Ooops I got told off .........

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polly1976

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Now this has not happened to me in a very long time and I will stand to be corrected by any sensible factual answers.
Last night a friend and I were out trying to get in a quick hack before it gets too dark after work. There is a small lane which goes alongside 2 long fields which have been stubble for the couple of months or so. I am a great stickler for not riding in fields once they have been ploughed right up till they are stubble fields again for obvious reasons (crop damage etc) and at all other time stick to bridleways and rights of way etc.
So on the way back passed we opted for a slow collected canter along the edge of the field (which we and other horse riders do often). The farmer happened to drive past and pulled up to talk - we know him and see him often out so nothing unusual. He then asked if we could not ride on the field.
My first thought was ok, it is officially trespassing, no harm done - very sorry won't do it again, didn;t realise it was a problem etc. But then he continued that the horses were damaging the ground! This is where I started to wonder what he was on about. I work in construction/engineering and know a bit about the ground, but his reason was the horses compact the top layer of ground/earth and this damages it??
The ground was firm enough and hooves were not chopping up the ground or anything, small hoof prints just visible kind of thing.
My thoughts were the field when it is ploughed is down a foot deep, turned and then harrowed. So I cannot see what 'damage/compaction' would remain post ploughing.
Had he said get off my land and been done with it would not be writing this at all, but wondered if anyone else out there can confirm the connundrum of horses damaging the earth by compaction?

Its just puzzled me ever since.

Yours truly
a told off 35 year old ;-)
 
I'd suspect he was embarrassed at having to ask an adult to not do something that a teenager should have known not to do and just pulled out the first 'reason' he could think of.
 
Tbh I think he was fair!! it is his land after all!! There's a massive stubble field over the road to our yard & daughter is dying to go for a blast in it, but I've told her she must ask the farmer first & as she is 15 & very shy she darent - so its hard luck :D
 
I was going to say the exact same thing as Jemima_too. Maybe he didnt want to really offend you by just telling you to get off his land and that was the first 'reason/excuse' he could think of. You said you have know him for a while so maybe he just wanted to be polite?!

That said its his land, his choice, he didnt really have to give you a reason anyway! :D
 
Not that constructive an answer really was it!!!

The thread is referring to the damage to ground as interested and there are many farmer people out there on H&H too - I have already admitted the error and the telling off.
Want some 'CONSTRUCTIVE' thoughts on the issue of damaged ground. Thanks
 
I agree with Jemima, that it was a "nice" to ask yout to keep off.

However, there is a permitted bridleway around here, and the surface has certainly improved and become firmer since it has been open and used regularly. Which proves that with lots of use the horses do indeed compact the ground!
 
Consulted OH, who has just come in off his plough for lunch and he said yes any traffic, horse, feet or quadbikes will compact the soil. If there was a lot of horses habitually using the same area the ground would be damaged. When you plough you create a 'plough pan' where the ground is rock hard and impermeable under the plough. You use a flatlift every few years to break this up, I imagine horses would make the plough pan worse. He did say it would need to be a fair few horses.
OH doesn't allow people to canter on his stubble either, but its more of a 'Get off my land you have no rights' rather than a worry about damage.
 
Agree with the comments above - perhaps in future it would be better to ask before you use the fields rather than just going ahead and riding in them.
 
these days you dont have to plough before you sew the new crop, I think its called mimimum tilage ( or at least thats what my dad calls it! ) so there could have been a crop there already...
 
In fairness, the OP isn't disputing his right to tell them not to ride on there, just asking about his reasoning.

Is it possible that it's undersown with rape or something - i.e. not ploughed but still sown, therefore you're damaging the crop not the "ground" as it were? There are a few fields round here I've seen people riding on which have been. I have permission to ride on some "when it's dry", but I opt for not going anywhere near them as I don't want the responsibility of making that call :D
 
Clodagh said:
Consulted OH, who has just come in off his plough for lunch and he said yes any traffic, horse, feet or quadbikes will compact the soil. If there was a lot of horses habitually using the same area the ground would be damaged. When you plough you create a 'plough pan' where the ground is rock hard and impermeable under the plough. You use a flatlift every few years to break this up, I imagine horses would make the plough pan worse. He did say would need to be a fair few horses.
OH doesn't allow people to canter on his stubble either, but its more of a 'Get off my land you have no rights' rather than a worry about damage.
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Perfect Clodagh - thank the OH very much. I try to find out as much as poss (especially where i have got it wrong) so that i can inform a) me and b) others in future.

Case closed! lol ;-)
 
yes horses do cause compaction, but as you are only on a very small area that is almost irrlevant anything treading on ploughed land will cause slight compaction. I suspect he was being very subtle about telling you to 'get of my land' and agree this is probably the first thing he thought of. He could have just said you are trespassing, please do not do it in future. So stop pondering the finer points of compaction and whether he is right or not and just don't trespass. He should not have had to justify his reason, he owns it, its not a right of way, don't use it.
 
