Horses banned from local forest park

[Equi]

I just wanted to alert anyone local but also the wider nation that a very popular forest park has been closed to horses as of 1/1/17

Essential tree harvesting works are currently being carried out at Castlewellan Forest Park, clearing areas affected by previous storms. For safety reasons, the horse trekking trail has been closed and we anticipate that harvesting operations will continue until the end of the summer. An alternative horse trekking trail is available at Tollymore Forest Park.

This in itself was not discussed with permit holders, permit holders were not made aware in any way until it was posted by someone on FB, local horse trekking centers which rely on the park for their entire livelihood were not informed and the worst part - NO other user of the park has been told they should not use it. ONLY horse riders.

So far the council have refused to say if the park will open to horse riders again in the future.

For more info on this, please visit https://www.facebook.com/Keep-Castlewellan-forest-park-open-for-horses-227564891025952/?fref=ts

 

[Rowreach]

Have the BHS actually got involved with this yet? They seem to have been very quiet ...

It's the wrong end of the country to me but Forest Services passed responsibility for a horse trail near here over to the National Trust a while back, and the result is a near disaster. Nobody wants the hassle of horses, though they are seemingly happy to have walkers, bike riders and any other type of non-paying user.

The rules the NT have instigated down here are enough to put people off riding on the trail, which is clearly the main aim.

 

[Equi]

Have the BHS actually got involved with this yet? They seem to have been very quiet ...

It's the wrong end of the country to me but Forest Services passed responsibility for a horse trail near here over to the National Trust a while back, and the result is a near disaster. Nobody wants the hassle of horses, though they are seemingly happy to have walkers, bike riders and any other type of non-paying user.

The rules the NT have instigated down here are enough to put people off riding on the trail, which is clearly the main aim.

They are involved and will be at a meeting next week about it as far as i know. We only have one rep in ireland though, so a lot of land for one person to possibly cover...

 

[Rowreach]

They are involved and will be at a meeting next week about it as far as i know. We only have one rep in ireland though, so a lot of land for one person to possibly cover...

Well yes but since we don't have any bridleways to worry about, it's only a matter of keeping our existing forest parks and beaches open to riders ....

 

[cobgoblin]

Why don't bike riders have to pay for a permit?

It seems odd that they are willing to cut off a source of revenue from the horse riders, but are willing to put up with other groups ...and their damage.

 

[Rowreach]

Why don't bike riders have to pay for a permit?

It seems odd that they are willing to cut off a source of revenue from the horse riders, but are willing to put up with other groups ...and their damage.

In terms of the NT in our area, that is the plan - they are trying to direct all forest users through the NT entrance and charging them either for each visit or getting them to sign up for membership. The locals aren't having it and carry on accessing the forest through various gates. Not possible for horse riders however.

I don't object to paying for safe, off road riding, but the new rules attached to it are bordering on the ridiculous.

 

[KittenInTheTree]

I suspect the park owners are concerned that some horses might react badly to the sight or sound or the equipment used in harvesting the damaged trees, and that they simply don't want to risk the hassle of running afoul of the (nowadays inevitable) horse rider who blames everyone else for their animal spooking. Not an issue with bicycles or pedestrians. Just use the alternate trail at Tollymore. Frankly, if they use the Castlewellan trail that frequently, then the trekking centres should already have noticed any storm damage and enquired when/if there would be maintenance arranged, in order to reorganise their rides, etc.

 

[KittenInTheTree]

Additionally, if there are any volunteers involved in the maintenance work, there will be health and safety concerns for them too - random member of public with or without tabard popping out in front of a horse unexpectedly could be very dangerous.

 

[Equi]

The trekking centre can't use the other park they have no way to get there. If they are not allowed in they will have to shut their business. The parks huge and a lot of the trails are in the more open areas and not likely to even see the trees being cut down - they're also trek horses and a bomb could go off and they would just yawn.

 

[sasquatch]

Oh no

I hope we don't see more places shut to horses now, as there are no bridleways where we can actually ride is limited enough as it is

given the new hoo-ha over where leisure money has been spent, along with the other very public waste of money schemes, I'm not surprised that this hasn't really been reported. I hadn't heard Castlewellan had shut until I saw this post. It's a shame the govt. won't even do anything to try and keep more routes for horses open or create more trails suitable for horses as well as cyclists and walkers, but then I don't really expect much from this govt. anymore

 

[Rowreach]

They've been very underhand in the way they've done it, no warning or consultation and no timescale or confirmation that the trails will reopen to horses.

 

[Goldenstar]

They've been very underhand in the way they've done it, no warning or consultation and no timescale or confirmation that the trails will reopen to horses.

Northern Ireland or the Rebublic ?

 

[Rowreach]

Northern Ireland or the Rebublic ?

Northern Ireland

 

[Goldenstar]

In NI are forests managed by forest enterprises like in England