Livestock
Livestock is defined as domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce labor and commodities such as meat, milk, fur and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer to those that are bred for consumption, while other times it refers only to farmed ruminants, such as cattle and goats. Horses are considered livestock in the United States; the USDA uses livestock to some uses of the term “red meat”, in which it refers to all the mammal animals kept in this setting to be used as commodities. The USDA mentions pork, veal and lamb are all classified as livestock and all livestock is considered to be red meats. Poultry and fish are not included in the category; the breeding and slaughter of livestock, known as animal husbandry, is a component of modern agriculture, practiced in many cultures since humanity's transition to farming from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animal husbandry practices have varied across cultures and time periods. Livestock were not confined by fences or enclosures, but these practices have shifted to intensive animal farming, sometimes referred to as "factory farming".
Now, over 99% of livestock are raised on factory farms. These practices increase yield of the various commercial outputs, but have led to negative impacts on animal welfare and the environment. Livestock production continues to play a major economic and cultural role in numerous rural communities. Livestock as a word was first used between 1650 and 1660, as a merger between the words "live" and "stock". In some periods, "cattle" and "livestock" have been used interchangeably. Today, the modern meaning of cattle is domesticated bovines. United States federal legislation defines the term to make specified agricultural commodities eligible or ineligible for a program or activity. For example, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting Act of 1999 defines livestock only as cattle and sheep, while the 1988 disaster assistance legislation defined the term as "cattle, goats, poultry, equine animals used for food or in the production of food, fish used for food, other animals designated by the Secretary."Deadstock is defined in contradistinction to livestock as "animals that have died before slaughter, sometimes from illness".
It is illegal in many countries, such as Canada, to sell or process meat from dead animals for human consumption. Animal-rearing originated during the cultural transition to settled farming communities from hunter-gatherer lifestyles. Animals are domesticated when their living conditions are controlled by humans. Over time, the collective behaviour and physiology of livestock have changed radically. Many modern farm animals are unsuited to life in the wild; the dog was domesticated early. Goats and sheep were domesticated in multiple events sometime between 11,000 and 5,000 years ago in Southwest Asia. Pigs were domesticated by 8,500 BC in the Near 6,000 BC in China. Domestication of the horse dates to around 4000 BC. Cattle have been domesticated since 10,500 years ago. Chickens and other poultry may have been domesticated around 7000 BC; the term "livestock" is may be defined narrowly or broadly. Broadly, livestock refers to any breed or population of animal kept by humans for a useful, commercial purpose.
This can mean semidomestic animals, or captive wild animals. Semidomesticated refers to animals which are only domesticated or of disputed status; these populations may be in the process of domestication. Traditionally, animal husbandry was part of the subsistence farmer's way of life, producing not only the food needed by the family but the fuel, clothing and draught power. Killing the animal for food was a secondary consideration, wherever possible its products, such as wool, eggs and blood were harvested while the animal was still alive. In the traditional system of transhumance and livestock moved seasonally between fixed summer and winter pastures. Animals can be kept intensively. Extensive systems involve animals roaming at will, or under the supervision of a herdsman for their protection from predators. Ranching in the Western United States involves large herds of cattle grazing over public and private lands. Similar cattle stations are found in South America and other places with large areas of land and low rainfall.
Ranching systems have been used for sheep, ostrich, emu and alpaca. In the uplands of the United Kingdom, sheep are turned out on the fells in spring and graze the abundant mountain grasses untended, being brought to lower altitudes late in the year, with supplementary feeding being provided in winter. In rural locations and poultry can obtain much of their nutrition from scavenging, in African communities, hens may live for months without being fed, still produce one or two eggs a week. At the other extreme, in the more developed parts of the world, animals are intensively managed. In between these two extremes are semi-intensive family run farms where livestock graze outside for much of the year, silage or hay is made to cove
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Central London. It is the largest of four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance of Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park past the main entrance to Buckingham Palace; the park is divided by the Long Water lakes. The park was established by Henry VIII in 1536 when he took the land from Westminster Abbey and used it as a hunting ground, it opened to the public in 1637 and became popular for May Day parades. Major improvements occurred in the early 18th century under the direction of Queen Caroline. Several duels took place in Hyde Park during this time involving members of the nobility; the Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which The Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton, was erected. Free speech and demonstrations have been a key feature of Hyde Park since the 19th century. Speaker's Corner has been established as a point of free speech and debate since 1872, while the Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there.
