Why used to hunt on horseback in the forests, but today it is difficult to walk even on foot
In the old paintings we see that earlier in the forests they hunted in large companies and on horseback. At the same time, it all looks like a horse ride in the park. Usually there are only trees around and there are no bushes or windfall debris. Modern tourists and mushroom pickers are well aware that now in the forest you can even walk only on roads, trails and glades. Shrubs, fallen trunks and dry branches from the wind and dilapidation block the road, turning a hike into the forest into a dangerous attraction. But why didn't it happen before?
Once forests occupied almost the entire territory of Europe, but they looked different. In an era when people were completely dependent on wood - heated houses with firewood, built housing and bridges, made tools and vehicles, it was not lying under their feet.
Literature and fine art are full of scenes in which aristocrats in large companies, with huntsmen and dogs, hunt on horseback and do not experience the slightest difficulties. This is due to the fact that in the old days ordinary people were allowed to heat stoves only with brushwood. Everything that is larger, even dead wood, was intended for kitchen stoves and room fireplaces of the "masters of life".
The forests belonged to feudal lords, princes, and the king. By the poet, cutting down trees for personal needs was punished very harshly, up to hanging. And in the forests of Europe, it was possible to meet firewood gatherers from early morning to late evening. The fuel was so valuable that the smallest sticks and knots were used. Those who hesitated with the preparation of firewood had to go far into the forest to find at least something.
This was the case not only in Europe, but also in Russia. True, it was a little easier for our peasants — because of the harsh winters, the landlords were allowed to cut down trees for a fee and take away fallen trunks marked by foresters. So our forests were also clean and tidy, and the aristocracy had no problems driving the beast into the forest on horseback. The impenetrable thicket was only in the most remote areas from human habitation.
The poem by N.A. Nekrasov "A peasant with a nail" describes exactly the case of harvesting firewood by peasants in the forest belonging to the master. While the father fells the trees allowed for felling in the thicket, the son takes the firewood to the house on a sleigh. The harvesting of firewood was carried out only when the owner of the forest gives the go-ahead, so it is not surprising that the peasants are engaged in harvesting fuel in the middle of winter.
With the advent of electricity, kerosene and modern building materials, the importance of wood for humans has fallen significantly. Foresters still monitor the order in the forests, but they are unable to remove huge territories. And is it necessary, because horse hunting is very rare today, and the forest wilds somehow protect the remaining forest inhabitants from the omnipresent man.