeed, with Kilburn being the largest of Britain's 11 white horses by surface area (covering just over an acre) there are up to 30 members of the association who are involved in its considerable upkeep - including the grooming and the fund-raising.

The horse was the idea of local Thomas Taylor who was keen to replicate the images he had seen in Wiltshire on his business travels. The original drawing was created by the artist Harrison Weir. Then Thomas Taylor's friend, school master John Hodgson, staked out the horse on November 4, 1857 and cut it into Roulston Scar Cliff with the aid of 30 helpers. Local farmers helped to clear the site before it was whitewashed.

"They took the turf off and because there was no chalk underneath, like in the south of England, there was a problem and there's been an on-going problem ever since," says Chris. "In the early days they put lime down or calcium carbide before using limestone chippings, but having used them for decades there is such a weight that they have been slipping down the horse. You also get lichen growing on those materials which means the horse goes green.

"After a couple of years it begins to look like an old grey mare as opposed to a white horse."

The last time the horse was whitened, about three years ago, the association switched to a new product - 500 gallons of white masonry paint. The whitening was carried out by contractors at a cost of between £5,000 and £8,000 over four days.

"We don't know how long it will last, it could last up to eight years," says Chris. "It has some sort of added inhibitor to stop the lichen growing. It's the first time we've had a go at it so we'll see, but it's lasted very well so far."

The horse itself is incredibly steep in parts and the chippings are prone to land slippage. When the groomers go up to tend to the horse - weeding it, maintaining the boundaries and trimming back trees and bushes - twice a year they tend to wear harnesses when working in the steeper parts. Although the association receives no grants to maintain it, the Forestry Commission and the North York Moors National Park Authority have helped.

Chris moved to Kilburn after retiring as a teacher 12 years ago. He met up with Fred Banks, who helped looked after the horse, as had his father, Tom Banks.

"It would be a pity to see it go. That's why I like to do a little bit and go up there and help," he says.

Today, there are steel plates which support the chippings and help to protect the horse from land slippage. But there is always the danger that a big downpour could see the chippings end up in the car park or its belly become suddenly longer, like its been on the spring grass.

"If you get a lot of snow in a year it blows off the top," says Chris. "Then if you get a sudden melt it can bring the horse down. But fortunately we haven't had too much snow for a few years."

But the animal has been badly damaged by storms in the past, one of the worst being a hail storm in 1896. It fell into disrepair for years until a campaign in a newspaper saw it renewed in 1925.

In 1939, it was covered up to protect it during the war years and was hit by another bad storm in 1949. It was then that local furniture maker Robert Thompson - famous for carving a mouse into his work - became a key figure in keeping the horse well groomed until his death in 1955. The Kilburn White Horse Association was formed later with a big fund-raising drive in 1995.

But its condition is not helped by the vandals or those who take a fancy to running across its chalky back.

"People like to change it into various things," says Chris. "The Countryside Alliance put a big huntsmen on it made out of carpet once, and then for the Ascot race being at York they put a jockey on the horse - although we allowed them to do that and it was using very thin material."

There are others who have also, how shall we put this, turned the horse into a stallion. Another set of vandals once decided to create a zebra using black plastic bags.

"Someone suggested when it was the new millennium putting a foal by the side of it too, but it's difficult enough looking after one horse," says Chris.

Consideration is always been given to new ways of keeping it white and these form the main challenges for the future.

"People have often said why don't you concrete it, but it would be one mass and would end up in the car park," says Chris. "We could do with a bit more help in coming up with the right solution for it, to find a suitable material which will stay white. Then you need the money to buy the material.

"But we will keep going. It is a Yorkshire emblem, just like the White Rose is to Yorkshire."

If anyone would like to help groom the horse contact John Roberts of the association on 01347-824266.