Off road hacking

[Sandstone1]

Are there any farmers or landowners that.allow riders on to their land for a fee? Im thinking of a scheme where you pay a fee and get armband or hatband etc to identify that you have paid.
You can then ride on designated routes.
Is there such a scheme or am I imagining it?

 

[Louby]

My friend who lives in the South pays (or did) for a scheme like this. I think its fab!! Wish something like this existed up North!

 

[Sandstone1]

It would be great if more landowners did it. Extra revenue for them and safer hacking for us.

 

[DirectorFury]

The scheme is called 'TROT' and this is the website https://www.tollrides.org.uk/ . Some Forestry Commissions also allow riders to purchase a monthly or yearly permit to ride on their land.

 

[Sandstone1]

The scheme is called 'TROT' and this is the website https://www.tollrides.org.uk/ . Some Forestry Commissions also allow riders to purchase a monthly or yearly permit to ride on their land.

Thats very interesting thank you. Sadly nothing in my area. I wonder how to encourage landowners in my area to join.

 

[Mule]

That's a brilliant idea

 

[Sandstone1]

That's a brilliant idea

Just a shame its not more widespread. Maybe the Bhs should do something.

 

[Orangehorse]

Forestry Commission are good for riding, you have to buy a permit and of course it depends if anything is in your area.

TROT is a charity and has been going for many, many years in the south of England. (It was based on an idea that started in East Anglia, not sure if it is still going there). There are a lot of pitfalls for landowners who allow riders to pay to ride, and TROT acts as to mitigate some potential problems - so riders pay a subscription to the charity, not payment directly to the landowner and they have to be members of TROT and agree to certain common sense rules, and TROT does a risk assessment on every ride. This also enables longer rides as it can go over adjoining farms to create a much longer route. Also each route has a rider who uses it very often and acts as a link between the riders and the landowners. This person is usually the one who was the driving force to get the ride organised in the first place.
The subscription is then paid to the landowner according to how long their route is and how many people use it, with some money retained by the charity for admin costs, insurance, etc.

TROT enables riders to set up their own routes in their immediate location, and it began as a solution to increasingly busy roads in Kent to be a solution to frequent hacking routes, rather than a "destination" ride.

Having been involved in creating some of these routes frankly the hardest thing was getting riders to pay! Everyone thought it was a good idea. I think that unless it was a very busy route (and some in Kent really are) then the farmer doesn't get a huge amount out of it, and we lost some routes when other organisations were willing to pay more to use the farmer's land. I think that it could be a success if there was some Government money, similar to the Permissive Bridleway scheme which was scraped when the Conservatives came into power.

Incidentally, the BHS were very opposed to toll rides as it is permissive, not a permanent route like a bridlepath.

 

[Equi]

I have ridden in a few BHS schemes like this. They are set dates however - but always worth the travel. Here in NI we have vertially NO bridlesways or offroad hacking routes.

 

[Orangehorse]

You are right Equi - no bridlepaths in Northern Ireland so there are some permissive schemes, some of which are BHS ones!

There are local schemes in some parts of the country. Some I was aware of, although I do not know if they are still all running are, as above, the ones in East Anglia. A local scheme in the Bristol area, some permissive schemes over certain large local estates, and there was a scheme in Shropshire. There are some frequent fun rides like the Cotswold Farm ride which is held once a month.

 

[Gloi]

I really wish there were some TROT schemes in NW England.

 

[Sandstone1]

I really wish there were some TROT schemes in NW England.

Yes, and Warwickshire.

 

[Woah]

I've often thought about this sort of thing but never knew about TROT. Thanks for the info!!

 

[Orangehorse]

Well the idea is that local riders set up in their own area. TROT does not have the manpower to come in and organise, but they will support you with experience and provide the paperwork (this is what I used to get a bit of - the idea is that local riders organise their local riding, not for someone to fly in and do it for them).

