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There used to be rules about what parts of the marshes horses could use, for the very sensible reason that excessive use may damage the grass and make it unusable by all. This rendered large swathes of the marshes off limits to horses from December to June. On February 24, 2010, LVRPA proposed at a user forum meeting that horses be allowed to use a lot more of the marshes during the winter and spring. These horses are shown on a part of the SSSI known as the Outer Marsh. The motivation for allowing the horses to use this area which has often flooded in the winter months, was said to be a desire to reduce the need for horses to climb the bank up to Porters Field at the south west corner of the Outer Marsh. This, of course, was totally ridiculous since the area was not a permitted path (horses couldn't use it) and the actual south west corner was inside the ornamental cattle enclosure. The horses left the Outer Marsh by climbing the bank at the most extreme south west corner they could reach without crossing the fence into the cattle enclosure!
Ironically the biggest area (number six on the LVRPA consultation map) the horses were to be allowed to use was the part of Porters Field used by the Olympics basketball court. The temporary building was removed in Autumn 2012 but the turf replacement job was such a botched job that this year for the first time since the Second World War, Porters Field is actually wetter and more unusable than Outer Marsh! |
