Horse riders are being discriminated against by having to pay to use woods

I READ the report and saw the photograph in the Okehampton Times last week of the mountain bikers in Abbeyford Woods. I have just paid the Forestry Commission £43 for a year, for the pleasure of riding my horse in the woods. Unless I get to Dartmoor, it is the only place around here that I can enjoy off-road riding. I am told that the £43 is to pay for damage to the hard-core of the tracks. I do not think that my horse does £43 worth of damage to the tracks in one year. What concerns me is that the bikers do not have to pay anything to ride in the woods, and they make a certain amount of mess on the tracks. Also, I would not want to be riding a horse when the bikers are around, as they can appear out of a side track very fast, and frighten a horse. I have been told that some of the dog walkers are not very happy, as loose dogs and fast moving bikes are not compatible, especially as some dogs are prone to chasing bikes. So why should they have to be kept on leads to avoid any trouble? I know that bikers are like horse riders, and need places to ride off-road, but I think horse riders are discriminated against, when they have to pay all this money every year. Mrs Margaret Weeks Courtlyns Exbourne