There was a TROT ride in Warwickshire, over the Ragley estate. Unfortunately some riders went where they weren't supposed to and then were rude when asked not to = so the owners closed the route. Very unfortunate after A LOT of hard work to get it opened, and it was much appreciated by most riders and members and could be used for driving too. All lost because of some inconsiderate riders and those that want to ride without paying.

First thing is to look on the map to see where a ride might go, then contact local riders who promise to pay(!) then approach the landowners, who I found pretty reasonable.

 

[Kikke]

Are there any farmers or landowners that.allow riders on to their land for a fee? Im thinking of a scheme where you pay a fee and get armband or hatband etc to identify that you have paid.
You can then ride on designated routes.
Is there such a scheme or am I imagining it?

At my old yard there was a strip of land that you could use for a good gallop. I think you had to pay £15 a year. There was no way of identification and I know plenty of people that would use the strip without paying as it was easy to access and running along a quite road that was used for hacking anyway.

 

[Orangehorse]

There are plenty of these informal agreements all over the place and mostly they work OK.

In the above case, what if a horse put its foot in a hole and broke its leg? A local farmer was keen to put in a riding route, but his solicitor daughter put him off!

 

[OWLIE185]

A far better solution is to create permanent public rights of way of bridleway or restricted byway status so that riders of the future will have permanent off road routes to ride on.

 

[Orangehorse]

Yes this is the BHS's stance. For a landowner there is NO advantage in having a right of way over their ground (OK I know all the arguments, the fact that it is a road, etc. etc., but at best it is still a nuisance and worst a nightmare).

People need more hacking routes NOW not in the years it takes to upgrade to bridlepath or create new ones. Sometimes a Council or NGO will create a multi user route. The other success stories are from The Trails Trust in Somerset who were able to utilise some grant money to create new multi-user routes, mostly over footpaths.

 

[Dave's Mam]

I've had 2 upgrades in my area now & that's a HUGE success.

Not my success, just that the paths have been upgraded due to sensible input.

 

[Suechoccy]

Yes this is the BHS's stance. For a landowner there is NO advantage in having a right of way over their ground (OK I know all the arguments, the fact that it is a road, etc. etc., but at best it is still a nuisance and worst a nightmare).

There are three big advantages to a landowner of having a right of way over their land:

1. The route is legally recorded on the Definitive Map with its width, length and exact position, start and finish, so it makes it far easier for the landowner to know and show where the route lies, and this helps if dealing with people who are straying off route.

2. The maintenance of the route (i.e. grass cutting or laying of chippings/roadplanings, doing drainage work) usually falls to the local highways authority so it saves the landowner that expense and can benefit the owner in providing funding to turn a muddy track into a well-drained, better-surfaced track.

3. The public liability for use of the surface of the track falls to the local highways authority.

 

[Dave's Mam]

There are three big advantages to a landowner of having a right of way over their land:

1. The route is legally recorded on the Definitive Map with its width, length and exact position, start and finish, so it makes it far easier for the landowner to know and show where the route lies, and this helps if dealing with people who are straying off route.

2. The maintenance of the route (i.e. grass cutting or laying of chippings/roadplanings, doing drainage work) usually falls to the local highways authority so it saves the landowner that expense and can benefit the owner in providing funding to turn a muddy track into a well-drained, better-surfaced track.

3. The public liability for use of the surface of the track falls to the local highways authority.

Precisely.

Gates are subsidised too.

 

[Firefly9410]

Those things might be an advantage for the landowner over having a permissive route but , I doubt they are an advantage over having no right of way at all . Rights of way can devalue a property. Where there is a right of way people can see it on the map so are encouraged to come and use it, increasing the chances of someone straying off the route . With a permissive route if the landowner has any problems they can close it. As a rider I prefer permanent rights of way but I doubt many landowners would. OP could you get a group of people together to help create a toll ride? If people are willing to put their time in to help they will hopefully be more committed and more likely to pay up when the time comes.