Riding school closure due to noise

[Suechoccy]

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/309289.html

Surely the majority of horses will become habituated to the noise if it's fairly frequent/daily occurrence and then disregard it?

My friend's horse, once spooky not-road-safe is now an old plod on the road since moving to a livery yard with fields alongside a busy dual carriageway interchange.

Another horse who didn't like rattly trailers moved to a new home next door to a plant hire yard with concrete crusher (so very noisy most days) and now couldn't give two hoots about rattly trailers.

 

[kerrieberry2]

I went to look at a baby a few years ago and the yard was honestly not more than 20 yards from a railway track that was up slightly higher than the yard!! the first time a train came along, I jumped out of my skin and even the baby horses were totally fine with it, because they were used to it, so I agree that the horses will get used to it!!

 

[Suechoccy]

Ah - Snaresbrook Riding Stables in East London was like that. Stables almost beneath the above-ground London Tube line, and arena alongside it. Constant train traffic and the neds ignored it.

 

[Bethie]

My instructor's place has a quarry just down the road (so out of sight but very close in relation to noise), the police were interested in buying a horse she had for sale and were very impressed with just how traffic proof he was on the test ride. Horses get used to what is "normal" for them, my own horses are on a working farm with all the noise and traffic that creates, with fields next to a busy dual carriageway and where low flying helicopters are a daily occurrence, we don't have any issues with any of these hazards. I also grew up at a riding school that was right on the edge of the city in a semi industrial area, alongside residential areas and it was sited adjacent to the main artery from the motorway into the city.

I can imagine why the owners of the riding school won't be impressed about quarrying next to their home, but I think the potential effect on the horses is a smokescreen to try and stop planning being granted.

 

[Sportznight]

For sure the horses will get used to it, but during the 'getting used to it' period, there could be enough law suits due to injuries to riders coming off, to settle the national debt.

 

[BBH]

Horses will ignore the noise. I live very close to a motorway and if anything the noise helps because it de-sensitises them and when they go to a party they don't play up, they are also traffic proof to hack.

 

[Cuffey]

Having had a gravel quarry in the area for 10 years (now closed) the biggest issue was dust in summer.
The inheritance ragwort and rabbits as the site did not control either.

 

[jsr]

My yard is part of an estate and right next to the shooting range, in season we have pheasant hunting going all daily and out they are clay pigeon..can't say any of the horses are bothered one inch about the noise. Some might be a bit lookie when they first arrive but by day two they couldn't care less. Its the bloody pheasants flying out and making that stupid noise that makes me spook more often than not!!!

 

[Magicmillbrook]

I can imagine why the owners of the riding school won't be impressed about quarrying next to their home, but I think the potential effect on the horses is a smokescreen to try and stop planning being granted.

I think you have hit the nail on the head!

 

[Sleighfarer]

Ah - Snaresbrook Riding Stables in East London was like that. Stables almost beneath the above-ground London Tube line, and arena alongside it. Constant train traffic and the neds ignored it.

Ah... I used to ride at Snaresbrook. They had to be pretty traffic proof as well!

 

[JessPickle]

Surely realistically the horses will get used to it, likely to need to close for a week or two and just have experienced riders on every horse to get them used to that. However after that it's unlikely to be an issue.

 

[Over2You]

A friend keeps her horse at a yard next to RAF Leuchars and the horses there couldn't give a stuff about jets or helicopters. They will happily graze on/ride out even when the airshow is on. And you're looking at something like a dozen fast jet displays and pyrotechnics going off when they're simulating an airfield attack. I also got mine accustomed to all sorts of noises in just a few months. In other words - horses can easily be desensitized. The riding school closing due to noise doesn't cut it with me.

 

[Boulty]

I agree it's amazing what horses will cope with! I remember the RS I used to keep my horse at (I also used to help out / work there for a time) used to run a client show once a year. One year they decided to have a bouncy castle and a few fairground rides & the like. We all led the horses up there an hour or so before the first class started and they honestly couldn't care less and they all behaved fine for the clients for the duration of the show. These were unfamiliar things popping up in the field that the horses had never seen before, a whole mixture of clients of all ages and abilities and not one spook. I agree that this is probably just being used as an excuse when what they ought to be doing is getting out a cd player and playing the horses recordings of quarry noises on loop, don't think it would take long for them not to be fussed!

