Falkirk Area Riders Access Group

March 2010 News Letter

As you all know, things have been pretty quiet this winter with the weather making riding impossible for much of the time. However, Spring is coming and we should all be able to get out and about again. News of the projects is as follows:

DRUM WOOD - Work at Drum Wood and Greenrig Farm is nearly finished. There is a bit more whin dusting to be done and the last of the gates to be installed. The tracks are great. There are a lot of gates (all self closers at the side of the big farm gates) so you might need to make sure your horse is good at opening gates or there will be a lot of mounting and dismounting. Callendar Estate has asked riders to take note of the ground conditions while the tracks settle down. If any areas look as if they are soft try to avoid them until the drier weather. Work on Howierig will commence when the claims submitted for the work already done have been paid.

SLAMANNAN RAILWAY LINE – The Council has appointed a contractor to drain and upgrade the railway line. Work is supposed to be completed by the end of March!!. No work can be carried out in the Lodge Farm Woods as the owners and agent are based in Ireland and are difficult to communicate with. However the grass tracks are good in the drier weather.

LIMERIGG WOODS - We are still working on trying to get the connection between Slamannan and Limerigg opened up. We are hoping that the Forestry Commission will carry out some work on the very steep slope on the Limerigg side of the river but have had no luck so far. We will keep pushing for this as it would make Limerigg more accessible for riders.

ALL OTHER PROJECTS - There has been no progress on any other projects over the winter.

MAINTENANCE OF PATHS - As a result of all the work which has taken place on the paths at Roughcastle, Drum Wood and the south Falkirk area in general, meetings have been taking place to discuss the future maintenance and development of the path network generally. Although the tracks are now being built to a much higher specification and should withstand a lot of horse use, they will require maintenance. To this end, there is currently a proposal to set up a Community Based Development Trust consisting of all interested groups and individuals who use the network. The Trust will promote outdoor recreation opportunities in the Falkirk area. We are supporting this proposal and will keep members informed of progress and how they can join when the Trust is formed.

HORSEWATCH SCOTLAND – All the regional Horsewatch groups and all eight of the Scottish Police constabularies have joined forces with horse riders to create one new national scheme called Horsewatch Scotland. The scheme works in two ways, by offering members advice on crime prevention measures and by alerts whereby any crime or suspected crime is cascaded out to all members so that they can be on the lookout. Horsewatch Scotland is free of join and a non-profit organisation. Contact www.horsewatchscotland.info.

FALKIRK COUNCIL’S OUTDOOR ACCESS STRATEGY 2005 – 2010 - The current Outdoor Access Strategy is in its final year of delivery with a new strategy required by 2011. The Council are holding Strategy Review days in March and FARAG will be represented to make sure that the case for horse riders is put forward. We do not know how much the Council will be able to achieve in the next few years with spending being limited but we will let members know what the ambitions are in due course.

DISCOUNT ON HORSE AND RIDER SUPPLIES - A reminder that a discount of 10% is available to FARAG members at Glentore Tack Store at Netherton of Glentore Farm on the B803 between Slamannan and Greengairs. This is a very valuable discount. If you are buying your horse an expensive new rug you will save more than the annual cost of FARAG membership!! Opening hours Wednesday to Sunday 10.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. Telephone number 01236 830223.

EQUINE INFECTIOUS ANAEMIA OUTBREAK - You may have heard of this outbreak of “Swamp Fever” in the UK in January. It is a highly contagious and untreatable disease of horses, donkeys and mules spread by insects. Affected horses remain infectious carriers for life and must be put down or permanently quarantined to prevent transmission to other horses. The disease was found in two horses imported from Romania. Fortunately a disease spread by insects has been detected during one of the coldest winters on record and on this occasion has not been a cause for concern. However, it should serve as a warning to anyone thinking of importing horses that all necessary health tests should be carried out.

9 th BHS Festival of the Horse: 19 – 31 May - With thirty events over 13 days there is something for everyone. Guided rides may be of interest to members. Details from www.bordersfestivalhorse.org.

ROYAL HIGHLAND SHOW - Dates this year are 24 th to 27 th June.

If any members have any issues they wish to raise either telephone or e-mail Sheila.

