My first rant and I am so so cross with my ex towny neighbour!

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im trying my best to mess up the drive in my massive great big new nissan navara by skidding where possible......but he just comes out in his cropped trousers trainers and oakleys (even if its cloudy) and smooths it with his feet!

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Sorry, but I HAD to laugh at that!
 
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No I wasn't wearing reflective gear, (altho I wear so much out hacking that I'm prob visible from space) because I was schooling my own horse in my own field which is just behind the house. Out of all the places to ride, this is the one where (I thought) I was entitled to feel safe.

We are a good 15 miles from where the helicopter came from, which is RAF Henlow, so it's not as if we're in their flight path. My horse is light grey, so we'd have shown up quite well.

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Surprisingly you don't, even with a grey horse! Flying low at high speed is very difficult and they have to watch for contours of the land, other aircraft, cloud, buildings, telegraph wires, etc. If you do wear reflective gear then they are MUCH more likely to see you and the majority of pilots have been trained to avoid horse riders. 15 miles is a very short distance from an air base (relative to flying) so I'm surprised you aren't disturbed more. You did the right thing in complaining, and it may be worth asking if they have anymore reflective gear as the MoD gave away a lot of full horse and rider kits last year to people who lived near bases.
 
I am sure it is frustrating but he has done nothing wrong, he's flying it in his field and as long as it doesn't land in yours then there's not much you can do. If it does land in your field then I'd keep it!
 
Sounds fair enough to me. He bought the land so he can fly his helicopers in peace and likes going for quiet walks at a normal time of day with his dog. Why on earth are you victimising him by trying to ruin his drive......
 
No helicopter problems (apart from fact we are right near RAF shawbury but have to say horses don't bother with helicopters now). However seem to be in a prime area for townies moving to the country. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing someone mowing nearly an acre with a ride on when you are desperate for grazing. And don't get me started on the ones who move to the country and get a horse with no idea how to look after it, e.g. FEED it on grass cuttings! Love the idea of buying your own remote control - go for it!
 
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im trying my best to mess up the drive in my massive great big new nissan navara by skidding where possible......but he just comes out in his cropped trousers trainers and oakleys (even if its cloudy) and smooths it with his feet!

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PMSL
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Sorry if this is not what you want to hear, but horses do become accustomed to noises and strange objects. It is only when we become agitated etc ourselves that the horse also responds and learns to be afraid.

In a 3 acre field I'd have thought the bloke was being considedrate and his toys not to be a problem unless of course he flies his toy outside his field over into the horses area. He could have just not bought a field and played with his toy anyways. I'm not trying to stick up for this bloke as i don't know the ins and outs of things.. He could be a pain in the backside I dunno...
Personnaly I'm more concerned about the real things flying low over the yard and fields.
Apparently you can contct the airfield and find out their flying times to help yourself from being out with your horse at the same time. A bit of a nuisance and seems unfair but what can we do?

Not sure if the suggestions of shooting his toy or intervering with the signal is a joke or not but two wrongs don't make a right.. After all he could go out and buy a bigger toy than before with the insurance money. then you could have the worry of thinking "What if he does something to my horses"

I can unnderstand the worry in itself though.
 
Uh, get over it? The horses will soon ignore the heli' and he has as much right to fly them as you do to ride!

We live right on a lake in the mountains so put up with garda heli' (suidicide/lost person search) and practice teams of heli's and planes from mountain rescue, air-sea rescue and the army.
 
tbh don't get stressed about the helicopters - your horses will get used to them.
Wehave a model aircraft flying club on the downs and they are up there every weekend. Plus kites. The horses do get used to them, even the babies.

his change of use of paddock to garden rightly has been reported.

however if his helipad is downwind from the prevailing wind direction you could 'invest' in a nice pile of pig manure that is regularly topped up (after all you need to fertilise your land.....)
 
I know you must be upset - but your horse will get used to the noise very quickly.

His land - his right to do on it what he wants.
 
Its not nice when we see our horses upset and its something out of our control, but I agree they usually get used to it. Its annoying for you, but he's not really doing anything wrong and these things can esculate into really nasty stupid "turf" wars if you aren't careful and then its just you who suffers as its all so stressful and horrible.

Try to think of the positives - you have an absolutely ideal opportunity to bomb proof your horses so if you meet this sort of thing out hacking, you'll be fine. Horses are much better at adapting than we give them credit, just give them a bit of time.

