A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, bridle road, or horse trail, is a thoroughfare originally made for human transport on horses. In some areas bridle paths developed as transport routes where the terrain was so steep that the route was impassable by wheeled wagons and vehicles.
In present day usage they can serve a wider range of uses, including equestrians, hikers and walkers, and cyclists. The laws relating to allowable uses vary from country to country.
In industrialized countries, bridle paths are now primarily used for recreation. However, they are still important transportation routes in other areas. For example, they are the main method of traveling to mountain villages in Lesotho.
Read more about Bridle Path: Bridleways in The United Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the words bridle and/or path:
“And found on the dove-grey edge of the sea
A pearl-pale, high-born lady, who rode
On a horse with bridle of findrinny;
And like a sunset were her lips,
A stormy sunset on doomed ships....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Tired,
she looked up the path
her lover would take
as far as her eyes could see.
On the roads,
traffic ceased
at the end of day
as night slid over the sky.
The traveller’s pained wife
took a single step towards home,
said, “Could he not have come at this instant?”
and quickly craning her neck around,
looked up the path again.”
—Amaru (c. seventh century A.D.)