The surely the whole beginning part of your thread was totally irrelavant??!

Not at all having a pop, and get that youve acknowledged you were in the wrong, maybe people commenting got a little confused with that the post was actually about?! I obviously did! lol :D
 
Thanks to all who read my post correctly and provided sensible answers.
As usual everyone else is always too quick to jump on and condemn!

I was wrong to ride in the field i know that i am a grown up - i wanted to improve my knowledge for future use - now you all know aswell!
 
Here is my constructive thoughts :)

He doesn't have to give you a reason, he probably made it up.

As a farmer said to a bloke on our yard he caught cantering along his field ... "How would you like it if I came and ran round your garden" :p:D.
He was all for calling the police for trespass, you got away lightly :).
 
Some farmers/landowners do not like horse riders on their land. It is their land and they can do what they want with it. However some farmers/landowners have no problem provided riders are sensible. Always best policy to ask first.

As it happens I allow horse riders to excercise their horses around the edges of my fields on the proviso they are aware that there may be some rabbit holes so they need to take care.
The reason I don't have a problem with this is because as a landowner/farmer I am in receipt of single area payment of about £60 per acre per year which comes from tax payers money anyway so why not give people something back.
 
Sorry Polly gping off topic to reply to PeterNatt... but what about losing your payment if hoofprints are found in your edges? Oops - sorry, you may be under a different system to us.
 
My husband has been in farming for over 35 years and has always told me that any crop, be it grass, wheat, etc. needs air to grow. A field is ploughed to allow air pockets to form to aid the growing process. If you compact that ground then the crop can not grow properly. This is why he is always drumming it in to me never to ride in my paddocks as it can affect the grass growth.

I realise that you are only riding around the outside of the field where the crops dont usually grow anyway - and as others have said maybe he was embarrassed to tell you to just s*d off - but there may be some truth in what he has said!!

ps - I'm just quoting what my OH keeps telling me, so if this information is incorrect I apologise!!
 
also just another thought as someone else has just mentioned if he is part of a certain scheme you have to leave a few metres round the edge of the field for preservation reasons. When we were on this scheme even I wasnt allowed to ride round the edges of my dads fields as it was open to inspection and he could lose his payments if it was found to be used by horse riders / walkers etc.
 
Clodagh said:
Consulted OH, who has just come in off his plough for lunch and he said yes any traffic, horse, feet or quadbikes will compact the soil. If there was a lot of horses habitually using the same area the ground would be damaged. When you plough you create a 'plough pan' where the ground is rock hard and impermeable under the plough. You use a flatlift every few years to break this up, I imagine horses would make the plough pan worse. He did say it would need to be a fair few horses.
OH doesn't allow people to canter on his stubble either, but its more of a 'Get off my land you have no rights' rather than a worry about damage.
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Arrr, Very interesting.

OP - Thank you for having the balls to post (obviously you know you were in wrong and apologised etc etc) but because you posted this we (well I for one) have actually learnt something there.
 
In Scotland we have the 'right to roam' which allows us to ride in stubble fields etc. Doesn't seem to be a problem for our farmers although I suppose horse 'traffic' is much lighter up here.
 
Kenzo said:
Arrr, Very interesting.

OP - Thank you for having the balls to post (obviously you know you were in wrong and apologised etc etc) but because you posted this we (well I for one) have actually learnt something there.
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Kenzo - thanks - was starting to feel a little stamped on!!! As the saying goes you learn something new every day. Thanks to all others for all the helpful input.
 
scarymare said:
In Scotland we have the 'right to roam' which allows us to ride in stubble fields etc. Doesn't seem to be a problem for our farmers although I suppose horse 'traffic' is much lighter up here.
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Jealous - lol - you also have the right to all rivers up there too, which we don't get down here. (I kayak as well as horse ride)
 
Kenzo said:
OP - Thank you for having the balls to post (obviously you know you were in wrong and apologised etc etc) but because you posted this we (well I for one) have actually learnt something there.
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Yeah, ditto this.

scarymare said:
In Scotland we have the 'right to roam' which allows us to ride in stubble fields etc. Doesn't seem to be a problem for our farmers although I suppose horse 'traffic' is much lighter up here.
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You lucky devils up in Scotland! I live in the middle of nowhere in Devon but there's still sod all (legitimate) off-road riding. There was much better riding in Ruislip in Middlesex when I lived there as a kid growing up. Lots of brilliant bridleways maintained by the Council. Who'd imagine I'd miss living there over Devon because of the riding facilities!!! :rolleyes:
 
polly1976 said:
Kenzo - thanks - was starting to feel a little stamped on!!! As the saying goes you learn something new every day. Thanks to all others for all the helpful input.
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Ignore them, there were a few interesting replies generated which is far more important than those few people crying for blood because they missed the point of your post.
 
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