In the late 20th century, the park became known for holding large-scale free rock music concerts, featuring groups such as Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Queen. Major events have continued into the 21st century, such as Live 8 in 2005, the annual Hyde Park Winter Wonderland from 2007. Hyde Park is the largest Royal Park in London, it is bounded on the north by Bayswater Road, to the east by Park Lane, to the south by Knightsbridge. Further north is Paddington, further east. To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner, beyond, Green Park, St. James's Park and Buckingham Palace Gardens; the park has been Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens since 1987. To the west, Hyde Park merges with Kensington Gardens; the dividing line runs between Alexandra Gate to Victoria Gate via West Carriage Drive and the Serpentine Bridge. The Serpentine is to the south of the park area. Kensington Gardens has been separate from Hyde Park since 1728. Hyde Park covers 142 hectares, Kensington Gardens covers 111 hectares, giving a total area of 253 hectares.
During daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a.m. until midnight. The park's name comes from the Manor of Hyde, the northeast sub-division of the manor of Eia and appears as such in the Domesday Book; the name is believed to be of Saxon origin, means a unit of land, the hide, appropriate for the support of a single family and dependents. Through the Middle Ages, it was property of Westminster Abbey, the woods in the manor were used both for firewood and shelter for game. Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536 after he acquired the manor of Hyde from the Abbey, it was enclosed as a deer park and remained a private hunting ground until James I permitted limited access to gentlefolk, appointing a ranger to take charge. Charles I created the Ring, in 1637 he opened the park to the general public, it became a popular gathering place for May Day celebrations. At the start of the English Civil War in 1642, a series of fortifications were built along the east side of the park, including forts at what is now Marble Arch, Mount Street and Hyde Park Corner.
The latter included a strongpoint where visitors to London could be vetted. In 1652, during the Interregnum, Parliament ordered the 620-acre park to be sold for "ready money", it realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer. During the Great Plague of London in 1665, Hyde Park was used as a military camp. Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Charles II retook ownership of Hyde Park and enclosed it in a brick wall, he restocked deer in. The May Day parade continued to be a popular event. In 1689, William III moved his residence to Kensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park and had a drive laid out across its southern edge, known as the King's Private Road; the drive is still in existence as a wide straight gravelled carriage track leading west from Hyde Park Corner across the southern boundary of Hyde Park towards Kensington Palace and now known as Rotten Row a corruption of rotteran, Ratten Row, Route du roi, or rotten. It is believed to be the first road in London to be lit at night, done to deter highwaymen.
In 1749, Horace Walpole was robbed while travelling through the park from Holland House. The row was used by the wealthy for horseback rides in the early 19th century. Hyde Park was a popular duelling spot during the 18th century, with 172 taking place, leading to 63 fatalities; the Hamilton–Mohun Duel took place there in 1712 when Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun fought James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton. Baron Mohun was killed while the Duke died shortly afterwards. John Wilkes fought Samuel Martin in 1772, as did Richard Brinsley Sheridan with Captain Thomas Mathews over the latter's libellous comments about Sheridan's fiancee Elizabeth Ann Linley. Edward Thurlow, 1st Baron Thurlow fought Andrew Stuart in a Hyde Park duel in 1770. Military executions were common in Hyde Park at this time.
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States; the system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, the original portion was completed 35 years although some urban routes were cancelled and never built; the network has since been extended. In 2016, it had a total length of 48,181 miles; as of 2016, about one-quarter of all vehicle miles driven in the country use the Interstate system. In 2006, the cost of construction was estimated at about $425 billion; the United States government's efforts to construct a national network of highways began on an ad hoc basis with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, which provided for $75 million over a five-year period for matching funds to the states for the construction and improvement of highways.
The nation's revenue needs associated with World War I prevented any significant implementation of this policy, which expired in 1921. In December 1918, E. J. Mehren, a civil engineer and the editor of Engineering News-Record, presented his "A Suggested National Highway Policy and Plan" during a gathering of the State Highway Officials and Highway Industries Association at the Congress Hotel in Chicago. In the plan, Mehren proposed a 50,000-mile system, consisting of five east–west routes and 10 north–south routes; the system would include two percent of all roads and would pass through every state at a cost of $25,000 per mile, providing commercial as well as military transport benefits. As the landmark 1916 law expired, new legislation was passed—the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921; this new road construction initiative once again provided for federal matching funds for road construction and improvement, $75 million allocated annually. Moreover, this new legislation for the first time sought to target these funds to the construction of a national road grid of interconnected "primary highways", setting up cooperation among the various state highway planning boards.
