Banned from riding down our driveway?

C

chestnutx

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I recently moved my horse to fields of nearby farm. The farm is no longer a working farm and all the farm buildings have been converted to very posh houses and it is on its own exclusive little gated estate. So I have a young horse who has never been hacked out so I've been building his hacking up slowly by going down the driveway and back. Plus giving my kids little rides 50feet down drive. Plus in order to get to some of the smaller routes I'll have to go down drive to get out on roads. I've now been told that the company who manages the estate has banned all horses from going on the driveway due to insurance reasons in case of an accident! Can this be true? Seems crazy to me! Apparently the residents are worried they'll crash into me? It is no different to any other road nor any different to people walking their dogs which they frequently do!

I'm so annoyed it was such a pain to move him and one of the main reasons I did was because the hacking was much better!

Aargh!
 
Well it's a private road but my horse's field is in there so yes to get out I have to ride him along the driveway. The owner of my field said that as I can ride in all his fields surely I don't need to go anyway else! He has 50acres I can ride round but at the moment it is all boggy but I could ride to nearby woods where there are sand tracks, if I was allowed down driveway to get out!
 
Who rents the fields to you is this the same person who owns the drive? Ask them about the access. Even though the drive way is 'private land' you should in theory treat it as public highway. We were advised that our son ( at the time 13 & learning to drive the tractor ) should not drive on our drive as anyone might come along and be involved in an accident with him. May be the landowner has public liability insurance. If you are insured there should be no problem but I wouldn't take children for a little ride along the drive until you have all this sorted.
 
I would imagine the real reason is the residents in the smart little country pads don't want horse muck on their driveway or similar reasons. I'd suggest first up finding out what your access rights are, write a politely worded letter to all the residents and say you have your own third party insurance, will endeavour to keep the driveway clear of horse poo and will avoid clattering the horse up and down the drive early mornings on the weekend. So essentially aim to keep the peace!
 
Perhaps its the repeated walking up and down that's annoying people

Get some more information if you can, the management co don't own the land so I don't see how they can enforce this

Your best bet may be to agree to use the drive for access only

I agree that in theory it's no more risky than using a normal road but it does sound like you were on the drive more than one would expect of a normal road

My feeling is that this is just the homeowners being a bit snobby but if the clause is enforceable I think you'll have no option but to try to get them to agree at least to access only
 
ihatework said:
I would imagine the real reason is the residents in the smart little country pads don't want horse muck on their driveway or similar reasons. I'd suggest first up finding out what your access rights are, write a politely worded letter to all the residents and say you have your own third party insurance, will endeavour to keep the driveway clear of horse poo and will avoid clattering the horse up and down the drive early mornings on the weekend. So essentially aim to keep the peace!
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Yep I bet this is why. If it has been used by the previous owner etc even if he sold it (unless he agreed to reliquish all ROW etc ) if he has used if for years prior to selling the other land he should be able to support you using it especially if motorised vehicles etc then horses are well under the radar. You may find its just one perfect person that has complained. Most people like seeing horses but yes we have had some right interfering busy bodies that have moved to the country side and want gleaming ROWs not mud and sticks and stones. I even got told to pick up the manure on a bridleway. "If I have to pick up my dog poo you have to pick up your horse....blah blah" If you were obstructing cars frequently then fair enough but crazy to me.
 
Well I only ride twice a week so not excessive at all. I have just spoken to land owner and said I have insurance and will pick up poo and use for access only and he admitted that other residents are anti horses and he didn't want to upset them as he has to live with them. We are going to look into putting in another acces but it will mean riding along a busy a road.

It is definitely a case of posh people not wanting any messy horses around! Probably doesn't help my pony is unclipped welsh cob!
 
Landowner might think he will get a quiet life by bending over backwards to accommodate an unreasonable demand with no legal basis, but he would be making a big mistake - if he rolls over so easily on this unreasonable demand, the next will come fast following behind.

I would be reminding him of this.
 
I have fields which are accessed by way of a bridleway. I had to ensure that I had legal vehicular access to the fields when I bought them and the solicitor sorted this out for me.
Do you own or rent your horses field? If you own it then access rights will be on your sales documents and should include on foot by horse or with a vehicle. you may need a solicitor to sort this out. if you rent it you need to ask who ever you rent from what access rights you have on that particular stretch of road. it maybe you actually have no rights at all either by car or horse or on foot. If you cant resolve the matter quickly then moving may be the best option if you are at present renting.
 
it's the 'Townie's' that spoil it for the genuine Countryside Folk.. they decide to 'move to the Country for some fresh air'.. then expect us Country Folk to bend over backwards to accommodate 'THEM'..
"Oh, you can't leave 'that' there!" (horse muck in road)
"Oh, you can't ride down here, your horse is churning up the gravel!" (no more than their '4WD' beast..
They just hate everything about mud, horse manure and farms, yet insist on making everyone else feel uncomfortable, because they're 'Townie's' and we should comply to their 'every whim'..
Perhaps, they should have stayed in the towns, and left the countryside for what it's intended use is..
 
our neighbouring farmer used to get complaints from the townies who moved into a cottage adjoining his land. complaints about noise and smell. So every xmas day for several years he muck spread on the field behind their place whilst they were having xmas dinner with their friends and family. He made a point of starting silaging very early in the morning in that field too. Good for him.
 