Maybe ask him to let you know when he plans to fly the helicopter for the next few weeks and explain you would like to be around, so that you can keep an eye on your horses whilst they get used to it.

As for the walking his dog on the footpath - why shouldn't he, its a public access route.

Where the drive is concerned, I would be annoyed.
 
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He also has 3/4 acre paddock which he has mowed and turned into a garden and put a big washing line in the middle of it as well as lots of flower beds. He lives on his "ride on" mower.....its pathetic!



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If this was a paddock and not a garden - did he get change of use - and for that matter, does he need special permission to fly the models? Might be worth a word to the council -definitely on the change of use, you can't just change fields to gardens and it will might make him realise the countyside is only like it is because people don't change it all to gardens
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. But also on the helichopper front, round here they have a club which is based right away from anything, which I understood was because they can't just be flown anywhere = ie. permission needed. Really hope so anyway!!!
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There is an area specifically for people to fly their toy aircraft right at the entrance of the park we use for hacking. The horses are used to it now but they sometimes fly quite low so we do get the odd spook.

Buy one of those BB gun things and use his chopper for target practice
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Or alternatively but a cheap second hand remote control aircraft and fly it directly into his
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If the model helicopters are causing you and your horses a problem then you could use the Environment Act (As ammended) to ground his model aeroplanes and helicopters.

Contact the enviromental department of your local district council and they will asist you.

(The same act can also be used for controlling nuisance dogs adjacent to public highways and bridleways).

Peter Natt BHS Volunteer Bridleway Access Officer - Herts
 
Sorry but I think this is a terrible over-reaction
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I understand why you might be miffed with him laying your driveway but I honestly can't see how you can possibly be annoyed with him doing what he likes in his field.....after all you do in your field!
 
siennamum

The drive belongs to me and he has ruined it by covering it in a thick layer of pea shingle without asking us. Im not victimising at all I promise; he just has absolutely no consideration for the countryside at all. That is what annoys me.
 
Thanks for all your comments guys, I am a lot more calm about it now. I dont want to report him or anything about the choppers as I know "what goes around comes around" I just wanted to find out whether he is liable or not should something happen whilst the boys are getting used to it.

He had a run in with my farrier the other day as he walked past the yard with his pit bull off the lead who came onto the yard and barked at my very big young horse. Who nearly knocked over the farrier!

Also, I dont want anyone to think that I am a neurotic horse woman who makes his life difficult by moaning all the time. He really did not like me asking him to stop the other night and thinks I am lying when I said its dangerous for them. I asked him to let me know and if poss to do it little and often to start with. He wasnt even listening to me and walked off saying "ahhh whatever!".

He has no permission the change use of his paddock.
 
oh forgot to say! The reason why the other neighbours complain about the footpath thing is that this particular footpath is used probably once or twice a year as it runs through peoples gardens, over patios, past kitchen windows etc. It annoys them cos they dont like seeing the same people everyday in their gardens! I know its a footpath but still its not very nice for the neighbours.
 
Well sorry but that is their lookout....they shouldn't have bought a house with a public footpath running through it I'm afraid.

I really don't mean to sound awful here, but honestly, would you stop using a bridleway because it ran through someone's farmyard and because they didn't like it? This man has every right under the sun to be using this footpath, as you would have going on a bridleway in the above scenario.

No, I have no sympathy for those with the footpath and if I was him and knew this then I think I would start walking my dog along it 20 times a day AND I'd invite tonnes of my friends to join me!
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This man is doing a wonderful job of keeping rights of ways open to the public and should be commended and not berated in my opinion.
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But that's silly - the footpath must have been there when they bought their houses so why complain when people actually use it? Or is it a "special" footpath which is for decorative purposes only???
 
Can't the neighbours apply to move the footpath?

A farm I regularly ride through had a bridleway diverted as originally it came through the yard and right past the house, between the house and the menage, and the dogs used to go loopy and scare the horses. I thought it wasn't nice that we had to ride so close to the house. Now you come to the yard, and go to the other side of their menage on a nice wide track, and then back onto the orignal bridleway once you are past the house - its no trouble to take the diversion and must give them some privacy back.

Surely the same can go for footpaths and get it diverted away from the houses?

As for the drive, I'd tell him firmly that he's in trouble for doing it - its your drive, he only has access - and that you could have him in court over it... however, in the interests of being neighbourly - you will leave it for now if he can please just listen to your concerns about the horses and help. Explain you don't want to cause problems and you are sure he really doesn't want to upset the neighbours - so surely you can reach some compromises as you know how horses react and he doesn't...

