THERE is nothing more pleasurable to us horse-lovers than to get off the beaten track and out into the open peaceful countryside.

Some may use a regular route which is local to them and know which routes they can take, but sometimes we may wish to box up the horses and take to a newer or longer route which is unknown to us and may take some forward planning.

Here are a few tips to help on the legalities and what routes are open to us.

You may ride a horse on public bridleways, restricted byways, byways open to all traffic and roads, permissive bridleways, some commons, tracks in some Forestry Commission land, but you will need to check locally for permit schemes. On paid permit toll rides such as those provided through TROT scheme, see www.tollrides.org.uk. Motor vehicles may only use roads or byways open to all traffic, horse-drawn carriages may use these and restricted byways, bicycles may use bridleways as well but are required to give way to walkers and horse riders. Pedestrians, of course, can use all.

The British Horse Society’s National Equestrian Route Network (NERN) is a digital, constantly evolving network of linked routes, linear and circular, and areas such as common land, forestry and beaches, which can be searched and viewed to find where to ride, carriage drive, cycle or walk. Many link to national trails and trunk routes such as The Pennine Bridleway and The Great Dragon Ride, and to accommodation such as Horses Welcome Approved Establishments and local amenities. The network currently stands at 18,500km, many of which have route descriptions, and can be viewed on www.emagin.org.

British Horse Society Access and Bridleways Officers work closely with local authorities to ensure equestrian rights are recorded so that bridleways or byways are open to riders and carriage drivers. Many footpaths may carry higher rights so if you discover that anywhere commonly ridden locally is not recorded as bridleway or byway, do help to correct the record. You can help the BHS in this crucial work by joining the society and perhaps helping as a volunteer, too.

Common land is a complex topic.

Commons are areas of land which have been subject to rights of common for many centuries, that is rights for people other than the landowner to use land, usually for a certain quantity of livestock grazing, to gather fuel, bedding material, or to fish. Many commons have open access on foot and some have rights for riders, particularly in urban areas. This varies depending on the common, so you are advised to check with your highway authority as a right may be suspended by byelaws.

Your highway authority should be able to provide a copy of a small portion of its definitive map of public rights of way, but it may make a charge.

Ordnance Survey maps that show public rights of way can be bought online, from bookshops or outdoor equipment shops but there may have been changes to the network since publication of the OS map, but these should be well marked. ‘Green lane’ is not a legal definition for a right of way: it is a physical description of lanes that are largely vegetated underfoot (‘green’).

Councils or vehicular users for unimproved unclassified roads, but many bridleways and byways fit the description ‘green lane’. Those green lanes that are unclassified roads with rights higher than footpath may be ridden.

Some bridleways run on tracks that also have private access rights with vehicles for landholders or other rightholders.

If you meet a motor vehicle on a bridleway, it may be there by private right, but there are bridleways where use by motor vehicles is a problem and is illegal. That is a matter for the police because a bridleway is a highway in the same way as any road and only the police can enforce against traffic offences.

For information you can contact the British Horse Society at www.access@bhs.org.uk or www.ryedalebridleways.com