Angry farmer

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tiffpiff

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Hi i recently had a run in with a very angry farmer ...
I had no idea the land i was riding on and have been riding on for the last 3 years, was not a bridleway ... I know people have been riding on this land for a very long time and was wondering if anyone else has had problems like this and whether anyone has experience in making a case and a claim to make it into a bridleway.. im a bit stuck if i cant ride on this land as on way is a bus routed housing estate and the other way is a very busy industrial estate .. my field is in kingsthorpe northampton .. any suggestions gratefully received.:confused:
 
If i move to a new area with my horses i always invest in an Ordinance map to see where the bridlepaths/byways are.I guess he has every right to be pi**ed off at you..how do you know the other riders who cross his land do not have permission from the farmer?..
 
If it doesn't have a bridleway sign, then surely it isn't meant for you to ride up.

Why try and get an already angry farmer to forcibly have a bridleway across his land. It's not really the way to endear him to the local horse community :eek:.

Unfortunately, riders like yourself give the more courteous riders a bad name :mad:
 
Maybe an idea would be to speak to him, nicely, face to face and maybe offer him something to ride on his land maybe?? Rather than just trying to take it off him?! Poor bloke.
I'd be angry if people were riding my land without asking and I'd be hopping, spitting livid if they tried to force it to be made into a bridleway!!! Just because you haven't been caught before, doesn't make it ok.
 
I am not presuming i have the right .. i am very careful and never go on crops but he was so cross he wouldnt let me talk and explain that i had no idea it wasnt a bridleway.. and as some poor girl died from falling off on the road near by and surely the council should be making bridleways as well as walk ways and cycle routes
 
I have lots of trouble with trespassers too, its really annoying. Spend all that money on land and other people think its public property or a country park. Its not, its private land that someone else has PAID for.
 
i would think that theres probably nothing you can do to make it legally allowable-
my only advice would be ( if there is sufficent setaside along the field, so in no way would you be damaging the crop) is to approach the farmer directly, apologise hugely, and ask him very kindly if he would permit you to ride on his land.

if he refuses you then i think that that will be the end of it, just because others or yourself have wrongfully ridden on it for 3+ yrs doesnt make any difference i wouldnt of thought.
 
tiffpiff said:
I am not presuming i have the right .. i am very careful and never go on crops but he was so cross he wouldnt let me talk and explain that i had no idea it wasnt a bridleway.. and as some poor girl died from falling off on the road near by and surely the council should be making bridleways as well as walk ways and cycle routes
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He has every right to be angry - its HIS land, he owns it! How would you like someone to put a bridleway through your back garden just cause they want one there?

Gosh, no wonder farmers don't like horse riders any more. When I was a child we ASKED if we could ride places, before we rode there and if we hadn't asked or didnt KNOW it was a bridleway - we didn't hack there! Seemed the polite thing to do, where are people's manners nowerdays!?
 
If your not damaging his crops, maybe you could offer to pay a yearly fee to use the route, I don't think forcing you to have a footpath through your back garden would go down well with yourself, same thing.
 
tiffpiff said:
I am not presuming i have the right .. i am very careful and never go on crops but he was so cross he wouldnt let me talk and explain that i had no idea it wasnt a bridleway.. and as some poor girl died from falling off on the road near by and surely the council should be making bridleways as well as walk ways and cycle routes
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I think you will find that councils are trying to close bridleways..We have had the only two bridleways closed off because of development.
 
But you could also fall in one of the fields and hurt yourself. Do you have a trailor? If so you could box to better hacking places
 
If the route isn't marked as a bridleway on the OS map, you could make an appointment to view the Definitive map at your local County hall and see if it is a ROW.
If the route has been used as a bridlepath for 20 years or more continously, then it could be made into a bridleway.

However, if you have been riding on private land with no public access, then, really, the farmer has every right to be annoyed.
 
Dear me, angry farmer, now angry posters, not your day!
If you were using what you thought was a bridleway then you should have explained to farmer, is there a reason he suddenly appeared after three years, seems a bit odd.
I think he may be concerned that you will try to "establish a bridleway", or maybe his field is damaged.
You could move to Scotland where we don't have bridleways, but supposedly "open access". A few months ago, I was going to move to a farm with a new wind-farm road, the YO was absolutely gob-smacked that I intended to ride on it, apparently I was expected to use the country roads, and never venture off road.
I have no idea why people are so resistant to the use of the "open access" legislation, but it is quite common to encounter padlocked gates.
Not to be cynical, but I did meet the "Open Access Officer" at a meeting, and she was very nice, had leaflets and so on, but ineffective, preaching to the converted you might say.
 