 

[EstherYoung]

Here's the company's planning statement: http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/applic...n-Documents/Part B - Supporting Statement.pdf

And the current position of the application with the supporting docs and representations is here: http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/enviro...pp-details.asp?AppCode=CM4/0211/159&AppType=2

It would appear that the quarry is not entirely disused at the moment so this isn't a brand new thing... A lot of the objections seem to be hung up on the issue of blasting, something that isn't even on the table. The arguments about whether the surrounding roads are suitable for the traffic (and also whether the company are keeping to their current restrictions) are much stronger as an objection in my opinion.

I think personally I'd also be negotiating for improved access to the site, particularly the access track which is currently a footpath, when the quarrying finally finishes in 10 years. It may seem a long way away, but we had similar round here and the BHS managed to negotiate improved equestrian access when finished as part of the 'deal' - our 10 years of quarry are up, the site has been handed over to the RSPB to manage, the additional paths are being put in, and once it's open we'll have shedloads more off road riding.

 

[Mike007]

Sounds like someone just wants to make problems .78000 tonnes over ten years sounds a lot but it is only one or two lorryloads a day on a five day week.Just a bunch of NIMBYs.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Agree with other posters that whilst its a huge shame for the riding school that the quarry is coming next door to them, that the horses will very quickly get used to it and will ignore it.

Mine was kept at a place where they had military training and there was a firing range nearby. Quite often there was a huge "boom" and the earth would literally shake, but all the horses in the yard, even the most scatty, totally ignored it!!

It may be a plus point for the riding school in that if they want to sell something, then it will be well used to all sorts of noise etc and this could be a selling point??

 

[Shellby27]

I can't remember exactly where is is (possible Swindon) but when I worked for the MOD I had to go on a course which tested the firing of all different types of bombs! There we all sat on the firing range covered in protective hearing equipment and directly opposite was a field full of TB's!!!! Everytime they let one off I turned into two people and the TB's carried on happily grazing!!! The lecturer joked that they sell the horses as "tested BOMB PROOF" lol

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Agree with the poster who suggests the objection raised is just a smokescreen for other reasons.
We used to keep our horses overlooking a quarry. Daily blasting time was 3.30pm, just when we were riding past it. Horses never batted an eyelid.
Just like they've previously ignored the crop scarers next to the field, and now the frequent shoots in our hacking area and the planes flying low overhead, the trains going over and under the bridges we pass....

Fortunately, horses adapt to the environment in which they live, that's why they have been such successful working animals throughout history.

Fingers crossed the RS owner doesn't have any wind turbines planned in her neighbourhood. That'll really freak her out..or an aerodrome...or hot air balloons... or a jet ski centre...(Our horses have had all of those at some time or other and have lived to tell the tale.)

 

[Once was lost]

My local riding school where I do some work and my children ride is between a major RAF base and a smaller RAF base. The large base has the huge planes coming in and out, circling very low most days, we also have low flying fighter jets and from the smaller base lots of low flying helicopters. Across the lane and behind a large earth bank from the yard is a banger racing track, the noise on a Sunday when they are running races is massive, I feel like I can barely think when I am there on a Sunday! The horses however don't give two hoots about it all, we have new horses come on and they don't give a toss either, even youngsters coming from the field.
I agree that the noise issue is a smokescreen for the owners who (understandably) don't want planning to be granted. From the sounds of it the noise shouldn't be too bad if they are only extracting 5 hours a day. Would be interesting to see what happens.

 

[MadBlackLab]

I can't remember exactly where is is (possible Swindon) but when I worked for the MOD I had to go on a course which tested the firing of all different types of bombs! There we all sat on the firing range covered in protective hearing equipment and directly opposite was a field full of TB's!!!! Everytime they let one off I turned into two people and the TB's carried on happily grazing!!! The lecturer joked that they sell the horses as "tested BOMB PROOF" lol

Sorry PMSL at the tested bombproof bit

 

[Tnavas]

My riding school was one block from the end of the Christchurch International Airport NZ and the ponies couldn't give a stuff - even when the massive Antarctic planes came and went. The only time they got a bit worried was when Concorde came in - we just had everyone dismount as it came in.

To me the problem would be more like the customers not being able to hear the instructor over the machinery noise.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Horses soon get used to noise; even if loud and unexpected. Mine was on livery at a place where they did military training nearby (i.e. a mile away as the crow flies, no more) with a huge great noisy gun which would go off about every 30 seconds and went "boom", so loud that the whole earth practically shook and I could hear it at my home 8 miles away from the yard, but even the most scatty horses at the yard soon got used to it and didn't turn a whisker!