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The Bridleway
- How Horses Shaped the British Landscape
- Narrated by: Olivia Mace
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
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The Bridleway
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Summary
WINNER OF THE ELWYN HARTLEY-EDWARDS AWARD FOR EQUINE WRITING, 2023. Tiffany Francis-Baker explores how the relationship between humans and horses has shaped the British landscape and how this connection has become part of our nation’s ecosystems.
Many of us enjoy walking or riding on bridleways. These ancient networks crisscross the British countryside, but we rarely pause to ponder how they came to be.
Tiffany Francis-Baker tells the intriguing history of Britain’s bridleways, revealing how our relationship with horses is deeply woven into the fabric of British culture, from street and pub names to trading routes and coaching inns. She meets the closest living descendants of wild horses, and she investigates our evolving relationship with horses, exploring equestrian sports, horse fairs, horseback travellers and adventurers, and how humans and horses have worked together for millennia.
Part-domesticated and part-fiercely independent, horses have long captured our imaginations, and in The Bridleway, Francis-Baker reveals how deeply rooted they have been in our culture for thousands of years and how they can help us understand the natural world and our place within it.
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What listeners say about The Bridleway
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- lucy Heavens
- 24-12-23
Delightful descriptions, wonderful wisdom and a wealth of life changing knowledge !
This is a beautiful book and I enjoyed every minute of it . A joyful journey that meanders through history and geography - so many amazing facts and insights and observations . It’s a wonderful book .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- "wolfsong12"
- 06-06-24
Beautiful, evocative and interesting
If you love horses and nature this book is definitely for you. The author takes us on a beautifully evocative hack through the British landscape and across different eras. From pit ponies to war horses, and poetry to conservation grazing.
The narration is exquisite, but I knocked off one star for some seriously mispronounced words that I’m guessing the narrator was not familiar with (like livery) which unfortunately jarred what was otherwise a riveting listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 16-08-24
insightful and thought provoking
I honestly didn't know what to expect, as a life long horseman, I thoroughly enjoyed it! listening on an audio book as a lorry driver, I was so engaged that the miles melted away and as a former serviceman, I had a more than one tear in my eye too!! I thoroughly recommend the Bridleway wether a rider or not, I'd like to think most would enjoy it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ken P
- 28-07-23
An excellent story of horses & riders
I didn't know what to expect when I purchased the audio book, all that I can say is I'm very glad I did.
The narrator has done the writer a great service with her narration, picking up all of the nuances the writer put down.
The book took me back to my helping out on farms in our village, from brushing horses to cleaning cows' uddeds in preparation for milking..
I rode to cart horses bareback in the fields and was shown by the farmlands how to groom them, and watch out for agitations, especially at the rear ends.
This book took me back to those days between 7 and 11 years old, but I lost track of horses over the years until 2018 when a dog had been placed in a field by a very uncaring and uncouth individual, who I had a face off with about his not looking after the horse at all. Anyway, I ended up feeding, bedding and grooming that horse "Bobby" for two or more years, until one morning when I brought his straw and hay, plus his feed, Bobby had gone. I was 77_years old then and it kind of broke my heart that he wasn't there any more.
I assume the owner had sold Bobby due to his very healthy appearance, and made a profit at my expense. I don't care about that. I loved being part of Bobby's life and showing him a loving human being. I really miss that horse, he gave me a purpose to extend myself and overcome a very bad spinal injury. When I was with Bobby my pain never bothered me.
And this book has brought back lovely memories from my life.
Thank you
Thi
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ruth
- 05-02-24
Delightful
It took me two goes at listening to this audio book, but then I was lost in the story of the horse. As a lifelong lover of all things to do with the noble horse it was a joy to listen to. Their story in being part in our life's through history was well told. Definitely worth a listen and would certainly recommend. The narration was good apart from the annoying mispronounced word of livery.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anon
- 15-06-24
Good idea but not enough for a book.
I think the writer had a good idea for a book but there wasn't enough substance. She wandered completely off the subject, often repetively to pad it out. The reading wasn't very good with mispronunciation of words, particularly livery! The I is short, as in liver, not long as in library. A pity, this is the first negative review I've posted.
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