The Bureau of Public Roads asked the Army to provide a list of roads that it considered necessary for national defense. In 1922, General John J. Pershing, former head of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during the war, complied by submitting a detailed network of 20,000 miles of interconnected primary highways—the so-called Pershing Map. A boom in road construction followed throughout the decade of the 1920s, with such projects as the New York parkway system constructed as part of a new national highway system; as automobile traffic increased, planners saw a need for such an interconnected national system to supplement the existing non-freeway, United States Numbered Highways system. By the late 1930s, planning had expanded to a system of new superhighways. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave Thomas MacDonald, chief at the Bureau of Public Roads, a hand-drawn map of the United States marked with eight superhighway corridors for study. In 1939, Bureau of Public Roads Division of Information chief Herbert S. Fairbank wrote a report called Toll Roads and Free Roads, "the first formal description of what became the interstate highway system" and, in 1944, the themed Interregional Highways.
The Interstate Highway System gained a champion in President Dwight D. Eisenhower, influenced by his experiences as a young Army officer crossing the country in the 1919 Army Convoy on the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America. Eisenhower gained an appreciation of the Reichsautobahn system, the first "national" implementation of modern Germany's Autobahn network, as a necessary component of a national defense system while he was serving as Supreme Commander Of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II, he recognized that the proposed system would provide key ground transport routes for military supplies and troop deployments in case of an emergency or foreign invasion. The publication in 1955 of the General Location of National System of Interstate Highways, informally known as the Yellow Book, mapped out what became the Interstate Highway System. Assisting in the planning was Charles Erwin Wilson, still head of General Motors when President Eisenhower selected him as Secretary of Defense in January 1953.
The Interstate Highway System was authorized on June 29, 1956 by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, popularly known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act of 1956. Three states have claimed the title of first Interstate Highway. Missouri claims that the first three contracts under the new program were signed in Missouri on August 2, 1956; the first contract signed was for upgrading a section of US Route 66 to what is now designated Interstate 44. On August 13, 1956, Missouri awarded the first contract based on new Interstate Highway funding. Kansas claims. Preliminary construction had taken place before the act was signed, paving started September 26, 1956; the state marked its portion of I-70 as the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. The Pennsylvania Turnpike could be considered one of the first Interstate Highways. On October 1, 1940, 162 miles of the highway now designated I‑70 and I‑76 opened between Irwin and Carlisle.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania refers to the turnpike as the Granddaddy of the Pikes. Milestones in the construction of the Interstate Highway System include: October 17, 1974: Nebraska becomes
Trail riding
Trail riding is riding outdoors on trails, bridle paths, forest roads, but not on roads used by motorised traffic. A trail ride can be including a long distance, multi-day trip, it originated with horse riding, in North America, the equestrian form is called "trail riding," or, less "hacking." In the UK and Europe, the practice is called horse or pony trekking. The modern term encompasses mountain biking, mixed terrain cycle-touring, the use of motorcycles and other motorized all-terrain vehicles, it may be larger events organized by a club. Some equestrian trail rides in the USA are directed by professional guides or outfitters at guest ranches. In some parts of the world, trail riding is limited by law to recognized, sometimes function-specific, trails that are waymarked. In other places, trails may be more natural. Trail riding can include other activities, such as camping, fishing and backpacking. Horses under saddle are subject to the same regulations as pedestrians or hikers where those requirements differ from those for cyclists.
In most states, horses are classified as livestock and thus restricted from areas such as the right of way of the interstate highway system, though permitted to travel along the side of other roadways in rural areas. Rail trails, which are redeveloped disused railways converted into multi-use trails provide invaluable trail riding areas in many parts of the world. A bridle path called a bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare, used by people riding on horses, though such trails now serve a wider range of users, including equestrians and cyclists; such paths are either impassable for motorized vehicles. The laws relating to allowable uses vary from country to country. In England and Wales a bridle path now refers to a route which can be used by horse riders in addition to walkers, since 1968, by cyclists. In the US, the term bridle path is used colloquially for trails or paths used for people making day treks on horses, used on the east coast, whereas out west the equivalent term is trail.