Like others have said, either ask him if you can pay to ride there or stay off. If the local kids didn't have a park would you be ok with being forced into letting hordes of them into your house & garden to play football? Or is it a different rule for farmers?
 
Miss L Toe said:
is there a reason he suddenly appeared after three years, seems a bit odd.
.
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Yeah cause of course all farmers have to do in their day is watch, eagle eyed all day over their fields :confused: The onus is on tresspassers NOT to tresspass (as this IS what this is, ignorance is not an excuse) NOT the landowner!!!
 
Is there some random old law that states if you can provide evidence that it has been used for 20Years as a bridleway by public riders with no previous intervention from the owner then a right of way is established?
 
i dont want to offend or annoy anyone i was just gutted as it was perfect riding and i have never been spoken to like that ever.. i must have been the icing on the cake that day as he wouldnt let me speak .. maybe other riders in the area had walked on his crops i have no idea .. hopefully an appology letter and an offer of a yearly payment will do it..
 
I think there is which sucks. Trespass long enough and dont get caught out and the world is your oyster apparently.

Although Im sure the farmer would be able to recall instances within those 20 years where hes torn a strip of a trespasser and thrown them off. ie, previous intervention.
 
Good luck with writing him a letter, I hope it works!

We're friends with most of the farmers/land owners around here and have various arrangements so we can ride on their land. It's always a good idea to stay on the good side of people like that. I know you didn't know, but hopefully your letter will work and you'll get your lovely riding back!
 
Capriole said:
I think there is which sucks. Trespass long enough and dont get caught out and the world is your oyster apparently.
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When English bridleways legislation was in its infancy [1970's], I used to use a rather obscure one, once a year to make sure it was maintained as such, it was on the OS map, and had been used by farmers going to markets and so on for centuries. there was no damage to the land, and as far as I know I did not upset the farmers.
In those days, I used to hack to the farrier, there were no travelling farriers at that time as the gas furnaces had not been invented.
I also used to hack to meets, again using country lanes and paths, never did any damage, never met angry farmers.
However there were far fewer horse riders, and those people that hacked were usually known to landowners, and obviously knew which crops were vulnerable, so it would be better to ride along the edge of a stubble field rather than through a turnip field, and obviously never go in to pheasant coverts.
 
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A few years ago a group of horse owners, myself included, negotiated with a local farmer, who was also a friend to some of us, to be allowed to ride on his land. He left a 12 foot headland around some of his fields and we all paid £40 a year to ride on them.

We were all hunting people and used the land to get our hunters fit. This worked well until 'the all the gear and no idea brigade' noticed our small group using the land.

All the gear and no idea brigade decided they could to, but needless to say, they did not stick to the headland, regardless of the fact they should not be there in the first place. They galloped everywhere, all over the winter barley, jumped the small rails, breaking them and left gates open.

The farmer went berserk at them. Our group felt it was our fault and decided to not use the land anymore for fear of attracting even more attention to the land. The outcome was we lost valuable fittening facilities and the farmer lost several hundred pounds a year.

I find it totally incredible that people think they can ride anywhere they like. I have told several liveries to leave my yard when I have found out they have been joy riding. Totally inexcusable and I would back up any farmer who finds people charging about on horses on private land.
 
When English bridleways legislation was in its infancy [1970's], I used to use a rather obscure one, once a year to make sure it was maintained as such, it was on the OS map, and had been used by farmers going to markets and so on for centuries. there was no damage to the land, and as far as I know I did not upset the farmers.
In those days, I used to hack to the farrier, there were no travelling farriers at that time as the gas furnaces were not invented.


fabulous. well done .
 
The first thing to do is to buy a copy of your local ordnance survey map and check if the route is marked on it and what status it is. Having done that then confirm the status of the track with the Definitive Map Officer of the local County Council. If the route is a public right of way of bridleway or byway status then you can ride on it. If not then you can't. However if you know riders that have ridden it then you will need to get them to complete an evidence form and apply for a creation order. Your local BHS access officer will be able to assist you.
 
How about you go buy a bottle of the hard stuff, knock on his door and firstly apologise for the misunderstanding. Then give him your peace offering, and explain you now understand his anger as you didn't know it was not a bridle path and is there anything you could do to to help him see his way clear to letting you ride on his land?
Most farmers (particularly arable farmers) worry about damage to land and crops, but if you can show him your willingness to abide by any rules he lays down he might have a change of heart.
 
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