A ribbon of pale sand stretches along Hyde Park in the heart of London. Connecting Kensington Palace with Whitehall, it was once known as the Route du Roi (French for ‘Road of the King’), and still today horses of all sizes can be spotted stretching their legs along its protective passage.
The sight of these magnificent creatures in this semi-urban setting – some in the grand attire of the household cavalry, others shaggy with novice riders on their backs – always astonishes me. Even though I learnt to ride growing up in Devon, seeing horses ambling alongside the bustle of a polluted metropolis never fails to surprise me. Their soft-breathing presence seems to lift both riders and onlookers into a slower, more connected world.
Yet just as the regal name of the Hyde Park route has also slipped over the years, corrupting into the less glamorous Rotten Row, so too have horses faded from most of our lives. As Tiffany Francis-Baker explores in her latest book, The Bridleway, whereas horse power was once central to daily existence – carrying travellers, ploughing land, mining coal or fighting wars – today the role of the horse is largely restricted to the recreational and the therapeutic.
There is much about this galloping transition that is to be thankful for. But Francis-Baker also asks that we pause to stop and stare a while at the hoof-prints left in our lives and hearts. Then we will realise that our culture and landscapes are still steeped in equine echoes, from Scotland’s coat of arms to the chalk images carved into hillsides, or the eerie processions of Cornwall’s ’Obby ’Oss festival.
It is a presence that makes us all richer, she believes, whether that’s the £5,000 per horse boost to the economy that the equine industry still generates, the rewilding potential of projects like Knepp Estate, or simply the metaphor and mystery that these ancient creatures bequeath.
It is far from certain, however, that this legacy – and the wider future of horses in British culture – will be protected in years to come, Francis-Baker suggests. Even for those lucky enough still to ride, most places in Britain are no longer set up for four legs, with more than 44 riders and 440 horses sadly killed in traffic accidents since 2010.
And this shift in the infrastructure of both mind and world is a loss for non-riders too. In England and Wales, 9% of green ways – including 20,000 miles of bridleway and 91,000 miles of footpath – are now blocked off or unusable. Broken stiles, barbed wire and runaway undergrowth keep away those aware of their existence.
An improved bridleway network would not just help protect those on horseback, Francis-Baker argues. It would add greener travel options for all, especially those with buggies or mobility vehicles. In this way, The Bridleway is also a gentle call to action. But can it persuade those not already under horses’ spell that their legacy and future are worth saving?
The ask is a big one. As revealed by the recent outcry over a video revealing one of Britain’s top dressage riders repeatedly hitting a horse with a whip, there are many concerns and questions over the roles horses should now play in our modern world. For some critics, their use in sport and recreation are at best a symbol of inequality, and at worst an exercise in cruelty.
As Francis-Baker notes, not everything that should be protected is easily quantifiable. Where to place a bridleway’s gifts? How to price the “scent of fallen leaves among bluebell shoots; wild garlic bulbs unearthed by badger snout; the gentle clip-clop of a horse and rider enjoying the first summer light of a late summer morning”?
I am a long-time lover of horses and far from an unbiased judge. But I have a hunch, or perhaps a hope, that even those without first-hand equine experience will find in The Bridleway a means to travel the same rooted and restorative bridleways of the mind, whether that’s via the stories of first world war frontline combat, or the folklore traditions that can help create new community in a time of flux.
For this is a book filled with curious details, and with care. It has learnt from the soft, liminal, primordial power of its subject – the equine – and created a route that ultimately suggests that we should all be more horse: encouraging and carrying others into a closer connection with the living world.
The Bridleway: How Horses Shaped the British Landscapeby Tiffany Francis-Baker. Bloomsbury, 2024. ISBN: 9781399403177