The United States has few if any formal designations for bridle paths, though horses are allowed on most state and federal trails and public routes except where restricted, although rules differ among locations. There is some criticism of trail riding when excess or improper use of trails may lead to erosion, the spread of invasive plants, conflict with hikers, or harassment of wildlife. Off-road or trail activity is not permitted, as such activity may raise the risk of soil erosion, spread weeds, cause other damage. However, many responsible equestrians, mountain bikers, off-road motorcyclists those who get involved in these sports by joining an organized club, perform hours of trail maintenance every year. Many organizations sponsor educational events to teach newcomers about safety, responsible land stewardship and how to improve riding techniques. Many long-distance trails throughout the world have sections suitable for horse riding, some suitable throughout their length, some have been developed for horse riding.
Within the United States National Trail Classification System, equestrian trails include simple day-use bridle paths and others built to accommodate long strings of pack animals on journeys lasting many days. Some trails managed by the U. S. Forest Service and other governmental entities may restrict access of horses, or restrict access during certain times of the year. Access to trails and pathways on private land is left to the discretion of the landowner, subject to the general trespass laws of each of the 50 states; the term pleasure riding may encompass trail riding. This refers to a form of equestrianism that encompasses many forms of recreational riding for personal enjoyment, without any element of competition. Pleasure riding is called "hacking" in United Kingdom, in parts of the eastern United States and Canada. In other parts of the United States the American west, the term trail riding is used interchangeably with pleasure riding when on natural trails or public lands. Many horses are suitable for pleasure riding, including grade horses and other animals of ordinary quality and good disposition.
Such horses are sometimes called hacks in those areas where pleasure riding is known as hacking. In recreational trail riding, having fun and enjoying time spent in natures rather than speed and form are the goals. There are competitive events that occur on natural trails to test the endurance or trail riding ability of a horse; the level of difficulty varies by distance and terrain. Endurance riding encompasses races of varying lengths from 25 miles to 100 miles, where the first horse to cross the finish line and be deemed "fit to continue" by passing a veterinary examination is the winner. Competitive trail riding is another distance competition that differs from endurance races, as the first horse to cross the line does not win, but rather the competitors are required to finish within a minimum and a maximum time with their horse in the best condition and with additional scoring for horsemanship and care of the animal. There are competitive events at horse shows, called trail classes, which test the horse and rider's ability to handle obstacles resembling those found on trails, such as opening and closing gates, crossing logs, navigating forward, backwards and to the side.
T
Australia
Australia the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area; the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea and East Timor to the north. The population of 25 million is urbanised and concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, its largest city is Sydney; the country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide. Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians for about 60,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, it is documented. After the European exploration of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, who named it New Holland, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day; the population grew in subsequent decades, by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established.
On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated. Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy, comprising six states and ten territories. Being the oldest and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils, Australia has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres. A megadiverse country, its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east and mountain ranges in the south-east. A gold rush began in Australia in the early 1850s, its population density, 2.8 inhabitants per square kilometre, remains among the lowest in the world. Australia generates its income from various sources including mining-related exports, telecommunications and manufacturing. Indigenous Australian rock art is the oldest and richest in the world, dating as far back as 60,000 years and spread across hundreds of thousands of sites. Australia is a developed country, with the world's 14th-largest economy.
It has a high-income economy, with the world's tenth-highest per capita income. It is a regional power, has the world's 13th-highest military expenditure. Australia has the world's ninth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 26% of the population. Having the third-highest human development index and the eighth-highest ranked democracy globally, the country ranks in quality of life, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights, with all its major cities faring well in global comparative livability surveys. Australia is a member of the United Nations, G20, Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Pacific Islands Forum and the ASEAN Plus Six mechanism; the name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis, a name used for a hypothetical continent in the Southern Hemisphere since ancient times. When Europeans first began visiting and mapping Australia in the 17th century, the name Terra Australis was applied to the new territories.
Until the early 19th century, Australia was best known as "New Holland", a name first applied by the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and subsequently anglicised. Terra Australis still saw occasional usage, such as in scientific texts; the name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders, who said it was "more agreeable to the ear, an assimilation to the names of the other great portions of the earth". The first time that Australia appears to have been used was in April 1817, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie acknowledged the receipt of Flinders' charts of Australia from Lord Bathurst. In December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office. In 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known by that name; the first official published use of the new name came with the publication in 1830 of The Australia Directory by the Hydrographic Office. Colloquial names for Australia include "Oz" and "the Land Down Under". Other epithets include "the Great Southern Land", "the Lucky Country", "the Sunburnt Country", "the Wide Brown Land".
