Spring-loaded Gates on a Bridleway...

[kit279]

Has anyone else encountered these?! Where I keep my horses, we hack out around a 5km loop of bridleway but the local preservation society (ha! they concreted the bridleway) in its great wisdom has decided to install lethal spring loaded hinge gates all along it

One of them swung shut on my boy this morning and he bucked me off - for the first time in our extensive partnership! I just don't understand why they're there - there's no livestock and the land that they are 'preserving' is actually a huge great flat arable farm field!!! I do sometimes get off my horse to open them, but recently he hurt his back and I'm very loathe to hop on and off without a mounting block as he is pushing 16.3h and I am on the short side of dwarf... Any thoughts?

 

[Madam_max]

I used to have one just to leave my old yard, it was a nightmare, not so bad on the way out, but with an impatient little madam on the way home, I had to get off

 

[reynold]

if they are the gates that the BHS 'approve' of for b'paths with horse friendly handles then there isn't much that can be done - I've had a go about ones local to me

however the gate spring is supposed to be at a looser tension on b'paths than the gates are often supplied with. You could ask for the spring tension to be adjusted so that the gates don't shut so fast plus they should also provide mounting blocks on both sides of the gate

there is one ride we cannot do unless the pony comes with us as the gate is in a windy area and nearly every day it will get blown shut onto you although the spring tension has been slackened off

 

[kerilli]

contact the local bridleways officer about it, say they're dangerous as they try to shut on you and the horse, and you are making an official complaint.
or... a farmer where i used to live used to heavily weight the gates with loads of old iron strung on a wire, to pull them shut again. i used to get off, take it all off, chuck it in the ditch, shut the gate, and carry on. he only re-did it twice...

 

[saskia295]

Oh yes, they're awful aren't they. Do you normally hack alone or with someone else? If you go with someone else you can almost do a bit of a tag team effort so one person holds it open for you whislt you pass. They are dangerous though. I guess other than that, you'll have to get off and find a log or something to use as a mounting block. Sorry not very helpful. Other than that, I suppose you should complain as Kerilli suggested.

Kerilli - good move on the weight front!! Ha ha!

 

[BigRed]

Your local council will have a Bridleways Officer, if you are web savvy you can use the councils web site to report the problem. I find they are very good at fixing these things, you might have to send a coupl of emails, but they do listen.

 

[asbo]

we have some rather interesting gates on our hacking, there is the one you need to be riding a Shetland to open, the one that ppl with bikes struggle to fit through & the one thats 3/4 of the way up a very steep hill

funny thing is they are all supposed to be horse gates

 

[kerilli]

oh, kit, why can't you climb on the offending gate to get back on? that's what i always do if i have to get off.

 

[kit279]

Ah yes, unfortunately in the spirit of making my life hard, the council has built these gates 4 feet high and competely solid so I can't even stand on them to get a leg up!

 

[NeilM]

There are a few of these around our area. I must remember to take a screw driver with me the next time we're out, I know it's the Councils job, but our local access officer keeps going off work sick with STRESS

We take it in turns to hop off, as there are four in succession which really can't be opened from horseback. Trouble is, there is a lot of livestock in our area, and you can't help feeling for the farmer when some dope lets 100 cows out (which recently happened).

 

[Fransurrey]

There are a couple in my area, but to be honest, the way some people just wander around leaving them open, I can see why farmers are installing them. A bridleway goes past my yard and I'm forever seeing the gates left open. One of the girls ON my yard is a culprit - I passed her on the lane coming from that bridleway and then found it open - this is effectively the gate which acts as a safety measure should any of our horses get out of fields only fenced with electric! People just amaze me, sometimes!!

 

[Twiglet]

All the gates on my hacking are spring loaded, as there's cows kept on the parkland in the summer.
Twiglet is rather good with them and will spin round for me to hold the gate for someone else, but they're a bloody nightmare for green horses - especially as one gate is leading on to a busy road on the way home. If they rush the gate so as not to get smacked on the a*rse, you end up in the middle of busy traffic.

 

[sallypops]

we have them and they close so quickly u don't even have time to get ur horse half way through before they shut on u, i can't get abby through them cause she gets so scared. the one we have have the bit pole stickin up so riders can use them and they would be fine if the opened then stayed open and u could push them shut urself.

majority of the time i ride by myslef, and abby is slightly sway backed so i avoid gettin on her from the ground at all costs, so i have to find alternate routes to ride. not that many round here i might say

 

[arwenplusone]

I used to hack my youngsters occaisionally down a route that had a spring loaded gate that was a double!

You basically went into a little box where somehow the two gates were connected so one had to be shut before you could open the other

One horse at a time and hope to god my mare didin't get a panic on when shut in the middle!

One time I was trying to do a gate and my gelding spooked and ran off but I was somehow attached to the gate by my boot! So didn't go with him and was hanging by my leg stuck on the gate.

was pretty funny, but could have been very nasty.

Consequently, I hate sprung gates

 

[Hullabaloo]

We have one hack with lots of these gates. We only do it in pairs now as its just too much hassle to do it on your own.

 

[Bettyboo1976]

So what are the gate type things ie two metal n shaped things with a box on the ground.. we have them on our local bridelway... (never hacked on it but walked dog) and i look and think there is NO way i would fit through that.. I'm guessing there are to stop bikes or something lol they seem to do a good job of stopping horses as well

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

If you are having difficulty mounting from the floor then purchase one of these & carry it with you when you hack out:

http://www.derbyhouse.co.uk/prodshow.asp?id=571&a=srch

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

There was a Q&A in Horse and hound a while back on these. It seems that they are perfectly approved for use and theres not much that can be done. TBH it will probably take a horrible accident involving a horse before that approach changes, esp if it involves a lot of legal compensation ££££££.

The gates tension is definitely adjustable, but it is quite tricky to do after installation. So keep nagging at the council or landowner to adjust them. And keep complaining about them , so at least if someone does have an accident they wont have a leg to stand on.

I completely understand why self closing gates are needed as more accidents would be likely without them given the irresponsible leaving open of gates and the liability of the landowner regardless of fault if the animals then got out.

In my opinion they are NOT appropriate for use where there are not livestock considerations and you should request they are removed as they are effectively blocking the bridleway.