If he's still not playing nice, speak to a solicitor about the driveway...
 
point taken but this is the neighbours opinion not mine! wont persue the drive issue as he know we arent happy and will just leave it at that.

oh....he feeds wild ducks milk and he tried to feed a antisocial cow bread and it chased him out of the field. He also bought a load of chicken wire and told mum he would fence the ducks off and domesticate them as pets. Need I say more.
 
Hi, you could always try the air rifle method. Used to have a neighbour in my old field who owned a real helicopter. He flew over my field and stables really low to come in for landing, without my permission. Council soon stopped that; infact considering he had woods on one side and horses in every approach on the rest he was soon finding it very hard to get into his landing area at all. Horses did get used to it in the end tho!! As for the pea gravel; you could always get a friendly farmer to bring in a really big heavy roller that you need to roll your fields every day for about a month and the farmer just has to take it in and out every day!! It would soon pulverise the pea-gravel (ps i'd chose a really wet few weeks to do it to).
 
Hi there, I've been following this post with some interest, I have horses and my OH flys model helicopters, my horses are used to them and for the most part, don't take a blind bit of notice. However, my husband and his flying friends are well aware that they will die a slow and painful death if they fly anywhere near or over the horses.

I can see both sides of this and can understand how worried you are about the welfare of your horses, I would feel exactly the same. I can also see your neighbours point of view, he has moved to the country and has his very own flying field, so why shouldn't he fly his model when he wants.

I would say, for what it's worth, that "shooting him down" with another transmitter is not a great idea, when another transmitter is switched on the model is then completely out of control and could crash anywhere, in your field perhaps. If he has the latest set of radio control gear you wouldn't be able to interfere with his signal anyway, the equipment detects the signal and automatically changes to another channel.

You really need to talk to each other and try to work something out about acclimatising your horses to the sight and sound of the model helicopter, horses adapt very quickly to new sights and sounds provided the are introduced slowly.

Model flyers are generally a pretty OK bunch of people and most fly in a very responsible manner. There is a governing body for them called the British Model Flying Association (BMFA) which is a bit like the BHS is to horse people. Membership of the BMFA also includes Third Party Liability Insurance, rather like the BHS Gold Membership does. Membership and insurance is not compulsory for flyers as it isn't for riders, there is a very slim chance that his household insurance may cover him, but I wouldn't bet on it.

The BMFA are already aware of your situation and have been following this thread, I am told that they sometimes mediate in these situations but I'm not sure if it is dependant on the flyer being a member of the BMFA. I am sure that they would do their best to help and advise you on a course of action to resolve your problem. Their website is http://www.bmfa.org/ you will find their contact details on the top left of their home page under the "About" tab.

I know it's going to be difficult to talk to him, especially when you'd quite like to shove his helicopter where the sun don't shine, but talk to him you must, before the whole situation gets totally out of hand and someone gets hurt.
 
This might be of absolutely no use whatsoever, but is just my opinion.

We used to live on a flightpath for a RAF base and had allsorts flying right over our chimneypot. When we moved our horses there they HAD to get used to it - and they did ! My horse who is scared of flowers, or differently coloured plants, isn't the slightest bit bothered by chinooks or hercules planes barely clearing his head. Its me that doesn't like them, not him. Also, his field was right next to the railway line and he would happily graze within 10 ft of 40 carriage long Hanson (aggregates) trains clunking and clanging (deafening). He is a very spooky horse of a nervous disposition but these things wouldn't bother him. Cant you put boots and bandages on them (no headcollars unless they are breakable ones) and just let them run themselves silly. What if you ignore (but carefully keep an eye on them) them running around. Won't they settle eventually.

Sorry if its not use - just a thought.
 
I think I'm being thick here. What's wrong with a pea shingle drive? Apart from the fact that he should have asked first obviously. But, now it's there, hasn't he improved your property at his expense?
Anyway, pea shingle is very good for conditioning the horse's soles.
I'm afraid I don't agree with the neighbours about him walking on the public footpath, he's got every right to be there.
 
He also has 3/4 acre paddock which he has mowed and turned into a garden and put a big washing line in the middle of it as well as lots of flower beds. He lives on his "ride on" mower.....its pathetic

Speak to your planning office at the council about this. If he had not had planning permission for change of use on the field from agricultural, he could be in a bit of trouble!
 
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