argh!! so angry with neighbours kids!!!

alfirules

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 January 2006
Messages
1,181
Visit site
there are these kids which are quite young, around 11 Years old, they live along the road from us, they are so annoying. they are always breaking the fences, littering the fields, (which are private), they break my jumps, the other day they deliberately set their dog on our chickens and wouldnt get it back i had to shout at the dog to get it off our chickens, and just now i looked out the window to check on the horses (my house overlooks the fields we rent) and they were messing around in the stream at the bottom, i thought oh no what are they up to now! anf then they moved up to the field where my pony is in his diet pen and started shouting at him, waving their arms at him throwing things at him. alfie is very nervous as he was mistreated as a youngster, so as you can imagine i was, and still am furious!!

i ran down the field and told them to get out the fields and leave my horses alone, and they walked off into the other fields.

my dad has told their dad about it before and he said he wouldnt let them go in our fields anymore, that waswhen they squirted the horses with water pistols!!

do you think my dad should have another chat with their dad??

am i right to be sooo angry!!
mad.gif
 
Yes definitely before its too late. I know a girl whos horse got let out onto the roads and was very very badly hurt after dragging himself through barbed wire.

Kids cannot be allowed to muck around with horses (or other animals) tell your Dad to sort it out. Then get some electric fencing and nuke the little buggers...
 
definitely right
I'd call the Police tbh and get them officially warned and then issued with an ASBO

The police have more power than your dad

Also keep a diary about times, dates and incidents to show the Police
 
my pony is surrounded by electric fencing... but it doesnt bother them!!!

there is a footpath at the top of the field but it is fenced off and clearly marked!
 
Blimey I would have done a bit more than shout at them!

Maybe your Dad could write a formal letter to the kids' parents outlining what they have been up to on your property and that it will not be tolerated any more. Unfortunately I don't think there is much you can do though (although there a few things I can think of!).

My how my attitude has changed since having my own property and finding brats in my garden. I was a swine for trespassing as a child in Cornwall (but I never damaged property or animals!)
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
definitely right
I'd call the Police tbh and get them officially warned and then issued with an ASBO

The police have more power than your dad

Also keep a diary about times, dates and incidents to show the Police

[/ QUOTE ]

You actually have to jump through quite a few hoops to get an ASBO, but the first step would be to report it to the Police, with long summer evenings it can only get worse, so best to nip it in the bud now.
 
QUOTE:
Maybe your Dad could write a formal letter to the kids' parents outlining what they have been up to on your property and that it will not be tolerated any more

Also add that if they are found on your property again then you will be calling the police.
 
agree totally
but by reporting it now and keeping a diary - if it happens over the summer/halfterm - which it's likely to by the sound of it - then they have evidence to show to police and court
 
If you cannot get a satisfactory resolution by speaking to the parents then there are several courses of action you can take.

If the children are committing damage to your property then you could involve the police. If they are of tender years (Under 10 years of age) they are below the age of criminal responsibility & cannot be prosecuted for any criminal offence. If however they aren't & they are basically a just a nuisance they are committing civil trespass & this is not a police matter.

There is a civil remedy for trespass, you can seek an injunction to keep them off your property & that can be served on them.

From what you are saying they are not causing enough problems to have an ASBO served on them.

Hopefully the parents will resolve the situation & you won't have to resort to other remedys. Good Luck
smile.gif
 
Agree with all of the above - time to escalate it, I'm sure, given the risk to your animals and your poor pony.

I wonder if step one could be to ask for a meeting with the children and the parents together, and maybe take some (real horror) pictures with you from back copies of H&H/wherever with examples of what can happen if horses get very frightened and get themsevles injured on fences or on the road. Leave these photos with them! Explain that this why you are absolutely determined that they should stop trespassing, and that you will be calling the police the next time you see them on your land. This way you've been very reasonable, have spoken to the kids in front of their parents, and made clear why you feel so strongly and maybe (just maybe) the kids will be forced to understand what their actions could lead to, and the parents will have to be more active in taking responsibility for their kids ..... Good luck, whatever you decide to do!
 
Good idea! And perhaps have a look around for some footage (you tube or similar?) of what horses can do to us humans when riled - it just never occurs to kids how dangerous an upset horse can be. - Don't suppose you have a friend with a stroppy mare you could borrow?!!
grin.gif
 
I would be livid too.

