DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-025-2-0320

TOWARDS A NETWORK OF HORSEBACK RIDING TRAILS IN A FOREST ENVIRONMENT

Petr Hrůza¹, Dominika Krausková², Hana Trtílková³, Tamara Tichá⁴

¹ Department of Landscape Management, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czechia

² Department of Forest Management and Applied Geoinformatics, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czechia

³ ATELIER FONTES s.r.o., Křídlovická 314/19, 603 00 Brno, Czechia

⁴ Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czechia

The use of forest environments for recreational purposes is becoming an increasingly significant aspect of contemporary lifestyles. The growing number of visitors and the diversity of their activities require effective management of their movements to minimise conflicts among different user groups and with forest management operations. This article focuses on the issue of regulating horse riders' movement, whose activities may interfere with the idea of leisure by other forest visitors and with forest operations. The University Enterprise has initiated discussions with stable owners to regulate riders' movement within the forest environment and collaboratively design a network of equestrian trails within forested areas. This study aims to analyse the current challenges in the management of equestrian activities in forest environments, assess the extent of trail overlap with forest roads and hiking trails, and propose management strategies to mitigate potential conflicts between different user groups and forest operations. The expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of the equestrian trail design and its implications for sustainable multi-use forest management.

Keywords: horseback riding, leisure activities, forest

pages: 320-323, Published: 2025, online: 2025