It’s a baby boom at Douglas Bay Horse Trams, with three new foals joining the herd.

Mares Annabelle, Emma and Annie have each given birth in recent weeks, adding three more horses to the team that supports the historic tramway.

Douglas Borough Council first introduced a horse breeding programme in the winters of 1974 and 1975, following a sharp rise in the cost of buying horses – which had almost doubled within a year.

The first success of the scheme was a mare named Caroline, who went on to produce the tram service’s first foal.

The local breeding system is designed to ensure the long-term future of the horse trams by producing foals in familiar and supportive surroundings, close to their mothers.

Training for future tram horses typically begins when they are around four years old, depending on individual development.

Emma and Annabelle’s foals were born just days apart, on 6 and 10 May. Both are skewbald colts and a cross between a Clydesdale and a traditional Welsh cob. Annie’s foal, a bay filly, was born at 4am on 7 June and is also a Clydesdale cross.

Once they reach maturity, it is thought the horses join the ranks of the ‘trammers’ to help operate one of the last remaining horse-drawn tramways in the world.

The horses currently in service work a maximum of two hours per day, with around 14 kept on standby during peak periods. They are fed three times a day and have access to salt and mineral licks, along with any additional nutrients they may need.

When it’s time to retire, the horses are moved to the Home of Rest for Old Horses at Richmond Hill. The first ‘trammer’ to retire there was Bunny, in 1954.

An online competition will be held to choose names for the new foals, the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway has confirmed.