The latter two both derive from Dorothea Mackellar's 1908 poem "My Country". Human habitation of the Australian continent is estimated to have begun around 65,000 to 70,000 years ago, with the migration of people by land bridges and short sea-crossings from what is now Southeast Asia; these first inhabitants were the ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal Australian culture is one of the oldest continual civilisations on earth. At the time of first European contact, most Indigenous Australians were hunter-gatherers with complex economies and societies. Recent archaeological finds suggest. Indigenous Australians have an oral culture with spiritual values based on reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime; the Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, obtained their livelihood from seasonal horticulture and the resources of their reefs and seas. The northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited s
The National Archives (United Kingdom)
The National Archives is a non-ministerial government department. Its parent department is the Department for Culture and Sport of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it is the official archive for England and Wales. There are separate national archives for Northern Ireland. TNA was four separate organisations: the Public Record Office, the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information and Her Majesty's Stationery Office; the Public Record Office still exists as a legal entity, as the enabling legislation has not been modified, documents held by the institution thus continue to be cited by many scholars as part of the PRO. Since 2008, TNA has hosted the former UK Statute Law Database, now known as legislation.gov.uk. It is institutional policy to include the definite article, with an initial capital letter, in its name but this practice is not always followed in the non-specialist media; the National Archives is based in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London.
The building was opened in 1977 as an additional home for the public records, which were held in a building on Chancery Lane. The site was a World War I hospital, used by several government departments, it is near to Kew Gardens Underground station. Until its closure in March 2008, the Family Records Centre in Islington was run jointly by The National Archives and the General Register Office; the National Archives has an additional office in Norwich, for former OPSI staff. There is an additional record storage facility in the worked-out parts of Winsford Rock Salt Mine, Cheshire. For earlier history, see Public Record Office; the National Archives was created in 2003 by combining the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission and is a non-ministerial department reporting to the Minister of State for digital policy. On 31 October 2006, The National Archives merged with the Office of Public Sector Information, which itself contained Her Majesty's Stationery Office, a part of the Cabinet Office.
The name remained The National Archives. 1991–2005: Sarah Tyacke 2005–2010: Natalie Ceeney 2010–2013: Oliver Morley 2013–2014: Clem Brohier 2014–present: Jeff James TNA claims it is "at the heart of information policy—setting standards and supporting innovation in information and records management across the UK, providing a practical framework of best practice for opening up and encouraging the re-use of public sector information. This work helps inform today's decisions and ensure that they become tomorrow's permanent record." It has a number of key roles in information policy: Policy – advising government on information practice and policy, on issues from record creation through to its reuse Selection – selecting which documents to store Preservation – ensuring the documents remain in as good a condition as possible Access – providing the public with the opportunity to view the documents Advice – advising the public and other archives and archivists around the world on how to care for documents Intellectual property management – TNA manages crown copyright for the UK Regulation – ensuring that other public sector organisations adhere to both the public records act and the PSI reuse regulations.
The National Archives has long had a role of oversight and leadership for the entire archives sector and archives profession in the UK, including local government and non-governmental archives. Under the Public Records Act 1958 it is responsible for overseeing the appropriate custody of certain non-governmental public records in England and Wales. Under the 2003 Historical Manuscripts Commission Warrant it has responsibility for investigating and reporting on non-governmental records and archives of all kinds throughout the United Kingdom. In October 2011, when the Museums and Archives Council was wound up, TNA took over its responsibilities in respect of archives in England, including providing information and advice to ministers on archives policy; the National Archives now sees this part of its role as being "to enhance the'archival health of the nation'". The National Archives is the UK government's official archive, "containing 1000 years of history from Domesday Book to the present", with records from parchment and paper scrolls through to digital files and archived websites.
The material held at Kew includes the following: Documents from the central courts of law from the twelfth century onwards, including the Court of King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of Chancery, the Court of Exchequer, the Supreme Court of Judicature, the Central Criminal Court and many other courts Medieval, early modern and modern records of central government A large and disparate collection of maps and architectural drawings Records for family historians including wills, naturalisation certificates and criminal records Service and operational records of the armed forces War Office, Admiralty etc. Foreign Office and Colonial Office correspondence and files Cabinet papers and Home Office records Statistics of the Board of Trade The surviving records of the English railway companies, transferred from the British Railways Record OfficeThere is a museum, which displays key documents such as Domesday Book and has exhibitions on various topics using material from the collections.
