Do yard owners have a duty to provide suitable fencing for horses?

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fruity

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i have been at my new yard for nearly 3mths now and all is going ok apart from a few hiccups until today! It made me realise that i maybe paying too much for what i am getting! I needed to move my horses from a field that was vvvv boggy and i couldnt push the barrow through to poo pick so i asked to have a temp field so it can dry up and rest, i was told i could use a certain field for a few weeks so moved them to it last week,its a lovely field and has a good amount of grass,only negative was that it had a bit of barb wire on one small section,hate the stuff so mentioned it would have to be replaced to them,anyway i get a phone call this morning from owners son saying their had been a report of one of my horses getting out,dashed down to the yard and she was in a right state where i found her,3 legs badly cut and one with barb wire still round her leg and shaking with shock and she is usually a brave thing, i cannot fogive myself for what happened,had said to them that i wouldnt keep them in there for long until its fixed,a lot of the land has barb wire in bits except my normal field. The ? Is do they have a duty to provide adequate fencing for horses,i pay them quite a lot and cant actually use all my facilties as the stable roofs are leaking,my tackroom is 90% full of someone elses stuff so i cant put my saddles up etc and i am paying for the barn!!! my vets bills for this accident are going to be huge even with my staff discount and ins comp wont cover as she has had prev leg injuries however not from barb wire,other people who rent his land graze their horses in fields with only barb wire fencing and i personally think for what i am paying my horses deserve more than barb wire!!! Please no nasty comments i have had a week from hell,also got told by garage today that my car is dead so i now have to car search this weekend with the little bit of xmas present money i was going to spend on family, i want to approach owner at weekend and explain how upset i am at the service i have had since i have arrived any advice would be appreciated,the people who own the estate are quite well to do and are sort of friends of my parents so have to do everything carefully,am fuming but cant show it!!
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I'm having a bit of trouble reading your post, due to lack of full stops and other spaces.
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However my first thought is that you knew what the fencing was like before you put your horses in the field, and therefore accepted it. Likewise, you accepted your livery price after inspecting the premises. You could speak to your insurance company, or the BHS helpline if you have BHS Gold cover.
 
bummer - it's a tricky one...
firstly - I hope she's ok and recovering after her acident, don't forget that horses heal quite well and it often looks worse than it is...

as for fencing, I suppose questions like...
what does your contract say?
One could say you found the barbed wire but still put your horses in there (i know you don't want to hear that..), if you weren't happy then bog and wet isn't going to kill them for a few more days 'til it's sorted, (i can imagine that's what the yard owner would say, and I'm sure anyone in the situation would).
I know it's recommneded that if you're going to have barb wire in a horse field then it should only be the top strand and no more, so if it was badly constructed and lower down then that might also be an issue.
honestly i don't know..
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as for the paying & facilities - maybe if you point it out nicely the space issues and the leaky roofs (they might honestly not have realised...) and if you say it nicely first and try and discuss it - hopefully that'll resolve it and it can be fixed
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(yay! happy result!)

overally i'd just try and remain calm about everything and discuss it with your yard owner and see what they suggest - the last thing you want is being asked to leave which they can do as their right of the land owner - and the last thing you want is to fall out and it be all unhappy, especially if they're your parents friends etc...There's some lovely yard owner posts on here tonight showing that they're not all mean! so you might just have one of those nice people who'd be upset if you hadn't talked to them
(I really hope that's the case and they're not mean and nasty!)

Good luck with the pony and good luck with the car hunting!

((((Hugs)))))
 
i didnt see the field before i took on the agreement,i did want it removed before i put horses in and left it a few days before putting them in there,was told by maintenance man what day they would be fixing it so assumed day after that it would of been ready,did tell them what day i was putting them in there so would of thought they would let me know if not done. Have cut a long story short as various things that were promised when i took on livery have not been done. Oh and page might not read well as am using my blackberry!!!!!
 
