Stallion on bridleway

J9123 said:
Hi, I've just joined horseandhound, not sure how to use it yet lol, but one of the ladies from the stallion on bridleway, I was riding the mare xx
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I think you and your friend did amazingly in the circumstances! All credit to you both for the calm way you dealt with it. I’d have needed a stiff drink after that!
 
Ownedby4horses said:
I just wanted to say I'm so pleased that you are all ok. I was absolutely terrified just watching the video and I think you both (and the horses!) did so well in an absolutely awful situation.

None of us know how we would handle a situation like this and I hope I would manage as well as you both did. Thank you for sharing the video initially (or to whoever did), it is very helpful for learning should any of us ever end up in a similar situation.
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Thankyou so much, yes I shared the video, it was taken from my go pro, we were so worried about someone getting hurt we shared it on our local page, never thought for a second we would go viral lol xx
 
scats said:
I think you and your friend did amazingly in the circumstances! All credit to you both for the calm way you dealt with it. I’d have needed a stiff drink after that!
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Thankyou, we didn't have time to think, it just happened out of no where, it's not an experience I wish to repeat haha xx
 
J9123 said:
Thankyou so much, yes I shared the video, it was taken from my go pro, we were so worried about someone getting hurt we shared it on our local page, never thought for a second we would go viral lol xx
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I think you and your friend did really well - what great horses you both have.
 
QuantockHills said:
agree with all the comments above, the women did very well keeping calm.

can i just ask though, is it actually illegal to have a stallion in a field with a bridle path through it...? i ride on open hills where there are wild horses, including stallions but i have a gelding and they have never taken any notice of me.
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I'm pretty Sure it's illegal but I coukd be wrong xx
 
I saw this yesterday. It made me feel sick. I just felt so bad for the ladies and horses having to deal with something so scary.
Amazingly handled by both riders and horses.
 
J9123 said:
I'm pretty Sure it's illegal but I coukd be wrong xx
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It is perfectly legal to have a stallion in a field with a bridlepath or footpath running through the field. Unlike bulls, where any bull over 10 months should be a beef breed and turned out with cows.

Why there is no law against a stallion on a bridlepath I have no idea. I suppose when the rules were drawn up people didn't have many leisure horses and stallions were few and far between, apart from open common land where, usually they don't seem to pose much of a problem.

Now I recently read that there is the 1990 Environment Act which gives a County Council power to act to remove dangerous animals
In fact I can remember that the Council were waiting by a gate for the law to come into action as there were a bunch of feral, uncastrated young bulls with no ear tags (mental health problems with farm who had got old and past it basically) which meant that a right of way could not be used and they were able to remove the animals.
 
I think that public ROW in livestock fields should be fenced. I understand why they are not in a lot of cases. But I do think a herd of cows or horses could be seen as in essence blocking the path. And if you can't tell they are in there at the entrance to the field then it's really not fair because you can't make an informed decision to proceed or not.

I have been in a dangerous situation with cows on a path through a field where by the time we came across the cows it was just too late to do anything other than pray!

RoW are a nightmare though for all involved, users and landowners. Well apart from the oblivious users who aren't responsible, piss people off and spoil things for everyone.

Scotland is better in theory... in practice you can go eveywhere but hardly anywhere at the same time. And being a landowner you don't even have specific areas where you know the public might be so can't plan around that.

Anyway. Don't think a stallion on an unfenced Bridlepath should be legal! But then you'd have to have loophole for hill and new forest ponies etc!
 
Where animals are kept in a field with a public right of way crossing it under the animal act the landowner must carry out a documented Health and Safety Audit to demonstrate that the animals are safe. If an accident occurred then no doubt insurers would want to see this documentation. In addition landowners could loose their Single Area Payment from the Rural Payments Agency if it was found that they purposely obstructed a public right of way (Dangerous animals being classified as an obstruction).
 
PapaverFollis said:
I think that public ROW in livestock fields should be fenced. I understand why they are not in a lot of cases. But I do think a herd of cows or horses could be seen as in essence blocking the path. And if you can't tell they are in there at the entrance to the field then it's really not fair because you can't make an informed decision to proceed or not.

I have been in a dangerous situation with cows on a path through a field where by the time we came across the cows it was just too late to do anything other than pray!

RoW are a nightmare though for all involved, users and landowners. Well apart from the oblivious users who aren't responsible, piss people off and spoil things for everyone.

Scotland is better in theory... in practice you can go eveywhere but hardly anywhere at the same time. And being a landowner you don't even have specific areas where you know the public might be so can't plan around that.

Anyway. Don't think a stallion on an unfenced Bridlepath should be legal! But then you'd have to have loophole for hill and new forest ponies etc!
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Totally agree. Right before lockdown, I was hacking my horse and went through a gate on a path I'd done many times before. It's a popular path with walkers and cyclists in a country park, and usually there are sheep on it. Rode happily along the track, and I was about 80% of the way to the next gate when I saw a herd of cows. My horse does not do cows and has been known to have a meltdown when we've ridden past fields of the things. But that day, for reasons I don't know, the horse strolled quietly past them, and the cows ignored us, but I was bricking it. We were more than committed to being in that field, and our best bet was to keep going and hope the cows didn't get curious and my horse didn't lose her mind. We made it to the second gate without incident. But yeah, it would be nice if (a) they were not there or (b) someone put a sign on the gate warning people that they were there.

I'm going to have to do a recon mission on my bike before I ride across the field again. Trouble is if I ride my bike there one day and find no cows, they could still appear the next!
 
I ride through cattle a lot with no problems, they soon move for a horse. I don't think they should be allowed a stallion on a bridleway though, awful situation those women were in.
With New Forest and similar situations , the stallions are normally only allowed on the open land for a short period in the year, fortunately.
 
ester said:
yes, out and ready for action are two very different things!
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It was ready for action, I do know the difference. All hell going on over there yesterday, not sure why but I thought they may have put a new mare in with the little herd. I went over to have a look and there is hardly any grazing left. They ran a motor bike scrambling event there in Sept and ruined huge parts. Moved the herd back rather too soon I think as it hadn't recovered. This land is adjacent to a nursing home that offers care to Dementia and end of life patients, the noise was horrendous as was the dust. This is the sort of person I am dealing with, they leave them for months without checking they are OK and their feet are dire!
 
PapaverFollis said:
I think that public ROW in livestock fields should be fenced. I understand why they are not in a lot of cases. But I do think a herd of cows or horses could be seen as in essence blocking the path. And if you can't tell they are in there at the entrance to the field then it's really not fair because you can't make an informed decision to proceed or not.
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Our local farmer has now fences off ROWs across his land. At great expense to himself (it's a lot of fencing!). He's put in crossing points for his livestock so they can access their full fields, walkers/riders/etc have to go through one gate, cross the "track" and then go through another gate, then they're safely enclosed again. He told me it was worth the investment and he hasn't had as many people straying off the footbaths and trespassing or upsetting the cattle. Certainly, I've been grateful as one of my horses was chased into a barbed wire fence by a young (friendly but playful!) bullock years ago and he's not very confident around cows now. The problem, I guess, is the cost of fencing, the maintenance, and that some people just don't like fences. In fact, dog walkers around here are known to have wire cutters on them and cut fences they don't like. It's totally outrageous and dangerous.
 
That sounds a great set up for everyone pretty much, MissTyc. Obviously the problem is the expense for the farmer and that there's still idiots whatever you do. But it protects people using the RoW and protects the livestock. Many public footpaths/bridlepaths came into existence in very different times! The whole system/network could do with an overhall. I think the increase of and difficulties of use during Covid demonstrates that too.
 
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