Incident with land owner - WWYD?

horserider said:
Good heavens. On behalf of considerate horse riders, I'd like to go to this meeting and apologise to him.

Riding around the countryside like the Lady of the manor and giving someone a good whipping because they object to you trampling across their land isn't quite the done thing these days.

However, if you don't want to apologise, make a lawyer rich instead.
Click to expand...

Gosh, your sarcasm is VERY good isn't it!!!
 
Reading these riding on people's land which always seem to end up with countless people saying the same thing re living rooms, gardens etc makes me glad to live in Scotland where we can ride more or less where we like. Does anyone know if such a sensible, fair idea will ever apply to England as well and then situations like this one would simply not arise.
 
OP, you need to consult a solicitor before you go to this meeting. You need to understand the full implications of an apology, will it mean that you have admitted wrong-doing and get you a criminal record?

FWIW, while you should neither have been on the land in the first place, nor have hit him several times, I quite understand that you were frightened when accosted by a strange man, who may or may not have been the land-owner, asking for your details.
When you apologised and offered to leave immediately, that should have been the end of the matter, unless you had caused some form of damage, e.g. breaking down fences.
 
Bluepegasus2802 said:
I'm sorry but I personally see no need for hitting him with your whip like that. If you felt frightened, you could have just said to him to let go otherwise you'll call the police, and then if he hadn't, I would have calmly rung the police. You were the one out of line, not him.
Click to expand...

Errr, did you read my post??? For minutes and minutes I pleaded with him to let go.

I asked very politely. He did not.

I was very, very frightened, alone, vulnerable and being detained against my will. In situations like that, all humans are liable to just REACT on the spot. This is what I did.

I am now regretting posting this. I never thought I'd get called 'arrogant' by several people replying to my thread. I shall bow out now. Thanks to all who did post constructively.
 
bonny said:
Reading these riding on people's land which always seem to end up with countless people saying the same thing re living rooms, gardens etc makes me glad to live in Scotland where we can ride more or less where we like. Does anyone know if such a sensible, fair idea will ever apply to England as well and then situations like this one would simply not arise.[/QUOTE

We actually have a simple, fair system in England. If it is not your property, it is not a public ROW or BW or you don't have permission to be there. Don't go there!
Click to expand...
 
No wonder some farmers despise horse riders. We're all seen as a bunch of hoity-toity people who just do as we please, and then we complain because we want the farmers to sell us hay at a loss.

OP, you were on his land. You didn't stray from a bridleway so you had no excuse.

You whipped him repeatedly, sorry, you deserve all you get. I hope the farmer DOES press charges. I can see why the police have no sympathy!

And as for the rest of you, no matter how much you nit pick at the details, OP was not straying from a bridleway, she just decided to ride across a field belonging to someone else. She was rude to the farmer when asked what she was doing there. I, too, would have been angry and wanted to know which yard this rider had come from! I'd have been straight round to tell their YO to ensure that liveries knew what bridleway signs looked like.
 
No wonder the land owner went to the Police. Just accept that you need to apologise for your actions... being somewhere you shouldn't have been and for assaulting him with a whip!
 
Sorry but it takes a lot of force to leave welts through clothing with a whip. The 'vulnerable lone female' doesn't make sense either. Granted, if a man tried to restrain me while I was on foot on a lonely track, I'd no doubt be intimidated. But mounted on a horse as a lone female you're hardly vulnerable to a man on foot.
Horserider- Pmsl, classic!
 
hessy12 said:
Gosh, your sarcasm is VERY good isn't it!!!
Click to expand...

People in glass houses.... Maybe if your initial reply to the bloke hadn't been so sarcastic, you wouldn't have got into this mess. And for what it's worth, if you hit him more than once then you hit him mutiple times!
 
hessy12 said:
I am now regretting posting this. I never thought I'd get called 'arrogant' by several people replying to my thread. I shall bow out now. Thanks to all who did post constructively.
Click to expand...

By 'constructively' it sounds like those posters are the ones that agree with you and you only want to hear from those. :rolleyes:

Of course you were arrogant to ride where you knew you did not own or was a public right of way, no other word for it.
 
hessy12 said:
Errr, did you read my post??? For minutes and minutes I pleaded with him to let go.

I asked very politely. He did not.

I was very, very frightened, alone, vulnerable and being detained against my will. In situations like that, all humans are liable to just REACT on the spot. This is what I did.

I am now regretting posting this. I never thought I'd get called 'arrogant' by several people replying to my thread. I shall bow out now. Thanks to all who did post constructively.
Click to expand...

So now you are having a tantrum just because there are some people on here that disagree with you. No wonder you got into trouble with the landowner. Regardless, I wish you luck.
 
jrp204 said:
bonny said:
Reading these riding on people's land which always seem to end up with countless people saying the same thing re living rooms, gardens etc makes me glad to live in Scotland where we can ride more or less where we like. Does anyone know if such a sensible, fair idea will ever apply to England as well and then situations like this one would simply not arise.[/QUOTE

We actually have a simple, fair system in England. If it is not your property, it is not a public ROW or BW or you don't have permission to be there. Don't go there!
Click to expand...

Works much better here where you can go wherever you like without fear of someone shouting at you. For what it's worth Op I wouldn't apologise if you think you were in the right....no one else was there so no one else really knows.
Click to expand...
 
Bloody hell - some of you are a bit harsh.

OP, you did wrong by riding on the land, but from what you have said, he did far worse by losing his rag and trying (and succeeding) to intimidate you.

