Misold Grazing Land please help :(

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emmadk22

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Hi, im hoping someone can help. I will breakdown my situation as simply as possible and hopefully i've posted in the right area.

5 Weeks ago i was given the opportunity to own my first horse. Although i can ride well we did lots of research surrounding the care and maintenance as we've never owned our own. We are looking for suitable grazing close to home and thought we'd dropped on lucky when i saw an ad posted on facebook:

1-2 half acre paddocks for rent £15 each pw & 1 acre paddock £30pw

I immediately contacted the advertiser, they seemed genuine down to each people and she sent me the information which showed the rates above and some other terms.

After a lengthy discussion we agreed to take a 1 acre paddock for £30pw. Payable at 4 weeks in advance and then £30 per week to keep 4 weeks in front. We were told that if we were to get another horse in the future they wouldn't allow 2 on 1/2 acre and we thought it would be better to have a larger plot anyway.

When we initially went down to view it wasn't taped out and the guy explained that it would be measured. We paid the 4 weeks in advance to be followed then by a weekly payment of £30 so we would always be 4 weeks in advance. Our horse arrived a week later. 2 Weeks later the grass is gone and we're buying hay. No problem we expected the costs.

However on watching location location a couple of nights ago we saw what and acre actually looks like and looked at google. where we found an acre comprises of around 4047 sqm. Off we went with our tape measure to find we have 810 sqm. Nowhere near enough for our 15"1 tb to be on.

We thought maybe the guy renting the land had been diddled too as we are just sup letting and he had rented off the land owner. I messaged to explain the problem to which the response was " Paul says they are not acre paddocks. He says when you came down he said a £15 paddock or a £30 paddock". Paul did say this, with us assuming, as per their ad, that the £30 paddock would be an acre and sufficient for our horse.

Unfortuntely we have no tennancy agreement as they still havent sent one and no proof of the 4 weeks we paid other than it was stipulated on the info she sent. On telling them we felt misled into believing we have an acre as that's what everything pointed to they turned quite nasty. We told them we would move our horse asap and wouldn't be paying anymore rent as were 4 weeks in front. They are now saying this is a bond. We told them we would speak to trading standards to which he said they 810sqm was plenty for a horse but they wanted us out by Friday ( in 5 days ) or they would move her themselves.

Can they move our horse like that? It goes without saying we are desperately trying to find her somewhere and are viewing tomorrow but in the meantime can they?
Also can someone please confirm im not going mad and that 810 sqm is not adequate. They keep their own young cob on 450 sqm
 
I don't know where you stand legally but you will need to find somewhere suitable ASAP to keep your horse as people like this may well carry out their threats, trading standards may be interested but at the end of the day you cannot stay somewhere you are not welcome and is so unsuitable.
1 acre is not enough to sustain one horse without considerable care and supplementary feeding, a paddock fenced by electric offers no shelter, plus living alone is not ideal, you would be best looking for a decent livery yard which offers some facilities and will not stitch you up as these people seem to have done.
 
Oh yes 100%. We have been a little naive in not knowing what an acre was and genuinely thought thats what we had. We are viewing tomorrow and have phoned police in case anything happens to our mare. We do want her moved preferrably yesterday the money is a civil matter we can worry about later. When we took the land we were told there were another 2 horses coming so in total 4 so we thought shed have lots of company and the materials are all their and shelter part built. Plus shes had hay on tap for 3 weeks as well as a hard feed. Weve had no choice, the grass is gone. He told me her paddock was more than adequate so just really double checking that 810 sqm (the equivelent of around 1/5th of an acre is certainly not. I do feel stupid for not knowing what an acre was and it is partly my own fault but i do feel misled into beleiving we had adequate grazing. U live u learn
 
Sorry but I think you have been very naive, running out of grass after two weeks should of set alarm bells off, how did you expect to get through the next 50 weeks of the year especially if Winter is as wet as the last.

Legally you don't have a leg to stand on, with no agreement or receipt for payment they could say you haven't paid so they are chucking you out.