Lol - it's read fine!! go blackberrys!
unfortunately I think it's a lesson learnt story - we've all been there! check the field before you agree to the contract, check that the works been done on the field before you turn out, presuming is easier than checking,
annoying, but true
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if things were promised and you either have it on a contract or verbal agreement - then ask them to honour it as it is a contract they should stick to (even verbal ones!) (i did an equine law seminar last week - and the woman definitely said that! - again - try and bring these up in a conversation...

fingers crossed you can get it to work out
 
if things were promised and you either have it on a contract or verbal agreement - then ask them to honour it as it is a contract they should stick to (even verbal ones!) (i did an equine law seminar last week - and the woman definitely said that! - again - try and bring these up in a conversation...

fingers crossed you can get it to work out

[/ QUOTE ] we both have a written agreement so can always mentioned certain things should be honoured. I had to move all 4 horses that morning on my own (was having a bad day with health problems i suffer from so simple things can wear me out easily) and it isn't that near to my yard, also my car broke down that day so was in a real flap,have def def learnt my lesson believe me,thanks for advice
 
I'm afraid I agree with everyone else who has posted a reply. Although many people do not like barbed wire it is not an unacceptable fencing for horses to gthe owners are under no obligation to replace it.

It probably won't happen to you again but if you have to use a field with barbed wire again why not run some electric fencing in front of it to keep your horses away from he wire.

I would certainly check with your insurance company re paying for your mare's injury as this was an accident and not an illness.
 
YOU should have walked the boundaries and checked the pasture for fencing & wire and other dangerous things such as holes, sunken drains, debris, etc, etc. BEFORE signing a contract.
No-one to blame but yourself. I would suggest you change yards - but thoroughly check the next one before risking your horse agin. Sadly, a serious lesson learnt - to the detriment of your poor horse.
 
just to repeat myself again! This field was not one included in the signed agreement but i had said if it was fenced better i would also take it on,they had to go in that field as my one wasnt just boggy it was under water everywhere and not one bit of grass was above the water and no they couldnt stay in it for a few more days,one of them has mud fever and as my stables are leaking i couldnt bring him in so the solution was to move fields for a bit until it soaked away. Yes i should of checked the fencing was mended that morning as promised and yes i have def learnt my lesson, thank you to all of the helpful replies. I have always tried to do the best for my horses and up until this week have never had a problem, think some x'd wires with the man who was mending the fence didnt help. Would of put some electric fencing up but landowner not keen on it as i used it in my normal field and he said he would prefer it not to be up altogether.
 
It's gonna be like it is at every livery yard, in a nutshell if you dont like it you can piss off somewhere else, seems to be the attitude running through the horsey game.
 
[ QUOTE ]
It's gonna be like it is at every livery yard, in a nutshell if you dont like it you can piss off somewhere else, seems to be the attitude running through the horsey game.

[/ QUOTE ]

How right you are. Where I am there is more demand than there are livery spaces. Everyone is scared to death of losing their place on a yard, consequently we pay a lot for zero facilities. We do all our own fencing!
 
[ QUOTE ]
It's gonna be like it is at every livery yard, in a nutshell if you dont like it you can piss off somewhere else, seems to be the attitude running through the horsey game.

[/ QUOTE ] your so right! I think unforunatley for my horses and me thats what the case may be
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my oh is now replacing the fencing with proper post and rail.
 
The recently published Defra Code of Practice for the Welfare of Horses, Ponies, Donkeys and their Hybrids (see: http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/cruelty/documents/cop-horse.pdf

Outlined under 1.8 is the unacceptability of barbed wire.
Upfront the Code explains responsibilities and Duty of Care.

The Equine Industry Welfare Guidlines Compendium adds "In situations where such wire fencing is already in place it may be practicable to errect an inner barrier (that meets with good practice defined in the document) .....could be achieved with electric fencing." This Document is available from The NEWC website.
 
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