Footprints in the snow ....... into my field

[TigerTail]

Given the couple of inches of snow its a dead give away someone has been in my field early this morning due to the sent of foot prints over both gates and in, then lost in hoof prints and turned around and gone out again

Im livid/upset/worried about it. All my gates are chained, the hinges all upside down so the gates cant be lifted, all equipment padlocked/chained etc but I cant chain the horses in there

There are horsewatch signs on the gate saying private property keep out, you are being filmed etc

Argh what else can I do ?!?!

 

[Kat]

Calm down, Chances are it is someone taking a short cut or walking the dog or something. There isn't a lot more that you can do, other than report it to the police (and horsewatch/farmwatch/neighbourhood watch) so they are aware and then keep an eye on it. If you think it is regular then maybe try going up super early to catch the person.

But think about it, the fact that there are footprints in the snow probably suggests it is innocent, someone up to no good would have avoided a snowy morning.

 

[midnight mayhem]

Put a handwritten large note on the same bit as they entered telling them that they were filmed and it was being followed up-bluff. Under no circumstances are they to enter private property etc. That's what I would do. I too would be furious. Let a guard dog loose on premises if poss? Put electric tape across the tops of fencing and make it powerful?
I'm not much help sorry.

 

[HaffiesRock]

Can you see your field from the road? Could it be maybe a rug had slipped or something? Someone may have been out on an early morning run, seen a problem with the horses and tried to help? x

 

[springtime13]

I can think of lots of reasons e.g dog had got into field and they had to go in a grab it. The wind had blown their scarf/ hat etc into the field and they had to go get it, your pony was looking cute so they felt they should take a close up photo. See lots of reasons why it could be perfectly innocent (but still annoying/ worrying)

 

[Fransurrey]

I've had this many times. It's always the locals who somehow think that because they can see the field from their house, they somehow have a right to cut through it and even wander off the footpath into the next field with their dog. Annoying and frustrating, but probably innocent, as someone else said.

 

[brucea]

Can you see your field from the road? Could it be maybe a rug had slipped or something? Someone may have been out on an early morning run, seen a problem with the horses and tried to help? x

Exactly what I would do if I saw a rug with a horse half hanging out of it! Done it many times because as a horse owner I know the cost of a trashed rug and poss. injured horse.

However on both the times in the last year I've been intercepted by owners on the way out of the field they were like you - in a "don't you dare" kind of attitude. Usually a few firm and polite words resolve it.

I always hope a passing horse owner would fix something like that for me if it's needed. They may well have and I don;t know. If you're out there - thanks, and I'll return the favour one day if the need arises

 

[Shilasdair]

Given the couple of inches of snow its a dead give away someone has been in my field early this morning due to the sent of foot prints over both gates and in, then lost in hoof prints and turned around and gone out again

Im livid/upset/worried about it. All my gates are chained, the hinges all upside down so the gates cant be lifted, all equipment padlocked/chained etc but I cant chain the horses in there

There are horsewatch signs on the gate saying private property keep out, you are being filmed etc

Argh what else can I do ?!?!

You are over-reacting.
There are so many innocent reasons someone might walk in your field - walking a dog, looking at a bird, taking a photograph, fixing your horse's rug, anything.
Anything you do to prevent theft can be easily undone by humans, anyway so you might as well relax and enjoy life instead of spending precious time being 'livid' and 'upset'
S

 

[Hippona]

Yeah.....I cant be sitting in my field 24/7.....much as I'd love to..

You've taken all precautions.

Horses are fine.....

I get loads of footprints in the mud and snow by my gate...its quite clearly marked private property but people like to look at the horses.

Foot prints are one thing.....went through a spate of people using my gateway as a toilet.....now that made me ( and no, it wasn't a dog...unless it ate a sarnie then wiped its bum on the wrapper after)

 

[TigerTail]

Field is down a private track - only people down there are dog walkers unless you're coming to my field.

It has a low 5 bar gate that is on the ground so dogs cant get in, or out even my tiny terrier!

None of the horses are rugged, they arent even visible from the path so if you're going in its to have a nosy.

We've had everything pinched twice before and Ive found a man in the field befre having a look under the tarp cos apparently he had the 'right to roam' I tend towards paranoid....

gonna wrap some barbed wire around the top rail over the outer gates - discourage any sight seers at least.

 

[Spudlet]

Some dogs would get over a five bar gate, don't forget. Or someone's hat might have blown off, or if I accidentally dropped some litter and it blew into a field, I'd hop over the gate and get it back, especially if I could tell there were horses in there (through seeing them or seeing hoofprints).

So there might still be an innocent explanation Barbed wire would probably put people off, but I really would try not to panic!

Hippona, that is GROSS. EURGH! I'd have been tempted to hide behind the hedge and jump out on the ******s!

 

[indie999]

I have had people think the footpath goes through but I do understand as people will lie if they are having a snoop. As you say how can "right to roam" mean including looking under a tarp.

Just be vigilent and as always tie it down....At least the foot prints alerted you.

 

[DragonSlayer]

Yeah.....I cant be sitting in my field 24/7.....much as I'd love to..

You've taken all precautions.

Horses are fine.....

I get loads of footprints in the mud and snow by my gate...its quite clearly marked private property but people like to look at the horses.

Foot prints are one thing.....went through a spate of people using my gateway as a toilet.....now that made me ( and no, it wasn't a dog...unless it ate a sarnie then wiped its bum on the wrapper after)

We get that from time to time, and OH once caught a bloke at it inside the gate! An almighty row erupted with OH demanding the blokes address so he could come and use his lawn as a toilet!