I'd find at least a part livery yard ASAP (in next two days latest) so your horse is safe and somewhere she will be suitably looked after while you learn and have people on hand to ask questions too.
 
We are looking after her, for hours a day we love it. we found her previous owners and speak to them often. Weve started where everyone does at the beginning and the only problem weve her is the land. I agree been very very naive. They own horses and came across as horse lovers and their own horse is on a patch smaller than ours so we would never have imagined that they would be lying. we will get her moved asap we are trying. Thanks for the comments. Appreciate it.
 
You could try posting on the regional board for help in finding a reasonable local livery stable. It is hard with your first horse and we all make mistakes. The important thing is that you are trying to put it right. If you can get onto a decent livery yard you'll have help and support (with hopefully not too many politics). Bear in mind thought that any place which has short notice spaces is not likely to be the best place available so plan to keep looking, just in case. Before everyone yells at me - I know this isn't always true and you could get lucky. But the best places usually have waiting lists I'm afraid. I know we do.
 
Can't offer you anything except support, but just wanted to say I wouldn't know an acre of land if it jumped up and bit me and I've been around horses and livestock for more years than I care to remember! I once asked someone to tell me how many acres a particular paddock was and all I got was a withering glance (so I assume the person I asked didn't know either!) so don't feel too embarrassed.
 
Hi, sounds like a steep learning curve! Shame to say but this is getting more common. If you are intending your horse to be turned out most of the time the you need far more land than what you have been allowing for especially if you can't rest it at all. As others have said find a DIY livery yard.
We have one near us where they all live out as two heards and are moved to different fields so the ground doesn't get poached.
The small individual square per horse systems only really work if they only being turned out in day or night depending on the year.
You do need to ensure wherever you are you have access to stabling even if on 24/7 turnout in case of health issues etc.

Good luck
 
I'm not sure what they think they mean by saying it's a 'bond.' Sounds to me like you have an implied tenancy agreement on a weekly periodic tenancy. That means they have to give you a week's notice if they want you to leave, or you have to give them one week's notice if you want to leave. Not that that helps much, as it's only a couple of days more than the notice they have given you. You should be able to get back the money paid in advance as it's essentially being held as a deposit. However, if you don't have a receipt to prove the money changed hands and they're getting awkward about things then I wouldn't be too hopeful about you getting the money back.

Don't know if any of that is of use to you. I studied property law at uni but that was a few years ago so I'm a bit hazy on some of the details.
 
Isnt there somewhere you can google your land and calculate the acreage? I watch the various Escape to the Country etc programmes and am always amazed at the vast space that is apparently half an acre. I used to know the method of pacing out the land, so many paces wide x long etc, but cant remember what it was now. Any maths brains on here ?
 
I don't doubt you love her and are caring for her, rather than hours in human company she'd be better off with company of her own kind so she can groom and interact with them.

If you want to keep her out all year round then you need to make sure there's shelter, natural or man made, option of stabling or confinement just in case and hard standing so you can get her out of the mud and have somewhere clean for farrier/vet etc. I like to feed hay on hardcore to encourage then onto dry land once in a while but I'm on clay so it can get boggy in winter. The smaller the space the more churned up it will get in winter. I allow one acre per pony/two acres per horse as a general rule to allow for rotation and resting of paddocks.

Regional boards are a good idea plus any local Facebook groups. I find the best place is the local tack shop, generally honest reviews, warts and all
 
I'd probably chalk this one down to experience - at least it's happened fairly early on in your ownership. You can move on and forget about it. For £30/wk you should be able to find decent DIY livery with facilities -- you've been "had", either intentionally or not, but not for too much money and at this point not at much detriment of your new horse.
 
pixie said:
Where are you in the UK?
£30/week sounds very steep for grass livery.
I charge £20/week for stable, grazing, shared tack room and storage areas
Click to expand...

Some good advice being given. I also would say find a DIY place that offers all the above. I charge £30 for stable, rotational grazing, hay and feed storage plus arena with jumps. You will make friends there, your horse will have company and you should hopefully be much happier.
 
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