I would have been scared as well, and worried about how far he was willing to take it. There is no proof those welts were caused by you. Stand your corner and don't back down - he made you feel that you had to protect yourself, his lookout if he gets more than he expected. Next time he might think twice before flying off the handle.
 
Serephin said:
Bloody hell - some of you are a bit harsh.

OP, you did wrong by riding on the land, but from what you have said, he did far worse by losing his rag and trying (and succeeding) to intimidate you.

I would have been scared as well, and worried about how far he was willing to take it. There is no proof those welts were caused by you. Stand your corner and don't back down - he made you feel that you had to protect yourself, his lookout if he gets more than he expected. Next time he might think twice before flying off the handle.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, yes you shouldn't have been there but to grab hold of the horse and try to scare you isn't fair. Two wrongs do not make a right !!!

I would seek legal advise ASAP.

Would love to be a fly on a tree watching this happen to those who are " you won't get any sympathy from me".
 
I think I would have had him too, though my horse may have first as shes a rearer and a boxer if you grab her reins!

I think I would say sorry again for being there and explain how you offered to leave but he has restrained you from doing so. You must have hit him hard to leave marks though :P

Im sorry that I find the whole thing a bit funny, I think you should both say sorry and move on!

I would be laughing if it was me in that situation
 
wallykissmas said:
Would love to be a fly on a tree watching this happen to those who are " you won't get any sympathy from me".
Click to expand...

The chances are it wouldn't happen to me because I always look at a map and follow the signs. If I am unsure where a right of way heads due to unclear track or poor signage I either ask, take a compass bearing or turn round and go back the way I came. Simples
 
OP you were wrong to ride on land which you don't have permission to do so, but TBH, there are that many nutters about, if someone had grabbed my horse like that, i'm sure i'd have done the same as you.
 
The whole point is that those of us with no sympathy wouldn't be in that situation in the first place, because we don't think its ok to trespass.
 
Spade, hole and stop digging.

An offence has to be proven before it can be prosecuted against. To be proven there has to be evidence, witnesses, addmission or a combination of all three.

It appears you rode on private land and when approached by the landowner, who, it appears did not approach you in an appropriate manner, you reacted to the situation evolving around you.

The incident was not witnessed. The thrashed back of the landowner could have been achieved anywhere, for all you know his wife gave him a smacking the night before.

Had you not admitted giving him a good hiding on a public forum there would have been absolutely nothing to pursue a case with.

Sandwich short of a picnic and if you find it don't eat it on private land !!
 
Same as LL.

If you got home to find a stranger sunbathing in your garden, who when questioned said sorry, I'll just leave, would you be happy to leave if at that??! I'm guessing not.

You were trespassing, and if you hit him hard enough to make welts appear through clothing you must have been having a good go.

If I found someone riding through our land, particularly after all this rain, I'd probably ask you what the f you are doing.

No sympathy I'm afraid. You should apologise.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Spade, hole and stop digging.

An offence has to be proven before it can be prosecuted against. To be proven there has to be evidence, witnesses, addmission or a combination of all three.

It appears you rode on private land and when approached by the landowner, who, it appears did not approach you in an appropriate manner, you reacted to the situation evolving around you.

The incident was not witnessed. The thrashed back of the landowner could have been achieved anywhere, for all you know his wife gave him a smacking the night before.

Had you not admitted giving him a good hiding on a public forum there would have been absolutely nothing to pursue a case with.

Sandwich short of a picnic and if you find it don't eat it on private land !!
Click to expand...

Agree with this basically! Well said.

BUT surely OP must have had SOME idea the "land" in question was owned by someone??? It would help to know more information i.e. was this "common land", or forestry, or land that has a "path" across it as opposed to a Bridlepath proper, or what???? It sounds rather like it was part of some private estate, where possibly usage has been established through the years without necessarily any public right of way being established?? But more info would be helpful.

The male in this instance may well allege assault, but then in mitigation the OP was in a situation where she was on her own - the man was holding on to her horse's bridle after all said and done, and so perhaps can justify her actions by saying the man was aggressive/threatening in his manner and she acted in that way because she felt he might attack her. Never mind the issue of alleged trespass, what happened between the two of them was perhaps explainable on this basis???

An interesting one for the lawyers to sort out. Methinks OP would be well advised to consult a legal beagle as she may well have a defence even if she was "trespassing" on this occasion.
 
patterdale said:
Same as LL.

If you got home to find a stranger sunbathing in your garden, who when questioned said sorry, I'll just leave, would you be happy to leave if at that??! I'm guessing not.

You were trespassing, and if you hit him hard enough to make welts appear through clothing you must have been having a good go.

If I found someone riding through our land, particularly after all this rain, I'd probably ask you what the f you are doing.

No sympathy I'm afraid. You should apologise.
Click to expand...

I'm amazed at the number of people who think it's the same as someone being in your house or garden. It's nothing of the sort, everyone has the right to privacy in their house or surroundings, land is completly different and should be available for everyone to use. It works in scotland so why not in england too ?
 
errrm, OP, are you mad or something?
You were caught trespassing, asked for details so the land owner can bring a claim against you, refused, clouted him with your whip repeatedly for a good measure and you want HIM to apologise to you?
Jeez :rolleyes:
 
WOW

I am truly gobsmacked. OP you need to firstly check that apologising isn't admitting guilt and then if not eat some seriously humble pie. Do you realise that if it gets to court you could (and in Scotland almost certainly would) go to jail. From the tone of your opening post I don't think you'd last five minutes......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top