Pheasants...... Advice please!

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holdontight

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Hi,
Where I keep my horses is right in the middle of a shoot. At this time of year there are literally hundreds if not thousands of pheasants about (no exaggeration!) as they have not been released until recently.
This is causing all sorts of problems when I hack out my (rather wick) young horses. Of course in the countryside it isnt that uncommon to have one or two of the noisy, flappy birds to fly up to startle my youngsters and this is just bad luck (I am always armed with a strong neck-strap!), however the shoot have laid down thousands of them so when 1 flies up another 20 follow which can cause the athletic youngsters to pull some very unusual shapes!

I cant avoid riding in the areas of pheasants as they completely surround my yard. Most of the tracks and bridleways are un-gated.

Anyway, can anyone tell me who is responsible if I have a nasty accident - as i can see one coming. If I fall off due to the shoots pheasants and my horse gets loose it could cause all sorts of carnage. After all if I was a farmer and I had sheep get out on a road which caused an accident then I, as the owner would be responsible. Does that mean the owner of the shoot (and thus the pheasants) is responsible for his birds when they are on a public track, road or bridleway?

Im not one to tell people not to shoot, in fact I dont disagree with shooting at all, but in this particular shoot how can they call it sport when thousands of pheasants fly out of the cover in one go? You wouldnt even need to aim and you would still hit one!

Sorry for the length! I suppose its a bit of a rant too as I had a very close call with hitting the ground this morning!
 
I have had similar experiences on my last yard which was a shoot. My current yard runs a small shoot so thankfully you only get a few birds, much more sporting. I might be wrong but I very much doubt you can claim against the landowner for your horse spooking at a pheasant in the same way that owners aren't liable for the behavoiur of their cats because it is accepted that they roam. You just need to make sure your public liability is up to date
 
This is why you need Third Party Liability insurance. If your horse gets spooked and you fall off and your horse runs in front of a car, you could get sued.

How could you identify the owner of the pheasant that scared your horse ?
 
On a different vein I had huge problems with pidgeons mating in trees, flapping on the school floor, even sitting on the telephone wires to spook my youngster so I shot them! Never before have a felt so good about being so mean but hey ho!
 
Can't answer your question just want to tell you I feel for you, they are a bloody nightmare, used to have thousands for the shoot where I used to work, if it wasn't the horse spooking it was me, they come out from everywhere and blend into the muck heap rather well!!
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Yes I do have Insurance of all kinds! Horses are insured on their own and also through their affiliation.

I reckon Id soon find the owner of the pheasants if I started shooting them myself lol!

I do know who the landowners are and also who the owner of the shoot is - but the owner of the shoot is a nasty piece of work!
 
Do bear in mind that if the pheasants werent there the farm might not be viable and then you might be riding thru a housing estate instead....

...Birds flying out are an accepted hazard of hacking whether its crows or pheasants or whatever, I also have shooting estates round me and a young horse and she sometimes also spooks at them, usually when they get stuck in the sheep netting and are struggling to get through!

But if she spooked and I came off then I would regard that as an unfortunate accident as she would have done the same thing if an owl swooped across her face (has happened!).

Just cos the pheasants have an ultimate owner doesnt mean they should be sued. The same would apply if I had an accident taking my horse through the track to the road which isunfenced and in a field full of cattle (youngsters included, they breathe down your neck right behind the horse :-O), its a hazard of riding in the countryside.

If I needed to claim after an accident like that I would claim on my own insurance.

Unless the shoot owner was only ever releasing his entire annual hatch of pheasants right outside your front gate 5mins before he knows you are coming out onthe horses (ie deliberate attempt to harm) I dont think he should be pursued.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Do bear in mind that if the pheasants werent there the farm might not be viable and then you might be riding thru a housing estate instead....

...Birds flying out are an accepted hazard of hacking whether its crows or pheasants or whatever, I also have shooting estates round me and a young horse and she sometimes also spooks at them, usually when they get stuck in the sheep netting and are struggling to get through!

But if she spooked and I came off then I would regard that as an unfortunate accident as she would have done the same thing if an owl swooped across her face (has happened!).

Just cos the pheasants have an ultimate owner doesnt mean they should be sued. The same would apply if I had an accident taking my horse through the track to the road which isunfenced and in a field full of cattle (youngsters included, they breathe down your neck right behind the horse :-O), its a hazard of riding in the countryside.

If I needed to claim after an accident like that I would claim on my own insurance.

Unless the shoot owner was only ever releasing his entire annual hatch of pheasants right outside your front gate 5mins before he knows you are coming out onthe horses (ie deliberate attempt to harm) I dont think he should be pursued.

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite agree, and for what it's worth, two out of three of mine have become totally pheasant proof - not through anything I've done, they've just totally lost interest! - so it can become less alarming - if your horse has a short attention span!
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I would imagine what haffieliesel says is true, they are a countryside hazard.

Bad news, still another month to go before they start pheasant shooting to bring them down in numbers.
 
yes I appreciate and accept the odd bird flying out such as a crow, owl or general spuggy and it is a hazard of hacking, but this isnt the odd bird its hundreds of deliberately placed birds on public byways oh and they are right outside my gate.

I wasn't concerned who id sue I was more concerned about any damage to anybody or anything else as the area is also v touristy - another bug bear Im afraid!

Bah humbug lol
 
I used to keep my horses on a shooting estate and this time of year was a nightmare, eventually though my horses stopped bothering about them (even when cantering) and it was me who nearly had a heart attack everytime one of the fat feathered beasts flew out of the bracken.
 
OP - If you can see an accident is coming, but you continue to ride in that area, you are not mitigating your risks in any way and would be completely liable if your horse were to cause damage or injury to a third party, if you lost control due to the pheasants.

Sorry
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I think you'll find that <font color="red"> you </font> are responsible
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Pheasants are Game and are not classed as a farmed animal once released. It would be like saying the farmer was responsible if you fell off because a pigeon on his field spooked your horse
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