Drones

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stormox

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Does anyone know the law regarding flying drones near horses? I was out riding on my young mare and a drone flew right over the top of me, very close then flew back again. The chap that seemed to be controlling it was the other side of the road. Are these things legal?
 
Yes, they are legal - as they should be. However, there are laws and regulations about where they can fly...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/04/18/drone-laws-in-the-uk--what-are-the-rules/
http://www.techadvisor.co.uk/feature/gadget/where-fly-drone-in-uk-abroad-3620507/

This is what the BHS has to say on the matter:

http://www.bhs.org.uk/safety-and-accidents/common-incidents/drones

(Not terribly helpful, imo.)

Regulations changed recently so I'm not sure if the above sites are completely up to date.

ETA: The first conviction for illegal drone flying involved horses:

https://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-poli...rst-ever-conviction-for-illegal-drone-flying/

Quote:

A 42-year-old man from Nottingham, according to the Metropolitan Police, has become the first person in the UK to be successfully prosecuted and convicted on drone-related charges. Nigel Wilson pleaded guilty to nine offences of flying drones over buildings or congested areas—acts that are illegal under the Air Navigation Order 2009. Wilson was sentenced to a fine of £1,800, and is now barred from owning, flying, or helping anyone else fly a drone for the next two years.

In late 2014, Wilson flew drones over a number of sports stadia around the country, including the Emirates stadium in north London and the Etihad stadium in Manchester. According to the Met Police report, during a September 2014 incident at Liverpool's Anfield stadium, Wilson "flew the drone close to mounted officers at the match, startling the horses on a busy walkway outside the stadium. Officers struggled to regain control as the horses reared and narrowly avoided hitting members of the public walking nearby."
 
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Was walking my dogs and a drone was buzzing around, dogs couldn't care less
Then the drone hit a tree and burst into flames (hardly a flame thrower but it was fire/smoke), I thought the owner would of been so upset
but he just said he had never seen one burst into flames before but they are really easy to put back together, he has loads of them
 
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They do have benefits though - a FB group of volunteers use them (legally) to do aerial searches for missing dogs, and now also missing equines
 
not much you can do about them when on a horse, but in my previous house there was this guy who had some sort of flying contraption that he flew with (he himself up in the air) and he would fly over my house !!!
I jumped in the car and followed him to where he eventually landed and made it very clear to him he was not to do this ever again.

I look foreward to using my new air riffle on drones :-)
 
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