Child going into my horses field..

V1NN

V1NN

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 July 2009
Messages
1,860
Visit site
Ok so i keep my horse at a small private yard on the edge of a village.
The YO has told me that a little boy has been seen going into the field a few of times, i think this boy is about 6-7yrs old and his family have a very bad reputation around the village.
He has tried to kick my little dog before, i mean literally just come up to him whilst my mum was walking him and tried to boot him, my mum told him in no uncertain terms to never come near him again! He has also been seen frequently throwing stones at cats, pulling flowers out of the ground and just being a general little menace around the village, he wanders around on his own all the time even very early in the morning. His mum and dad i would be scared to approach frankly.

So anyway what i am most concerned about is him coming into the horses field. The other two horses not mine are elderly and very placid and most likely would never harm him, But my young lad is only a 2yr old big strapping chap and he is generally very good but i have had him come galloping up to me, and i am feart he could seriously injure this little lad if he comes in again. I have also seen my horse try to pounce on the yard cat and random birds in the field, he is quite excitable. My horse also likes to pick everything up and almost picked up my little cousin by her jacket a few weeks ago!

There are signs up that say keep out etc and the gates are padlocked when we are not their but he has just been coming through the fence, or over the gate. My horse is insured. The yo has spoken to him and his parents but this hasn't seemed to have helped. I dont want to move my horse because in all other ways this yard is perfect for me and i plan to stay here permanently as its 2mins from my house and extremely cheap.
Anyone else experienced anything like this? what to do really? I'd feel terrible if he got injured. Thanks for reading..x
 
Put a big sign up clearly stating that horses are unpredictable creatures and the owners will not be held responsible for any harm caused by the horses to trespassers in the field. Maybe also pop a note to this effect through said family's door ?
 
could you get a solicitor to write them a letter, explaining that as they have been warned, you cannot be held responsible for what happens if their son continues to trespass in this way?
 
It sounds pretty sad that he is that young and left to his own devices so much. Are you around at all when he goes into the field? Maybe have a chat with him and explain that sometimes they can be dangerous, take the opportunity for a bit of horse info! You might find he only does it because he is bored and he likes being around them. Perhaps if he listens and keeps out of the field, you can let him give pats to one of the more placid ones in return?
 
With signs up you would not be liable if he was to get injured (I don't think you would anyways) but obviously you don't want the lad getting injured or upsetting your horses.

Could you not put a few strands of electric fencing in your gate way, if you put 3 strands up, he wouldn't be able to go through the middle and his only option would to be going over the top, which would most likely result in being zapped. This might be a way to deter him, make sure you hang a sign on fence to warn people its electric though!

Hope you manage to sort it out.
 
Last edited:
Gosh difficult one innit.

Personally I'd be inclined to cover yourself: what you don't want is for this delightful child's parents to sue the pants off you if their precious child gets hurt, so I'd be inclined to put something in writing to the parents to the effect that their child has been seen playing in the horses' field, and that you as the owner of the horses have been made aware of this, and that you cannot be held responsible for any injury to the child if they continue to trespass in this way. Keep the letter firm and polite - it might even be worth going to a solicitor to get them to write a letter for you, or get advice on how to write it, or Cits Advice.

Send the letter by recorded delivery so the parents can't say they've not been warned. If this doens't work I'd be inclined to perhaps have a quiet word with the local police and say you're concerned; if you do this make sure you get an incident log number, or you could even write in, again getting it in writing to safeguard yourself.

More drastic measure might be (if you have to) to contact the Child Protection people - as its obvious these parents aren't taking proper care of their kiddie. But you probably won't want to go that route in the first instance. (Tip: I believe you can make an anonymous complaint?).

But yup, I'd try the letter in the first instance. If the parents prove unhelpful, then tell them that you will have no option but to refer the matter on to the "appropriate authorities" (you don't need to tell them what those are!! - for now anyway).

Hope this gets sorted - how very worrying. What chances have kids got with parents like this? What a shame.
 
As Above Really :) but make sure you put signs by your field saying something along the lines of 'horses are dangerous/unpredictable animals, do not tresspass as you may get injured' just so if anything does happen at least you can say there are warning signs :) that way the child and parents has been warned and therefore if he decides to go into your field its his own fault by ignoring the wanrings!! ....sorry for rambling :D
 
Liability is a hellishly complex issue - you can't get out of it by putting signs up unfortunately :(

I think that the best thing to do would be to speak to a solictor or the BHS legal helpline if you are a member - I know that sounds drastic, but you don't want to end being sued.

