Another Horse is Killed on the Gower Road - Fairwood Common

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EstherSupporter

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www.reggaewales.co.uk
This is the 5th horse killed on the road since last October......
It is awful.........

Can anyone give information on other commons where animals are left to roam freely on busy main roads because it is a common.....they are just being turned out to sure tragic, painfull deaths.

I would like to know if any part of the UK has succesfully done anything to help prevent these animals being injured???

Before I approach the council etc....I would to gather all the info I can to stand a chance of getting something done to protect these animals.........its very distressing to see Horses, sheep & cattle mangled on the side of the road.....because of stupid careless drivers.
 
I live by that road and it isn't just ponies that get killed it is sheep and cattle as well, the drivers are nuts it is an open stretch and most drivers do 50+ mph, they did start fencing it like they did with Clyne common, but I think the commoners got annoyed cos the animals can't roam freely, they need to set a speed limit on the road but I doubt they will
 
It's a huge problem in the New Forest too. Sadly, you will never "educate" some drivers into being sensible. There is a 40mph limit throughout the whole Forest but not enough people adhere to it. Look at these statistics: http://www.verderers.org.uk/accidents_2007.pdf

This is also interesting (look down the left-hand side)
http://www.verderers.org.uk/

I know the road you mean in The Gower and have been horrified at the speed people drive over there. I had a real "go" at a friend of mine who cheerfully zoomed along at 70mph with sheep and ponies on the verges. She nearly gave me heart failure.
 
My old boss keeps his ponies on that common and we hardly ever had a problem. He checks them every day and we'd herd them to a safe area, usually with me on a pony and him on a dirt bike, if needed. Commonor's rights allow people to keep their animals there and we brought many ponies off the hills to break to ride and drive. His view is that an animal that can survive out there in all weathers is going to have a better working life as it is going to be tough and strong.

I can remember one foal being killed in the 4 years I worked for him and that was due to some idiot who decided to wait for most of the herd to cross the road then carry on while a couple were still over the other side. I have alwys lived in Wales and have grown up with sheep, horses and other animals on the verges, you just get used to it. I do agree that people drive far too fast on some of the roads and don't pay attention to what the animals are doing. You have to keep an eye on them and understand their body language & behaviour to anticipate what they are going to do. Unfortunately many people, especially tourists, might not realise this.
 
I don't believe the problem is with the animals, but with the ever increasing speed and total lack of observation skills of cars and their drivers.

For many years I used to visit and drive around the Forest of Dean, and I had many friends who lived up there. I can only ever remember one incident when a sheep was clipped, but not injured. We were aware of the sheep and used to keep our eyes open and drive in an appropriate manner.

It seems that every stretch of open road encourages stupid speeds these days, and a complete lack of observation by drivers, I know this as I cover more than 30,000 business miles a year and have done for well over 20 years. Driving standards get worse and worse and in this case the poor animals become the victims.
 
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Sort of...I might take to calling him that!

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lol I'm thinking of John Marsden, I know him well
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I work on Fairwood Common.............and I am sick of seeing mutilated animals killed on the road yes sheep and cows get kileed as well as horses.........to say foal has been killed in 4 years it a complete and utter lie....as I am witnessing these animals dead on the road myself................I am also fed up to the back teeth of ppl saying its commoners rights...nothing can be done...............so therefore nothing is ever done because ppl have this attitude......the commoners rights are aincient....and were made when people drove a horse and cart.............time has change and these laws need to be changed to accomodate the vehicles used today.

Sorry for the angry reply but I really can not stand to see this happening any longer.........the horses on the common are not well looked after at all.

Tourists do drive slowly its the local people that dont ......
 
On the mountain behind us, one cattle farmer has put flurescent bands around their necks. They go out in the morning and come home at night and he hasnt had one accident with his animals since using these. However, I dont know how practical this would be with ponies who could well get tangled up on fencing and trees.
 
They are pushing for all animals in the New Forest to 'wear' something hi-viz while out roaming. Dartmoor is also a bad place for this.
 
It's horrible, I remember one horse was killed and the police would not have it removed for 3 days, but the car was moved straight away, just waited till it was dark and moved it with a JCB (iut was right on the side of the road), and we watched the road, the police turned up a week later.
 
Excuse me?! It was not a complete and utter lie - why would I lie about it, please explain. I didn't say only one foal had been killed, I said one foal of ours.That is the truth. I'm sure others have died, but ours didn't. Maybe we were lucky but I do not appreciate being called a lier by somebody who does not know me and don't say our ponies are not well looked after because ours were checked every day and many went on to be successful driving ponies, even making it as far as winning at HOYS. Don't apologise after insulting me, I do not appreciate being patronised either.

People have a right to keep their animals on common ground, the problem is it's unfortunate that people do not understand or care that animals live there and their behaviour is unpredictable. I have problems out riding where I live now so it goes to show that people in cars can be idiots, that I agree with.
 
Why can't fairwood common (by the arport) be fenced off like the other side by clyne? I know it would be a pain, but not many people ride acroos the road to get from one side to the other, if they wnat the animals to get from one side to the other, could they not put two gaps in the fence and have warnings, such as flashing lights? to warn people of animals crossing
 
Is that the Gower peninsula?
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because when i was little i used to spend hours up on the moors watching the ponies, i gave them all names... got chased by the little white stallion a couple of times
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saw a foal born too... so sad that they're straying on the roads
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Why can't fairwood common (by the arport) be fenced off like the other side by clyne? I know it would be a pain, but not many people ride acroos the road to get from one side to the other, if they wnat the animals to get from one side to the other, could they not put two gaps in the fence and have warnings, such as flashing lights? to warn people of animals crossing

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I don't agree with the fencing of Clyne the animals can't roam the same..
Plus the last few horses that have been killed on Fairwood common, actually haven't been common ponies but horses that have broken out of fields eg last year 3 Arab horses were killed after breaking out and galloping acroos the road at 11pm at night, it gets me when people say these common ponies aren't looked after, they are!! they are rounded up and wormed, they get hay put out on the Three crosses side of the common, plus some of you wouldn't believe what some of those ponies are worth, yes there are some scraggy horses out there but they aren't the true common ponies but horses (usually from the Townhill/Mayhill part of Swansea) that their owners have turned out for free grazing
 
I know one pony that was killed last year, a lovely gapple grey, and it really upset me, as I first saw it in Parc-Le-Breos woods, and it even had sweat marks on face and back from a saddle and feet were neatly trimed, so caught it without a problem, and managed to find the yard that it came from, they collected and than that afternoon, I saw it on the links in pennard, and caught it again, phoned up the yard, and they say that they never had a pony like that before. How can people turn a handled pony out, and except it to turn wild, I know it can happen, but this little mare was too friendly, loved humans
 
Lets face it, most of the drivers on the roads are twats, lack of forward think, lack of general awarness, poor light, raining, most people have lights on, except idiots in dark cars against a dark background on a dark road, they dont seem to notice EVERYONE else has their lights on, what are they worried about, wearing the bulbs out, flying up to roundabouts and then having to bang brakes on at the last minute because heaven forbid YOUR THERE, it must puzzling for so many drivers wondering what that stalky thing is at the side of the steering wheel is for, what do they think I have, a bloody crystal ball on my dashboard from Halfords, there you go mate, brrrrmmmmmmmmmm brrrrrrrrrmmmmmm
 
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