We are considering having ride outs this year as we should now have places to go and new off road tracks. Parking of trailers and horse boxes has been a problem but we will try to organise something when the weather improves.

November 2009

Scottish Access Conference

A very informative access conference was held on 14 November at Oatridge Agricultural College.

Jim Drysdale, Partner, Anderson Strathern, gave a summary of the various court cases since the Land Reform Act. The conclusion here is that it is better to arrive at a negotiated settlement than go to court. Also, because of the cases which have been lost, Councils may be more reluctant to incur the costs in future although they have a duty to enforce the Land Reform Act.

Anne Gray of the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association pointed out some of the concerns of landowners. Although, dogs topped the list of irresponsibility in the countryside, horse damage to land in wet weather is always a problem. Riders should always be considerate when taking access.

Kevin Lafferty of the Forestry Commission Scotland reminded us how much the Forestry Commission has changed in recent years. All responsible access takers are now welcome and indeed, encouraged, to enjoy Scotland’s forests. Riders were encouraged to make contact with their local Forestry Commission rangers if they found any access problems and to work together to improve things.

Simon Jacyna of the Moray Equestrian access Group described how their group went about getting major improvements carried out in their area. There are funds available through the Scottish Rural Development Programme for groups which can put forward a good project under this scheme.

Heather Clatworthy of the BHS described the mapping system which the BHS is working on with the aid of volunteers all over the country. This is an ambitious project to enable riding routes to be down loaded from the Internet. It will probably be a few years before a significant number of Scottish routes will be available on line.

Scottish Access Conference (continued)

Kevin Fairclough and Rona Gibb of the Paths for All Partnership showed everyone round the demonstration paths, bridges and gates laid out at Oatridge College. New materials and constructions are being tried out all the time to improve the surfaces for all path users . Paths for All are available to help with any construction problem.

Vyv Wood-Gee described the problems of the South of Scotland Countryside Trails project which has delivered 350 kilometres of riding tracks in the borders. It is an amazing achievement. In Central Scotland we think we have done well if we manage to get an extra 10 km. Getting 99% of landowners approached to agree to the project also seemed incredible. There are leaflets available showing all the routes and where you can stay if you want to take your horse on holiday with you!

Loanfoot wargames:
Advice from Airsoft

FARAG has been in dialogue with Airsoft, who have been kind enough to supply the following information for the assistance of riders.

Airsoft publish upcoming games on their website http://playersofwar.co.uk so anyone can look there for their operating dates. 

There is only about a 300m stretch of public path passing their current site, which is a small area to pass when using the trails in Loanfoot Wood.  This has a "no play" buffer zone between the path and playing area (so there will not be any players directly next to the track to startle anyone).   During games, there are at least 2 marshals present near the track to ensure public safety and to ensure no-one inadvertently enters their playing area. The weapons used in their games are not very powerful (or noisy), so there is no risk of injury to passers-by as long as they continue along the track and don't enter the playing area (forest).  

Most of their games are played within the woodland and out of view of anyone on the track.  It should be noted that they use their netted Safe Zone for breaks between games and during lunch, which will have large numbers of people in and around that area, as well as their car park during these times.

They only play twice a month and occasionally run an extra event.  The two days per month that they are in there, they don't prevent anyone from using the path (only their game play area within the forest is out of bounds).  A horse rider who knows their horse's behaviour can make the decision on whether or not to proceed past their area on their game days.

They do operate with all the necessary Health & Safety checks in place and provide an extensive safety brief to their players every game day to make them aware that horses and the public use the path, etc.

It should also be noted that once they obtain planning permission from the Council and move their Safe Zone and Car Park, there will be even less impact on the path in that area.  When they develop their new playing areas, they will be using the current area even less.

Summer 2009

DUNG GUIDANCE!! - In some areas this has become a big issue on multi user paths with complaints going to Councils and even in one case to an MSP. The British Horse Society has issued guidance for riders. If we ignore this we may find some MSP trying to bring in legislation on “horse fouling” as has happened with dogs. A copy of this guidance is on the responsible riding page. This may be useful to pass on to anyone who challenges you about responsible behaviour.