You and the YO need to try and secure the field as much as possible, this could mean putting a strand of electric fencing up to stop him climbing in. I know it seems wrong that the onus is on you, but that is the way that I understand the law to work. Because you know he is trespassing, you have a higher duty of care towards him under the law. So for example, if you had a bit of land on which hazardous materials were kept for example and someone trespassed without you knowing and they were hurt, you would be ok so long as you had taken basic precautions (such as covering the material and having a warning sign, for example). But if someone was trespassing and you knew - like kids coming in to play - you would have a higher duty of care to secure the material because of that knowledge.

The NFU produced some carefully worded signs for farmers to put up on cattle fields, which warn people without admitting that they are knowingly putting dangerous animals onto land with a right of way on it, so it might also be worth calling them to ask about the wording of your warning signs - so that you don't accidentally admit liability. I think they say something like ' Caution, your dog may disturb livestock' but you would need to check.

I hope you can get it sorted out.:(

ETA do NOT say that your horse is young and therefore might hurt him as that could be seen as admitting liability - you need to put the onus onto them, by saying that he may disturb the horses and cause them to bolt towards him (or something). I know how mad that sounds, but if this family is the sueing kind you need to be careful. You really need to get legal advice on how to proect yourself best IMO. :( Again, sorry for being the Voice of Doom :(
 
Last edited:
In the house I previously lived in with the land adjoining I once went down early in the morning to check my horses and found two children aged about 5 and 7 in their nighclothes barefoot!!!! standing in the field with my horses trying to call them over.
I nearly had a heart attack .
I took them back over the lane and banged on the door until the father came down and collected them the front door was not locked.
I did aske the parent to keep them out of the fields could you imagine the results if one of my 4 all 16 hands plus and shod trod on their foot
I did howevr fix anti climb spikes on the top of the gate sold by companies like this one http://www.insight-security.com/per-prickler.htm You need to dispaly a warning sign on the gate .I also ran a single strand of wide electric all round the middle of the fence in between the two strands to stop anyone climbing through .
Later when I had a few sheep I made the perimeter stock mesh and put a top strand of electric
After these measures it never happened again
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
More drastic measure might be (if you have to) to contact the Child Protection people - as its obvious these parents aren't taking proper care of their kiddie. But you probably won't want to go that route in the first instance. (Tip: I believe you can make an anonymous complaint?).
QUOTE]

As above - if this child is being allowed to 'wander around at will' at his age I'd be more worried about the bigger picture and be concerned for his safety AND his welfare. I'd go with the call to Social Services. I believe it is illegal to allow a child to be unsupervised at his age. Harsh I know but I could never forgive myself if this child was hurt.
Click to expand...
 
Spudlet said:
Liability is a hellishly complex issue - you can't get out of it by putting signs up unfortunately :(
Click to expand...

This is very true. My ex worked for network rail and when i asked him why all the signs to say keep off the track had silly pictures on them he said that just putting signs up with writing on them wasn't enough. They would still get into trouble if someone got onto the track because you can't assume everyone can read.

Maybe you need a picture of a hore attacking a human maybe that would put him off.

Although I agree with glosgirl. Having grown up on a counsil estate many of our neighbers used to throw there kids out the front door at 7am and they worn't alowed back in till 11pm when they went to bed :(.
 
Thanks guys for the help much appreciated, think you are right about a possible letter from selicitor. A lot of the fencing in field is electric but possibly more is needed and perhaps like you say a better sign :) x
 
agree that this child is not cared for properly his family has a name that is notorious around here for being in gangs, drugs etc and i know that since they moved here there have been several 'incidences' at the local pub where police have been involved.
The little boy is a little sh** frankly but i do feel very sorry for him, what kind of chance does he have with parents like that, and the mother has just had another baby..
thanks again guys..x
 
Presumeably he does go to school on some days = so perhaps this will stop with the new term - It sounds like the 'likeys' i know a couple of villages over that keep wandering all over my friends fields!
 
I'd be reporting the family to social services. They probably know about the family already but if they do their social worker can talk to them about it. Children of that age really shouldn't be out on their own.
 
Yes i guess they will be going back to school next week :) thats one thing, if he came up while i was their i'd be more than happy spending a bit of time educating him about horses but its always when i'm not their. :(
 
I would advise against putting up any signs stating horse are dangerous/unpredictable etc etc for the only reason that that could be construed as you admitting thatyour horses are dangerous.

