on horseback are protected.  When they are not, equestrian travellers lose. Jessica Bigler is one of the best Swiss Long Riders. She made several journeys in Europe without encountering any problems. But in 2007 her attempt to travel between Switzerland and Ireland failed in England.  Why?  "England is too hard for my horse.  The trails were all closed or overgrown, so I had to travel on the roads amongst the traffic. It's a shame that nothing has been done for Long Riders who want to travel in the UK." But there is good news. Thanks to the zealous work of local horsemen, some national governments are making an effort to preserve their equestrian heritage.  For example, Australia created the Bicentennial National Trail.  This is 5300km long and horsemen come from all around the world to ride through the Australian countryside. Robin Hanbury-Tenison, famous explorer in England, made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with his wife, Louella. When Canada realised the potential of linking tourist dollars with equestrian heritage, it started creating a trail, the Trans-Canadian Trail, which will have a total of 23,000 kilometres between the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans across the enormous country. The best news, however, comes from Continental Europe, where a coalition of equestrian visionaries is working to link up historic trails in their countries to create a unique network of paths for horses.  When it is done, this network will encourage horsemen to travel easily across their own country, and to explore another. Leading