Shadeyoak said:
it's the 'Townie's' that spoil it for the genuine Countryside Folk.. they decide to 'move to the Country for some fresh air'.. then expect us Country Folk to bend over backwards to accommodate 'THEM'..
"Oh, you can't leave 'that' there!" (horse muck in road)
"Oh, you can't ride down here, your horse is churning up the gravel!" (no more than their '4WD' beast..
They just hate everything about mud, horse manure and farms, yet insist on making everyone else feel uncomfortable, because they're 'Townie's' and we should comply to their 'every whim'..
Perhaps, they should have stayed in the towns, and left the countryside for what it's intended use is..
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^^This^^....makes you wonder why they bother moving to the country when they seem to hate everything about it. Sorry, but I would be moving my horses elsewhere if the access issue can't be sorted. It just isn't acceptable.
 
lachlanandmarcus said:
Landowner might think he will get a quiet life by bending over backwards to accommodate an unreasonable demand with no legal basis, but he would be making a big mistake - if he rolls over so easily on this unreasonable demand, the next will come fast following behind.

I would be reminding him of this.
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Very good advice, you have to be firm but fair with these sort of people You will probbly find they have had a lifetime of bossing others around and getting there own way!! give the ******s an inch they will take a mile ..
 
Not sure the insurance thing stands up at all, if it's a private road I think it is all down to right of access and whether you got any with the field or if the farmer will grant it to you. If you are his tenants and he has right of access then he can grant it to you.

People like that annoy me though, they move to the country but don't really want to live in the country. I had a similar situation at my last yard where the residents of this horrible new very exclusive estate complained about horses.
The road was a private road with public footpath access, but the land our yard was on had right of access so there was nothing they could do. The farmer had right of access across all the roads and chose to grant it to his liveries. Absolutely right about this being the start of lots of little complaints. I think our farmer had got to the stage where he liked annoying them as they complained about his muck heap location and other things.

The road in question links two bridleways and lots of other riders in the area had been using it for years before the estate was built. The residents complained again and th ere is now an attempt to get it reclassified as a bridleway on the basis of usage.
 
It sounds a mess, and that it is nothing to do with insurance, just townies grumbling that the countryside is not actually as picture perfect as they imagined!

If the farmer will make you another entrance, he is trying. Could you ask for a track of road chippings along a hedgeline somewhere, so you can take your child up and down that without going on the road... It wouldn't cost much, could be out of view of the snobs, and would solve all the issues.. In summer it won't be an issue as you can ride on the estate..
 
The farmer must have right of access which would extend to any animals.
Personally if it was me I would drive a flock of sheep up the road just as mothers were off on the school run and the following day drive a herd of cows down it!

A farmer I knew many years ago had problems with country invaders complaining about anything and everything. I was an ongoing battle 10 to farmer 0 to incomers sort of thing.
I think all will agree when I say the farmer won the final battle by holding the first IOW Pop Festival way back in the 60s in the field next to the estate!
 
Thanks for all your replies. I agree it is so frustrating with the townies but problem is I pay a tiny amount of rent for my field and the residents payed millions for their houses!

Hopefully we'll get the new access sorted and then roll on summer!
 
Or put on all your "POLITE NOTICE" hi-vis and make them think you're the police - they might have seen a police horse in town ;)

Just kidding. How stupid... I used to RUN to the window whenever I heard a horse on the road. What is really so awful about it?
 
Horsesforever1 said:
our neighbouring farmer used to get complaints from the townies who moved into a cottage adjoining his land. complaints about noise and smell. So every xmas day for several years he muck spread on the field behind their place whilst they were having xmas dinner with their friends and family. He made a point of starting silaging very early in the morning in that field too. Good for him.
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This would be my responce, oh dear, what a shame they got a little bit of horse poo on their poxy BMW

NOA.
 
If the farmer has right of access, and it's his field - and he's taking money from you renting said field, surely you have access ? i take it he is pandering to these Townies. In which case, I'd carry on doing what you are doing, clear up the poo, and let them get on with it.

Sounds like the farmer is trying to placate his buyers (?), and is being a knob quite frankly. If this ultimately means you are forced onto the road, I'd be finding a new field and tell him where to stick his "posh, on a plate, countryside for Townies".
 
Good heavens an unclipped welsh cob, what an eyesore! Could you not have some decency and purchase a thoroughbred (ideally one in black with a white star) or at the very least a sensible hunter type... Preferably dapple grey, townies like those. Oh and make sure you wear a red hunt coat (I do not care if you are not going hunting), and announce your presence with a bugle... That is the only place the townies expect to see horses in the country, but for gods sake don't kill anything!
 
From what I understood, it sounds as though the landowner, her landlord, lives in a house near to these people that are complaining and doesn't want to upset his new neighbours, not that its them banning her.. He has already said he will make another entrance to her fields, but this would not be onto such a quiet road.. It doesn't sound so much a question of access, but the landowner changing things. It also sounds as though he is trying to find a solution, so its a difficult one..
 
mandwhy said:
Good heavens an unclipped welsh cob, what an eyesore! Could you not have some decency and purchase a thoroughbred (ideally one in black with a white star) or at the very least a sensible hunter type... Preferably dapple grey, townies like those. Oh and make sure you wear a red hunt coat (I do not care if you are not going hunting), and announce your presence with a bugle... That is the only place the townies expect to see horses in the country, but for gods sake don't kill anything!
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Sorry, OP, nothing to add, But LOL LOL at this :D
 
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