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I would encourage EVERYONE interested in the riding in their area to do three things;

Join the BHS,    join the TRAILS TRUST,    and talk to your County PROW and Highway officers.

"Every parish needs an effective bridleway group to help to protect existing equestrian access and to campaign for new opportunities".     Mark Weston.  BHS Director of Access, Safety and Welfare

       The BHS EMAGIN system is really coming into its own now. It is  electronic route mapping of long-distance trails and circular routes etc. and will interact with GPS.  Riders in Gloucestershire have been preparing circular routes for a publication called Cotswolds on Horseback, and next year these routes will be included on EMAGIN to promote both tourism and local usage.

BHS ACCESS DEPT (01926 707814)

There are also BHS County Committees in most counties with Access and Bridleway Officers who are there to help.  Contact lists are on the BHS website, or phone as above.

They also have a list of BHS Affiliated Bridleway Groups for your area - join one of these or start your own.

TRAILS TRUST

www.thetrailstrust.org.uk

Some of the leaflets available from the BHS which are very useful on bridleways include:

Obstructions

Standards and Dimensions

Clearing (also see my notes)

Out of Repair

Electric fencing

Horse Crossings

Cattle Grids

Gates

Hill and Moorland Riding

Highway Margins

Byways and Unsurfaced  Highways

Permissive Routes

... and more

They are devising a system of advising groups on these subjects, whereby you would do the local work on a project, and they would advise on the forms and protocols etc.  Obviously this will involve being members, but I think this is a great idea.

There are many other people that it might be helpful for you to work with on a project. 

Some of these might have access to pots of funding which they might apply to your project, especially if you can demonstrate that it would be beneficial to your community.  Here are some ideas.

District Council - talk to your Tourism Officers and any Community Project Officers.  (see also BETA and Tourism links below)

Tourism Links - Riding Stables, and Equine B&Bs are the basis of your local Equine Tourism (see list). Ask for their support, and list the benefits to these businesses in all your correspondence about your project. Also any pubs or cafes on riding routes.  Work with the BHS to promote circular or linear riding routes in your area.

So far we have held a Wine and Cheese night (£460), held a Village Safari Supper and Auction (made £1500 of which we had one third), taken a table at an Equestrian Table Top Sale (£120), asked a local housing estate developer to donate to a track improvement (£500), and another bought some topping stone (£320), asked local riders to donate £25 each to a track (£600), asked local riders for donations of about £10 each towards a gate (£110).

We are just organising a Carriage Driving Talk and Demonstration, and a Trick Training Demonstration with 15 places at each at £10 per person (these 2 insured via our BHS group affiliation insurance). A local primary school class is organising a Cake Bake for a track, and they will be walking it later in the year to learn more about this side of their village heritage.

The Rights of Way Officers I have spoken to are at pains to point out that in improving gates, stiles and surfaces we should also consider people with babies in "knap-sacks", all-terrain baby buggies, and all-terrain disability scooters whenever it is feasible.

THE BENEFITS AND ISSUES

OF GOOD TRACKS AND TRAILS NETWORKS

SHARED USE

All tracks that a horse may use are also available for use by cyclists and walkers, and often by disabled and pushchairs, so these tracks have a wide community benefit.

BUSINESS FIGURES

DEFRAS's figures for July 09 put the gross output for the horse industry at £4 billion per year, attracting 4.3 million riders and directly employing a quarter of a million people. It is a major contributor to rural economies including farriery, equine medicine and alternative practitioners, tack and feed merchants, farmers supplying hay and straw etc., horse box maintenance, clothing, tourism (e.g Gatcombe, Badminton, Cheltenham Races etc. - all the horses that are the basis of this tourism require tracks and roads for exercise on a daily basis.) An article in the Daily Mail (April 2010) makes a comparison with football fans which it quotes as 535,503.  (I'm not good at maths - is this about eight times more riders than football fans ?)

ENCOURAGING YOUTH SPORT

It is one of the few sports that attract young girls.  As well as the health benefits of being outdoors doing physical work, the dedication required to look after a pony requires discipline, empathy, risk assessment, self reliance, team work, observation, and tenacity - to a greater degree than many other sports.

AIDING DISABLED HEALTH REGIMES

It is one of the few sports that the elderly and physically disadvantaged can, and do, participate in. For example, a ten mile ride is perfectly feasible for an older person with replaced hips or a younger person with damaged lungs, whereas a long walk may not be possible.

With regard to the two items above, "Government is committed to providing high quality opportunities to play sport or get physically active ...... the definition will be broad, including sport, as well as activities like recreational walking and recreational cycling....... yoga, pilates, outdoor bowls, archery and croquet are included as they place some degree of physical demand on a participant who is 65 or over.  Increased participation in sport and wider physical activity remains a top priority ....."  (Sport England's definition Dec 2007). The intent of the government is clearly to encourage all forms of physical activity, although it is interesting that riding, despite its huge participation rate, is still the Cinderella of the piece.

AIDING DEPRESSION, GRIEF etc

There are many reports showing the mental benefits of being outdoors and also of being around animals.

DISCRIMINATION ON CYCLE TRACKS ?

Although all bridleways have been opened up to cycle use, most cycle tracks bar horses.  This could be argued as overt discrimination against a viable leisure group.  If it is considered safe for a horse to meet a cycle on a bridleway, why is it not considered safe for a horse to meet a cycle on a cycle track where visibility is often  much greater?  There are statistics to endorse the view that horses are vulnerable on a road, but where are the statistics which show that removing them to a cycle track is a greater risk ?   

See also above:  Sustrans are now actively including horse-riders in some routes.

As an aside to this, I have recently been shown the following,  "Any member of the public shall have, as a right of way, the right to ride a bicycle, not being a motor vehicle, on any bridleway, but in exercising that right cyclists shall give way to pedestrians and persons on horseback." (Countryside Act 1968 30.(1))

NATIONAL TRUST

In their recent publication, Going Local, they explain that their policy has "begun to shift from a preoccupation with ownership towards maximising the benefits we can offer, especially to our nearest neighbours." and that it is now their strategy to "review locally the use of our coast and countryside properties in partnership with our neighbours and other user groups".  This entry is accompanied by a photograph of horse riders. (see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-strategy-next-decade-17-march.pdf)

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"..if you destroy you destroy yourself,

but if you build, you build yourself"