The collections held by the National A
Bicentennial National Trail
The Bicentennial National Trail known as the National Horse Trail, is one of the longest multi-use, non-motorised, self-reliant trails in the world, stretching 5,330 kilometres from Cooktown, through New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to Healesville, 60 km north-east of Melbourne. This trail runs the length of the rugged Great Dividing Range through national parks, private property and alongside wilderness areas; the BNT follows old coach roads, stock routes, brumby tracks and fire trails. It was intended for horses, but is these days promoted for cycling and walking, though it is not yet suited to these two activities; the trail was planned by the Australian Trail Horse Riders Association. The Association spent many years planning and negotiating a route that linked up the mustering, brumby tracks, pack horse trails, historic coach roads and stock routes, thus providing an opportunity to ride the routes of stockmen and drovers who once travelled these areas; the development of this idea was left to a committee led by R. M. Williams and coordinated and planned by Brian Taylor in co-operation with the Australian Trail Horse Riders Association affiliated clubs, farmers and government agencies.
Dan Seymour was sponsored by R. M. Williams to find a route along the Great Dividing Range, to promote enthusiasm for the proposal. Seymour volunteered to ride the Trail and set off from Ferntree Gully, Victoria in February 1972 with two saddle horses, a packhorse and'Bluey', his blue heeler cattle dog; the Association provided Dan with encouragement during this lengthy journey. His twenty-one month ride finished in Cooktown, Queensland in September 1973. Dan's journey, reported, created increased interest in the formation of the Trail. In 1978 the first mail was carried along the route known as the National Horse Trail, from Cooktown by a group of registered riders; these riders were acknowledged with a commemorative medallion. The Trail committee proposed that the concept be made a project to celebrate Australia's Bicentenary in 1988; the suggestion was accepted, funding of $300,000 was granted to research, mark a route and print guidebooks. In November 1988, this had been accomplished and the Trail was opened.
Since the Trail opened, people have travelled all or parts of the Trail with camels and donkeys, as well as horses and mountain bikes. Those who have completed the entire Trail include: 1989: Ken Roberts and Sharon Muir Watson. Roberts and Watson were the first to complete the Trail by horse north to south.1991: Arlene Christopherson. Christopherson was the first to complete the Trail by horse from south to north. 1991: Anthony Mair and Melissa Weeks.1994: Gabrielle Schenk.1995: Darryl Eckley and Robyn Surry 1997: Peter Spotswood 1999: Geoff Daniel 1999: Ed and Maria Van Zelderen.. The Van Zelderens were the first to ride the Trail in both directions.2000: Urs Marquardt and Karin Heitzmann. 2000: Dyane Sabourin and Geoff Grundy, with daughters Angela and Serena 2003: Therese Hanna The Trail links eighteen of Australia's national parks and more than 50 state forests, providing access to some of the wildest, most remote country in the world. The Trail is suitable for self-reliant horse riders and mountain bike riders.
Parts of the Trail, such as some of the Jenolan Caves to Kosciuszko section, are suitable for horse-drawn vehicles. The Trail is not open to motorised vehicles or trail bikes, pets are not permitted; the Trail is divided into 12 sections of 400 to 500 kilometres, each with a corresponding guide book. Cooktown to Gunnawarra. Gunnawarra to Collinsville, through the grazing country of far north Queensland. Collinsville to Kabra Kabra to Biggenden Biggenden to Blackbutt Blackbutt, Queensland to the New South Wales border at Cullendore. Killarney to Ebor. Ebor to Barrington Tops. After passing Ebor the trail crosses the Point Lookout Road before it passes through Cunnawarra National Park, it runs on the east of Georges River until it crosses the Armidale to Kempsey Road. The Trail is unmarked as it follows the Macleay River past the historic East Kunderang homestead in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. Following Kunderang Brook it winds its way to mustering huts at Left Hand Hut, the remote Middle Yards Hut, Youdale's Hut and to Cedar Creek on the edge of Werrikimbe National Park.
After crossing the Oxley Highway the Trail passes through the Mummel Gulf National Park. This section takes at least five days to travel and all food and equipment has to be carried. There are numerous river crossings, with some steep ascents and descents. Barrington Tops to Jenolan Caves Jenolan Caves to Kosciuszko Mt Kosciuszko to Omeo, including the Tom Groggin Track Omeo to Healesville, near Melbourne List of long-distance hiking tracks in Australia Bicentennial National Trail Guidebooks The Long Riders Guild Trans Canade Trail John Chapman on The Bicentennial National Trail Mountain Bikes on the BNT
Media related to Equestrian trails at Wikimedia Commons