also you can go up foot paths but u have to dismount and lead!
No no no! I don't know who told you that, but they were very wrong.
Sorry, but in law, you do NOT have any right to use a footpath with a horse - whether it is led or ridden, unless you have the landowner's specific permission to do so.
Again, in law, a path which has the legal status of a footpath can be used freely by pedestrians and their 'natural accompaniments' to 'pass and re-pass'.
A 'natural accompaniment' has been defined in law as a dog, a pram or pushchair, or a wheelchair - although there is no obligation that the paths should be usable by any of the 'natural accompaniments'.
A horse is not classed as a 'natural accompaniment' for a pedestrian.
Neither is a bike, you will have noticed - and although many cyclists get off and wheel their bikes along public footpaths without anyone complaining, strictly speaking, a landowner can demand that someone wheeling their bike along a footpath pick it up and carry it without letting the wheels touch the ground. I suspect that IF you could pick up your horse and carry it, then that would satisfy the requirements of it being a natural accompaniment and you could then take it legally along a footpath!
If the status of a path is in dispute, though, then whatever its legal status, you may well be advised, by a Bridleway Association or similar, to continue using it - or attempting to use it. Also, if you have good reason to believe that a path has been wrongly classified, then you may continue to use it as long as you do so in good faith.
NB My posts in general apply to England and Wales. Scottish Right-of-Way law is very different to English and Welsh law. Ireland has almost NO rights of way for horses.