Boundary horse gallop!!

[countryside kid]

Just thinking of putting a horse gallop around our boundary it'll be about 3 miles around, and I thought it might help with keeping the brome from making its way into the fields to, has anyone else done this and is it worth pursuing?

 

[Barleycorn]

The tight jodhpur whip wielding young maidens should make it worthwhile!

 

[Robigus]

Good idea if you are doing it for free, it can be hard to marshal if you are making them pay.
Also if they are paying then you will be amazed at the things they can complain about.
No bangers, no shooting, no scarecrows, no noisy tractors, no livestock that moves, no livestock that doesn't move, too wet in the winter, too hard in the summer.

 

[JCMaloney]

The tight jodhpur whip wielding young maidens should make it worthwhile!

Good enough reason in my humble, although Robigus`s reasons may counter it....slightly.

 

[Bluetooth]

we had something pretty much the same as what your talking about. had margins in css with permissive access for 10 years, and IME unless your raking in some serious £££ the hassle just isn't worth it. they seemed incapable of staying on the margin despite it being up to 6m wide in places. the nice wide gateways for them to use weren't wide enough and constantly felt the need to make new ones through hedges. and pretty much all of what robigus says is true.
so much nicer on that part of the farm now without a constant stream of horses and walkers and the road up to it not being coated in horse sh!t.

 

[countryside kid]

I did think when some of my hay and straw customers mentioned it, it'll only cause us grief knowing what some are like, thankyou for humorous and probably correct opinions!

 

[suffolksmallholder]

we had something pretty much the same as what your talking about. had margins in css with permissive access for 10 years, and IME unless your raking in some serious £££ the hassle just isn't worth it. they seemed incapable of staying on the margin despite it being up to 6m wide in places. the nice wide gateways for them to use weren't wide enough and constantly felt the need to make new ones through hedges. and pretty much all of what robigus says is true.
so much nicer on that part of the farm now without a constant stream of horses and walkers and the road up to it not being coated in horse sh!t.

WOW! Horse sh!t on the road.......
All round me there are permissive tracks on the field margins, complete with 'bangs'. There are a number of ladies, girls and the odd gentleman riding out on a regular basis. We know most then by sight and to wave to. I have never seen or heard of any problems. Neither has my farming neighbour whose land they access else he'd be the first to shut the access points.
In a past life I created a series of permissive paths and three separate 'Riding Trails'. The biggest cost was the tree surveys. The riders themselves self policed 'their' routes and were happy to pay a small annual fee to have a car free link to the existing public bridleway system. I budgeted for payback in three years with a five year gap between surveys. Gates and so-forth were grant aided and in some spots were free.
You get out what you put in....So if you have rough gappy old hedges and can't be bothered to take the time to beat these up with new young stock and expect your trail to be an instant money pot without any positive input, think again! Done well you will attract outside riders who will tell their friends. Give then somewhere to leave their trailers/boxes where they will still be when they get back. REPEAT business will put a smile on your face for a good number of years.
SS

 

[Woolgatherer]

I did something similar years ago (in another life!). I put a private bridleway through the farm I was living on and the neighbours, this linked 2 minor roads and avoided a busy main road. Charged £15 a year menbership, they all were no trouble at all, in fact saved a few ewes they saw stuck on their backs! Came to the door to tell me if there was anything they were worried about. No bother at all.

 

[l'ordinary bonville]

WOW! Horse sh!t on the road.......
All round me there are permissive tracks on the field margins, complete with 'bangs'. There are a number of ladies, girls and the odd gentleman riding out on a regular basis. We know most then by sight and to wave to. I have never seen or heard of any problems. Neither has my farming neighbour whose land they access else he'd be the first to shut the access points.
In a past life I created a series of permissive paths and three separate 'Riding Trails'. The biggest cost was the tree surveys. The riders themselves self policed 'their' routes and were happy to pay a small annual fee to have a car free link to the existing public bridleway system. I budgeted for payback in three years with a five year gap between surveys. Gates and so-forth were grant aided and in some spots were free.
You get out what you put in....So if you have rough gappy old hedges and can't be bothered to take the time to beat these up with new young stock and expect your trail to be an instant money pot without any positive input, think again! Done well you will attract outside riders who will tell their friends. Give then somewhere to leave their trailers/boxes where they will still be when they get back. REPEAT business will put a smile on your face for a good number of years.
SS

Why the tree surveys?

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Quite large parts of the Estate was wooded so parts of the trails ran through trees. Each route was surveyed to ensure the folks using them were safe from any eventuality. Beech trees have a habit, as has been reported in the media, of shedding large branches without warning.
SS

 

[Exfarmer]

We had a big beech in our garden.
Twice it was surveyed, report both times was fine
Then it lost a branch weighing about 3 tonnes! rotten as a pear inside.Tree was down next day

 

[Gareth Bryson]

what about eligibility for SFP on the area turned into the gallop???