Bridleways

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DougalJ

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Just interested to here about the use of bridleways where you are. Are there many useable bridleways where you keep your horse or barely any? If you have bridleways are they maintained and accessible all year round? Do you have bridleways that are impassable, muddy and overgrown? The council have just renewed one near me spending thousands on it but its accessible from a very busy main road and the other end is an impassable boggy wood! Other bridleways we have are in a pretty poor state with a lot of flooding and boggy bits which you struggle to get your horse through! Interested to hear your thoughts.
 
The closest bridleway to us is a good hours hack away - it is generally well maintained but its just a bridleway which cuts through some fields which is lovely but what would be more lovely is if it went on for longer or was a circuit or something! Our hacking is fairly rubbish really :(
 
we have about 12 around our yard most are not really maintained by the council but the local farmers cut trees back etc and the council closes one bit from off road vehicles between september and april as it becomes so muddy and deep its dangerous :o
 
We have a reasonable number of bridleways and quiet roads close to us that allow us to hack for several hours in different circular routes. None of the bridleways are maintained by the Council as they simply do not have the funds.

We belong to a local Bridleway Association, who work in conjunction with the County and District Councils to maintain and upgrade local Bridleways using money raised at fun rides and other events. This is often the only way to get poor Bridleways maintained.
 
we have lots, were really lucky to have a mix of bridleways and permissive rides and the local bridleways association does a very good job of keeping them well maintained. The closest one to have a decent canter on used to be about 45mins hack away but then some nice person laid a load of sand on one about 15mins away and its now brill for a good canter whatever the weather.

A few of ours become unuseable if the weathers been really wet but thats more to do with them being quite steep hills so no complaints really
 
We have loads - very lucky - I can go out for hours and only really have to very short road crossings iykwim, wouldn't go out otherwise as I am not a great lover of hacking and think the roads are too dangerous to ride on.
 
I have quite a few good bridleways near me, and they're very well maintained. When the weathers wet, they can get a bit muddy, but there's always space to walk around those patches. There's a couple of nice canter streches too, where you can really just let your horse go and they'll probably tire themselves out by the time they reach the gate!:cool:
 
I am exceptionally lucky with bridleways, initially when we moved they were limited in number and none of them linked just road-bridleway-road, then the lovely owners of the estate down the lane from me opened up miles and miles of edges of their fields as offroad hacking :) it all interlinks and there are multiple different loops to do dependent upon how much time you have, I must admit I still havent actually explored all of it yet! They leave such wide strips at the edges of their fields and the drainage is good so its usable all year round :) so I am very grateful to the nicest possible major landowners you could possibly hope for :D.
 
No 'official' bridleways here, but horses are kept on a private estate (over 46,000 acres) which is criss crossed with multiple forest tracks and waymarked routes up and over the surrounding moors and hills.
This is our hacking
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It's perfect :D
 
Some are good, but farmers can be so annoying! They plough one of the best bridle ways we have! All of them are linked by dangerous roads.
I can't complain too much though, they're quite good!
 
We do have quite a few but unfortunately come winter they get too boggy. We have two different hunts meeting locally about 3/4 times a month and once they have had a good whizz round, everything is too churned up!
 
We are exetremely lucky that we have a host of bridleways that all interlink and if you need to go on a road it is normally a track or a quiet lane, Most loops are a minimum of 1hr 15mins at a good pace to ........well I have been out today for three hours, and I do appreicate that we have exceptional hacking and are very lucky.

Most gates are proper hunting gates with the long handles, although a few are a pain.....mostly because they are fastened by chains and you can guarantee that it is these gates that are on the bridges or next to the rivers edge !! To be honest I am not too sure who maintains them ( I know I should and prehaps should be involved with the local bridleways group ) but all are passable and in good condition and it is very much appreciated.

... actually will look up local group ......in worcestershire any contacts?
 
bridleways straight off our drive. You get the odd very muddy patch, and the fields can get very wet in depths of wet weather, but I wouldn't complain that it was due to lack of maintainence, it's just the countryside!! :)

The bridleway I use the most gets very overgrown in the summer, to the point where it meets in the middle and you have to push through it. The council cuts it back once a year in about August.
 
Most areas have a local Bridlways Association if you do a search. Most councils have a Public Rights of Way Officer. So, join your local Bridlways Association or ring local council, or badger your local councillor or MP if you have any problems.
 
rhino said:
No 'official' bridleways here, but horses are kept on a private estate (over 46,000 acres) which is criss crossed with multiple forest tracks and waymarked routes up and over the surrounding moors and hills.
This is our hacking
DSCN2945-1.jpg

DSCN3255.jpg

DSCN3246.jpg

DSCN3241.jpg

It's perfect :D
Click to expand...

Lucky you!! It looks absolutely beautiful! Very mixed response here then some have great hacking, some don't etc etc. I think perhaps I will look into the Bridleway Association and see if they can point me in the right direction to maintain ones that are impassable. With regards to maintenance, I agree that's part of being in the countryside and we have lopped back some overgrown bushes and branches so not only horse riders but walkers can use the routes too. It just when it is a designated bridleway, I think they should be maintained but understand in this tough financial climate this request will be probably at the bottom of the priority list with the council.
 
ours are pretty good - wish we could have better access to the moor tops though! There's one stretch that we've always used that is apparently not a bridleway, and a green lane that by the farmer's own admission he is trying to stop people using - other than that our gates are good, there's only one boggy patch on our usual routes, and we have a reasonable number I guess.
 
One way very good other ways bridleways are now b.oa.t.s so rutty due to motor traffic and A6 to cross on dangerous bend farmers fine it is crossing roads and green owners that do us no favours
 
They will be marked on OS maps, plus there will be a definitive map held at your local council offices. It would be great if more people got involved with their local bridleways group, there is a list on the BHS web site.
 
1. Get the relevant Ordnance Survey map for your area (Explorer are good). The bridleways, byways and Class 5 Highways will be marked on them

2. Contact your local council, who will have a rights of way department and will put you in touch with the P.R.O.W. (Public Rights of Way) Officer

Find out from the above person if there is a bridleways group in your area. If not, and perhaps with their guidance, think about forming one. It can be as small or large, grass roots or proactive as you wish. But at least you will then be in possession of the names and wishes of some like-minded people, and will be able to help with working parties to cut back vegetation etc. If there already is a group, join it!!

3. Times are hard, and councils are hard-pushed with many demands on their time and finances. But if you show willing, and don't ask for the moon, you may be pleasantly surprised at how you can be helped.
 
I feel motivated to join our local bridleway group and see if anything can be done to help get some of my local routes back up and running and passable.
 
Each county has a BHS Access/Bridleway officer who would be only to pleased to assist you with any bridleway problems you may have in your area. If you want their contact details simply E-mail me and state the county you are in and I will send you their contact details.
 
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