How friendly are you with the family? I think that I would get your Dad to speak to their parents and really push the point that the children could get injured if they mess around with the horses, frightened/wound up horses can easily run over small people. A warning, in writing, about these dangers and the fact that they are tresspassing might help too. You can bet that if those children DO get injured then you'll be having complaints.

Personally I'd like to frighten brats like this with a visit from a Policeman, but the days of the Village Bobby are long gone and I think the Police are far too busy to pay housecalls nowadays. Make it official, if it is on record that the children are tresspassing and something does happen then you have been shown to have tried to do something about it.

Get some geese.......I used to mess about in the neighbours fields when I was a child, until I got seen off by geese
frown.gif


Alternately, threaten to go and play in their garden, pester their animals, climb on their fences, see how they like it.
 
We had some kids running in the field with our young horses so that they would chase them, whent he horses got up to them they dived head 1st back through the fence.

I put the fear of god into them by telling them what would have happened if the horses had managed to kick them (they were very excited) and what I would have had to tell their parents, when they were lying dead in my field.

They havent done it again.
 
Cant you try and make 'friends' with them? Having them on 'your' side will make life easier for all concerned. Try and get them involved with your ned instead of using him as target practice. Let them help brush him down or show them how to pick out feet , maybe even give them a wander round the field on him (in hand of course). Remember that the summer hols are on the way and kids getting bored=mischief. The more you can can explain, in a friendly way ,about horses, how they work and how DANGEROUS they can be, the more it will be likely that they will gain some respect for your horse and yourself. Stop hounding them-thats exactly what they want. Mairi.
smile.gif
 
Is it not an offense now to scare an animal and make it suffer??? You should point this out to the parents of these children!!
At my parents house out next door neighbour had an old pony and a donkey. About 10 years ago we got a visit from a rather angry parent who had just returned from the A&E with her child who now had a broken elbow. They informed us that the donkey should be put down as it was dangerous. 1st we pointed out that it was not ours, but we asked what the child had actually been doing anywhere near the donkey, let alone down out PRIVATE road. Upon questioning said child it turns out the donkey turned on him after he had thrown one stone too many at it!!!
The parent kept hassling the donkeys owners but there was nothing the parent could do as her child was entirely at fault - it was a private road with a keep out sign.

More recently I have had children cycle past me whilst out hacking yelling at Beau and skidding behind him - they were around 7/8 years old and must be extremely stupid because if I was there size there is no way I would annoy or scare something the size of Beau! I felt like going after them and scaring the wits out of them, I really would of had there not been adults about!!
 
I would be bleeding furious!! If they are over 10 years old then they are above the age for criminal responsibility and deliberately terrorising any animal like this would be an offence. If the pony got injured I would also say you have a case of criminal damage there.

I would have a chat with the the local bobby first, it may be this family have already come to notice for other matters and if so your evidence could assist with gettting an ASBO but you do need quite a few complaints to get it home.

There is absolutely no reason why the local Police shouldnt at least go and speak with these kids. Neighbourhood Policing is a government directive and all forces now have to have officers dedicated to sorting this kind of antisocial behaviour, dont take no for an answer
 
I found some kids chasing the ponies in the neighbouring field around with a sharp stick - said ponies included a stallion and a mare with her foal.

I called them over and told them hideous stories about how dangerous it was - how they could so easily be trampled to death, or kicked, and that I was surprised they'd been OK so far because the ponies were notoriously dangerous around children. And told them that no one ever came in the field, so they could be lying there injured for days before anyone found them.

I finished by telling them that, for their own safety, I'd have to call the police if I found them there again, and not to try and sneak in because I'd hear them.

We never saw them again...
 
thanks for the advice everyone, its very helpful, my dads going to have a word and i think i will get him to discuss some of the stuff you have mentioned!!!

Mairi: i see what you are saying, i think they like to see how i react to them sometimes, they like being told off and caught!!! but im not sure i would like them to handle the horses too much, especially as mine is very nervous around strangers!!

we have a youngsterin the field that will often charge around, but it still doesnt bother them, i think they wont learn until they get injured!!
 
Top