The “gaits” are coming back to Central Park.
Visitors there will once again be able to saddle up under a new city plan to bring back horseback riding in a big way.
Since the closure of Manhattan’s last stable, Claremont Riding Academy, in 2007, it’s been next to impossible to ride off into the sunset without riding the subway to another borough first.
The 4.2 miles of bucolic bridle paths winding through Central Park, around the reservoir and under bridges, are now mostly used by joggers and dog walkers, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe told The Post.
“People will keep walking and running there, but we also want riding — which has been done in the park for most of the past 150 years — to be restored,” he said. “The bridle paths are an essential part of the park’s design and riding is one of its oldest forms of recreation.”
After Claremont closed, the city did sign a deal with the Riverdale Equestrian Centre, to offer trail rides by appointment, but those were infrequent and only done on weekends, Benepe said.
The city now wants a more permanent riding concession.
Each day, horses will be brought to the North Meadow Recreation Center, located in the center of the park near 97th Street, from one of the outer-borough stables.
Prices and hours will be determined by a bidding process and regulated by the city, Benepe said. Proposals are due next month.
City stable owners say it’s a shame the bridle paths have gone to waste.
“These parks were designed to be seen from horseback,” said Walker Blankinship, 40, president of Kensington Stables in Brooklyn.
Parkgoer Pierra Legorrec, 32, said he recalled riding in Central Park back in the 1980s, when it was a bit like the Wild West.
“As we went into the northern end of the park, we couldn’t go certain places because there were people throwing stuff or doing drugs,” she said. “I’m sure the park has changed a lot.”