Found used condoms in the field shelter and bits of tissue that have been used to wipe up the evidence afterwards. I did explain to my horse that she really should boot them out of there but I think she was so traumatised she couldn't handle it!

..and if you are wondering, I used a litter-picker to put the remains onto the bonfire!

 

[kellybee]

I had the same happen to me before xmas... The vicar had apparently walked over to check the ice in the trough was smashed because the temps had dropped so much, he'd then walked on to re-attach one of Alfie's rug straps.

A few weeks ago early one sunday morning i found a man in cammo gear weilding a massive gun in my field. Apparently he's been shooting rabbits up there (consented) for 10yrs with a pellet gun. Not any more he's not, after he let slip he'd been shooting rats in my barn whilst my shetland was stabled! Fuuuuming!

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Re the barbed wire, wrapping it around is no deterent, a coat thrown oover it will offer full protection. Extend the tops of your gates up by a foot/18 inches, then do two or three rows of barbed wire - not too tight, you want it to snag and catch and trip someone up.

We went through a stage of having the horses rugs fiddled with, fillets strings unclipped etc, a bit of barbed wire work sorted that out, no trouble since.

 

[TigerTail]

Re the barbed wire, wrapping it around is no deterent, a coat thrown oover it will offer full protection. Extend the tops of your gates up by a foot/18 inches, then do two or three rows of barbed wire - not too tight, you want it to snag and catch and trip someone up.

We went through a stage of having the horses rugs fiddled with, fillets strings unclipped etc, a bit of barbed wire work sorted that out, no trouble since.

How do you get in yourself with vehicles?? Or get the horses out?

 

[Boysy]

I get it all the time but then i have an open public footpath down the side of my field and jo public thinks the right to roam includes dog walking and exercising right round my field including chucking sticks and balls around etc whilst my ponies are out there, sitting down in the middle with their families having a picnic, crap*ing in the hedges and leaving their tissues around. Any i challenge give the same answer 'well there's no fence so why shouldn't i exercise my dog round here and let them wash in the water trough.....' Even had people doing farleks training up and down the middle of the field in summer, yes still with the ponies in there.....

Drives me mad but absolutely nothing i can do about it aside from ask them politely to keep to the clearly marked path down the side. Got signs up to direct them to no avail so i've given up now and spend my time trawling the boundaries clearing up their dog ***** and rubbish.

 

[mynutmeg]

How do you get in yourself with vehicles?? Or get the horses out?

unlock and open the gate. The barbed wire will only stop people climbing over the gate.

 

[Hippona]

Found used condoms in the field shelter and bits of tissue that have been used to wipe up the evidence afterwards. I did explain to my horse that she really should boot them out of there but I think she was so traumatised she couldn't handle it!

I once had the full collection of skimpy knickers, used condom, condom wrapper .....and used tampon

I actually hung the knickers off the tree at the road side next to the bus shelter

 

[mashnut]

When I worked in the RS we had a LOT of birdwatchers roaming all over the fields. They meant no harm to our ponies. But were usually a bit of a "leaving gates open" risk.

They brought their own toilet paper.

 

[mel_s]

This makes me laugh. There are NO innocent reasons why people would be in your field. Or maybe i should say - they have no right to be!

If i was walking down the street and saw something in someones house i thought needed fixing or their child was doing something i felt wasnt right, would i just stroll in and do it? No i wouldnt. So why is it ok if someone comes into your field? They shouldnt. Helping or not.

And dog walkers shouldnt be in there. Its not a footpath! Bird watchers or anyone else for that matter. It makes me mad that people think they have a right to stroll onto someone elses property. When my horse kicks them, or jumps on their dog, i hope they dont bother to complain...............

Footpaths are more awkward. People dont tend to stay on them. My last yard had fenced it off and that seemed to work. Expense you could do without though.

 

[cyclo man]

I would only be really worrying if the footprints were accompanied by vehicle tracks outside your gate, as others have said there are many reasons, not all bad , why someone may have climbed the gate.

 

[RunToEarth]

Unfortunately this country has gone mad with accessibility and introduced misleading named access rights such as "right to roam" which most people haven't a clue about.

Rights of way annoy me anyway, so a couple hundred years ago farm labourers' used to walk through their employer's fields on the way to work, and now they are open to the entire nation, not only that but you have to cultivate/spray/manage them at your own expense, accept that most people don't keep their animals under control and that you are liable for any injury they cause themselves along the way. People seem to be more and more displeased over the rights they hold over someone else's land and therefore rally to have it opened as a bridleway/byway/M25, but if I walked into their garden, let my dog take a dump on their lawn and then let it run through their flower bed I would have all manner of hell unleashed on me.

I'm not sure what you can do. We chain all the gates all the way around the farms, but Joe Public will squeeze through somewhere on his feet/horse/motocross bike to make a mess of something he has no right to, and possibly steal a few thousand pounds worth of kit on the way. Unfortunately people have absolutely no respect for other people's property, perhaps if they shelled out £/acre grazing/agricultural land is going for they may have a slightly better grasp on why we get so irate.

I would be wary about putting barbed wire up, you may get some complete spanner climb over it and then try to sue you for the pleasure, it happens.

Last time we found someone in the field a few years ago it was two people who had got a little bit carried away having a few stolen moments presumably out of the prying eyes of their parents. The horses were most interested in exactly what was going on...