I would go along the lines of reporting this to social services - a child his age shouldn't be just left to his own devices wandering about. I would also maybe mention to your local community support officer to see if they can have a word with the parents. As long as you do all you can to prevent / warn the child and their parents then i am afraid you cannot do much else. You are insured so, if the worst happened you would be covered amd if you can prove you took measures to prevent an incident then there's not an awful lot more you can do. I feel sorry for the child really, it's always so sad when these kids end up like this because they are basically ignored by their parents and do anything to get noticed essentially.
 
I feel quite sorry for the kid. Sounds like he's crying out for love, to me. :(

If your YO has found him there, would she be able to arrange for him to come down whilst you're around, then you can tell him about horses? It would be lovely if this kid was 'turned around' by being around animals. That's the romantic in me, I suppose!

Agree about the signs. Even the picture ones aren't enough, apparently, as you have to account for young children. Madness!
 
More electric fencing and a 24v battery should give a him a kick. ;)

Go to the police and report that he has been abusing your horses. The police and social services should at least have to confront the parents if you do things officially.

I'm sure the boy is old enough to know right from wrong.
 
Unfortunately under current legislation your yard owner has responsibility for the safety of anyone on their property (even if they are trespassing).

Your yard owner also has responsibility for you and your horse while you are on her property. (Ensure that your yard owner has third party public liability insurance).

You however must also ensure that you have third party liability insurance for your horse for no less than ten million pounds. (This level is as a result of a recent court case where even though it was not the horse owners fault that the accident occured it was judged that the horse owner is liable for any accident the horse causes). (Mauwinney Case)

I would also suggest to your yard owner that she instructs a specialist equine solicitor to write to the family concerned and ask them to prevent their child from entering her property. Failing them doing so she can then take out a court injunction compelling them to do so.

In addition suggest to your yard owner that she contacts the police and social services. She should ask the police for an incident number and ask social services to confirm in writing that they have been informed by your yard owner.
 
To be honest i wonder if he does know right from wrong , without meaning to sound nasty or snobby or whatever his mum and dad are very 'basic' people every second word is the F word etc and i just wonder how much they have taught him :( i used to work at a riding school and we worked with a local charity called give kids a chance and he seems very like a lot of the kids from that just a bit younger..
 
It's such a shame when you come across kids like this.

Can you not fix chicken fencing up so kids can't get through the fence? I know it's more expense but if there is a chance of preventing an incident it's worth it.

I did this along the fence line of a footpath to stop stay dogs running in.
Worked a treat.
 
thanks happyhorse think we may have to resort to turning our yard into something resembling a prisoner of war camp but at least no one will get hurt :) thanks evryone x
 
Wonderwall said:
agree that this child is not cared for properly his family has a name that is notorious around here for being in gangs, drugs etc and i know that since they moved here there have been several 'incidences' at the local pub where police have been involved.
The little boy is a little sh** frankly but i do feel very sorry for him, what kind of chance does he have with parents like that, and the mother has just had another baby..
thanks again guys..x
Click to expand...

A yard I used to be on moons ago. A girl riding out young child (5) with his sister (7) kept trying to throw things or hit the horses as they rode by. Anyway one day he had a stick which when a rider rode by he hit the horse with inevitably the horse kicked him in the head. He was in hospital for about 3 weeks if my memory serves me right. The parents tried suing the rider who was insured and the insurance company wouldn't pay up as the child had hit the horse and was not being supervised by an adult. (Bad family too). Anyway 6 years later they then tried suing the farmer where we kept the horses his insurance wouldn't pay up either so they lost their argument.

I also found two children off the estate in with my lad and asked them if they had ever seen a melon smashed with a hammer they said no why? I said because if the horse kicks you and catches your head then you know what it would look like. GET OUT OF THEIR FIELD. Never saw them again:)


This was years ago so go down solicitors line and also install electric fencing at all gaps
 
OWLIE185 said:
You however must also ensure that you have third party liability insurance for your horse for no less than ten million pounds. (This level is as a result of a recent court case where even though it was not the horse owners fault that the accident occured it was judged that the horse owner is liable for any accident the horse causes). (Mauwinney Case)
Click to expand...

Do you mean 2003 Mirvahedy v Henley???
Hossein Mirvahedy had suffered serious injuries when his car collided with a horse owned by Dr and Mrs Henley on A380.
The House of Lords decided that Dr and Mrs Henley were not negligent in any way but they were liable to Mr Mirvahedy under the provisions of the Animals Act 1971.

I cant find a Mauwinney case, so think this might be the famous test case you mean?

At the mo there are moves afoot to get it amended, but at the moment there is strict liability so everyone PLEASE make sure that as well as buying your horses shiny rugs and bling browbands you also get BHS gold membership or equivalent and protect yourselves !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top