should I call the police

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comeon

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Dont know what to do? I have four horses out 24/7. We live on a side of a hill and it is too dangerous to bring the horses down the hill to the stables.

We are coping fine, we have a quad bike so able to take hay and water up.
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My problem is kids (and thier parents) climbing over the top gate, which is locked and sledging down the field.
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Im not a kill joy, but its making the field like a ski slope, Im so worried the horses are going to slip.
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I cant see the field from the house,and every time I go up they see me coming they run off, so they must know they are in the wrong.

I have fed the horses as far away from where they have been sledging as I can, hoping they wont want to go over to that part of the field, but you know how nosey horses can be.

Im so worried and angry that people think they can just come on to other peoples property and sledge.

Sorry Rant over
 
What would you want the police to do? They are not committing any offences (other than civil trespass) if it is private property. Not a police matter at all. Have you spoken to them yourself? If not, why not?
 
Why dont you put up a sign saying soemthing along the lines of

' Horses may spook. Please do NOT come into the field without permission . Police will be informed of trespassers'

That should do it
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If it continues Ring the non-emergenct police line ( i forget the number
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I was going to suggest talking to them but its a bit difficult if they keep running off!!

Can you stick a sign up where they sledge asking them not too and outlining the reasons why?

Sorry, can't think of anything better :-/
 
I'd put up a sign up saying 'Beware - these horses can be dangerous' or something similar. Basically try and scare the public away and pretend that you're worried for the safety of the public rather than for your horses. Might also be worth doing as Lucy_Poppy advises and having a sign saying trespassers will be prosecuted... Not sure there's much else you can do.
 
I could lend you my evil colt, he'd soon see them off, especially when the kids run up to him saying 'oooooh, he's SO cute!' Seriously though, that's very annoying.
 
good luck with that! im afraid i dont think theres much the police would/could do. putting a sign up may help, but then again people are stupid....

i sympathise with you tho, last winter my bosses sheep were lambing in a field with a very steep slope, when asking the 'parents' to kindly remove their children from private property, explaining the very real danger of children sledging down an incredibly steep hill towards stock fence and barbed wire, and pointing out they were distressing the poor ewes, one mother simply asked (rather rudely) "cant you move your sheep then?"

the next day the sign we had put up was moved off the gate and turned round!

ARRRGH!!!! hope your poor horses are alright :S
 
Electric fencing (with a sign for legalities) or a roll of barbed wire over the gate. Honestly...make it as difficult as you can for them to get in.
I would be peed off too...
 
Get a photograph of them if you can, and then put the word round that there may have been a horse injury, you have photos and those who created the slides will probably be getting legal action taken against them ....there must be a local shop where gossip can be spread - we have such a local shop and soemtimes it can be incredible how quickly it spreads :-) The parents need to hear - the kids are in danger.
 
Shotgun.A few warning shots into the air and roar at the while they run away...its what kept us out of our neighbours field when we were younger...he was crazy though

Otherwise electrify the gate...accidentally of course...works wonders at getting the point across.They may just enter the field further down though

or just add a sign explaining the dangers of entry and that horse's may be scared by sledging.
Unlikely to work if they have already discovered horses are cool with them there though...

Better yet find said childrens parents...explain while stock are in the field children shouldnt be..its to dangerous to everyone involved.
 
Sounds like a real pain. I'd go for some barbed wired on the top of the fence (is that legal?) and poss a sign saying 'beware bull in field', and say something about trespassing too. I don't think a sign saying horses are dangerous is any good - isn't a bit like those tabards thay say 'beware, young horse' as I think it is considered an admission of liability in case of an accident (I think I read that somewhere). Are you able to rig up the gate so that it is much higher, with uprights attached to gate with wire going across? I think the electric fencing inside the gate so they have to do a mission impossible style entrance to get in would be effective too.

I'd be worried too, hope you get it sorted out soon.
 
It must drive you mad, we have public footpaths and it is bad enough when they stray off them to sledge. If it's not a gate you need to use often then would go with the barbed wire above the gate suggestion, you can always take it down when it is all over. I would go for lots of strands close together, nail some sort of post on either side to give you height to fasten it to, and then hope they cut their blurdy clothes to ribbons trying to get through it - would serve them right
 
If you recognise those who ran from your field, I would contact them, be it knock on their door, and politely ask them to stay out of your field as you are concerned of the horses. I would put a sign up just saying 'Please keep out - private property, thank you'.

You need to be extremely cautious about putting signs up, especially wording wise.
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For example, if your sign implicates that an animal is dangerous, and an incident occurs involving said animal, you can be sued for it as you have acknowledged your animal is dangerous which makes you liable as you are responsible for said animal!
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If you get what I mean! Gah!! What a baffled ramble!
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Same goes for putting things on your gate such as barbed wire. An example, a burglar was making his escape from a property over the gate, when he slipped and impaled himself on the decorative spikes ontop of the gate..... and guess who got sued for it!!! The poor victims who had just had their house burgled!!!
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I work in Solicitors and you wouldn't believe what people sue people for!
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*rolls eyes* xx
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Electric fencing and if possible a good load of dog poo spread on the gate - you can wash it off later and that should put off the little buggers from climb over - horse poo will do but it is not as horrible as dogs. Just make sure you can get through without being covered in it.

Today many parents are as stupid and ignorant as the kids they leave to run free.
 
I wouldnt call the police no

I'd put up a Private Property sign or a sign that says 'Please no sledging - this is making the slope unsafe for the horses' or both!
 
Just be careful re signs - if you 'admit' to having or knowing your horse is 'dangerous' then, should it attack someone or they accidentally get kicked by it for example you have effectively admitted liability! Yep, I know it is ridiculous but I recall the same rule applies to putting a warning sign on your house advising you have an aggressive dog!

I would try and be more diplomatic. The warning about trespassing may be more advisable or even temporarily electric fence off the sledging area so your horses can't get to it.

Alternatively get a few of you together, go out with a load of shovels and clear the snow of the sledging spot. They'll soon stop if there's no snow! Lol
 
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Don't your horses chew the gate and the stolkholm tar you've put over the top rail is purely there to stop the horses chewing it?

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clever, I like that!
 
I like the stockhold tar idea!

I couple of years ago our horses rugs were being fiddled with - we are in a very rural area, and had no idea how it was, as our house and field are not together. We put up barbed wire over the gate, and haven't had a problem since.
 
My field owner attached one strand of electric wire to inside of top rail. Ha ! And also painted a burglar paint on the top rail. Double ha! The people havent been back yet, and this was about 4 months ago now. We are hoping the burglar paint was on their hands and clothes and they got into trouble when they got home. The burglar paint can be bought from diy shops. She also told out local community police officer who was very understanding.
 
Just speak to them and ask them not to do it. See what reaction you get. In some ways, its nice that children are out playing in the snow. They have probably not realised it would be dangerous for the horses. That said, if your horses are out 24/7 they have probably got quite a lot of "snow-sense" by now and will avoid anything very slippy. If they still persist after speaking to them, spread straw or grit on the slope, which will spoil it for sledging.
 
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