Stubble fields, bale jumping - tresspass

[Sophire]

Being a farmers wife (my husband is of the same view) I would think it very rude if people just thought it was ok to go into one our fields for a gallop without asking...after all i'm sure they wouldn't like it if we rocked up to their house and let ourselves into their garden!

My boyfriend is a farmer, I know for a fact they'd be furious if anyone just wandered on into the fields and helped themselves.

 

[undergroundoli]

Perhaps they should take the time to find out about direct drilling if they intend on riding all over it!

How can they find out about it if its what Donald Rumsfield would call an unknown unkown? You need a frame of reference before you can reserch something. I'd just stick to bridleways so its not necessary to know about direct drilling, or which tracks farmers are actually getting massive subsidies for provided I dont canter along them.

My point is that is not moronic not to know about direct drilling or subsidies and set-aside, as Blurr said its a lack of knowladge. I'm not stupid because I know very little about, say, mineral wealth in Kazakstan, I'm just ignorant in that particuler area.

 

[ester]

When seeds are planted without ploughing the stubble back in first.


They would find out by asking the landowner for permission in the first place rather than just assuming it's ok. If they then don't understand what direct drilling is google will tell them. If they stick to bridlepaths it won't be a problem will it.

 

[undergroundoli]

Cross-posted JT.

I know what direct drilling is, but I wouldn't think someone was stupid if they didn't.

 

[Jesstickle]

What is direct drilling?

Basically it means sowing next years seeds directly into the field with stubble still standing rather than ploughing and tilling the field and then putting the seed down. So a field can look quite like a stubble field but actually have crop growing in it. Does that make sense?

So a ploughed field is really obviously ploughed, a tilled field is pretty obviously tilled (both just look like mud to start with!) but a field which has been direct drilled will look mostly like a field of standing stubble so is a lot less obvious as a no-go

 

[Pilib]

I live with my partner on a large farm. I still ask his permission to ride on the stubble!!

He sometimes ask me not to go on certain parts where he has birds or there are deep furrows.

I really don't understand why anyone thinks they have the right to trespass on someone elses land. As for jumping bales let's hope a harrow, roller or other machinery wasn't left the other side of the bale......

 

[ester]

Cross-posted JT.

I know what direct drilling is, but I wouldn't think someone was stupid if they didn't.

No, me neither, but I would think them stupid for presuming there is no reason not to ride on a stubble field without checking.

 

[undergroundoli]

No, me neither, but I would think them stupid for presuming there is no reason not to ride on a stubble field without checking.

Courtasy, rider PR and never knowing when it could be useful to know a friendly farmer are certainly good reasons to ask.

 

[siennamum]

Right to roam would solve this, bring it on I say. None of our local farmers would allow horse riders to canter on their fields, in fact one has liveries and they are forbidden from riding on any of his fields. Can't see the harm on a canter on a stubble field, and think we should all be a bit more live and let live, though I am aware that this will make some people incendiary with outrage.

 

[ester]

but not all stubble fields are equal, on some (undersown or direct drilled) you will be doing harm.

undergroundoli - quite!

 

[MileyMouse]

Right to roam would solve this, bring it on I say. None of our local farmers would allow horse riders to canter on their fields, in fact one has liveries and they are forbidden from riding on any of his fields. Can't see the harm on a canter on a stubble field, and think we should all be a bit more live and let live, though I am aware that this will make some people incendiary with outrage.

A right to roam, for walkers, causes enough trouble as it is, let alone letting all in sundry access your fields!

 

[glamourpuss]

I actually stop riding with a friend this time of year because they are of the opinion a stubble field is fair game. They just blast across them, which I find incredibly rude.

I actually have befriended the farmer nearest to me (who owns most of the land) this has given me permission to ride on most of the land around me. That said I exercise caution. I keep to the edge (even when stubble) I stay off crops including hay & I don't ride on the land when it is wet.
I also haven't told my friend that I have this access & don't ride on any of it with her.....why should she get the benefit of my politeness when she has such little respect for the local farmers

 

[JDee]

Asking is the polite thing to do. Most farmers are OK with it but its their land so they have the right to say no
How would people feel if someone decided to picnic on their front lawn or if someone decided to give their dog a run around your back garden?
It really isn't that different.

 

[YorksG]

I am amazed at the number of people who feel that it is ok for them to ride on other peoples property How would these people feel if someone just came onto their property for a gallop round the horses field while the horses were in the stable? Or came and sat in your kitchen as it was raining outside and they didn't want to get wet? If the land is owned by someone then you have no right (in england and wales) to access it, unless it has a PROW across it. Some riders attitude to the rest of the world leaves me breathless tbh!

 

[undergroundoli]

Asking is the polite thing to do. Most farmers are OK with it but its their land so they have the right to say no
How would people feel if someone decided to picnic on their front lawn or if someone decided to give their dog a run around your back garden?
It really isn't that different.

I also cave. Here in Wales I have the legal right to get into my caving kit and walk to most caves (the ones on CROW land) and then have a nice picnic. I have absolutly no right to go into the cave. As you can imagine nearly but not quite being able to do what we want annoys lots of cavers and the are frequent arguments about the rights and wrongs of this. Someone always trots out the front garden argument. I absolutly accept that to lots of land owners their bit of blasted heath is like a garden, but it seems to me that the point of a garden is that it is close to your house and private. The point of a field is to enclose your assets, they cary out different functions. Someone in your front garden is intruding on your privacy in a way that they wouldn't be at the other end of your ten acer field, let alone on your bit of CROW moor. This is surly why the Scottish Freedom of the Hills excludes gardens.

I'm not saying that its OK to wander around fields, or that CROWs a good thing, or that it should be extended. I'm saying that as fields and gardens do different things, and are usually aranged differently in relation to peoples houses saying 'how would you like it if I went into your garden' is disengenous.

 

[JDee]

I'm sorry but I cant agree - your land is your land regardless of how much you own - if someone wants to have land to ride on freely then they should buy it or ask permission
I don't have acres and acres of land but I do own more than a lawn and I would be seriously ticked off if people thought it was OK to go and ride on it, walk their dogs on it or stroll along my river frontage without my say so

 

[HaffiesRock]

I wouldn't dream of riding over a farmers field. We have 2 fields either side of our bridleway, about 15 minutes from my yard. One has a very wide (about 3 meter) track all the way around it with obvious access. The other doesn't have a track and therefore I do not ride around it. I have always ridden around the track and use it for my canter work but wouldn't dream of riding over it. I feel very lucky to have this option so will not abuse it no matter how tempting it may be. I also never take more than one other person with me as I don't think its fair to gallop many horses around the field.

 

[Blurr]

I am amazed at the number of people who feel that it is ok for them to ride on other peoples property How would these people feel if someone just came onto their property for a gallop round the horses field while the horses were in the stable? Or came and sat in your kitchen as it was raining outside and they didn't want to get wet? If the land is owned by someone then you have no right (in england and wales) to access it, unless it has a PROW across it. Some riders attitude to the rest of the world leaves me breathless tbh!

Erm, I've had a look through this thread and I can't find anyone saying it's okay for them to ride around other peoples land. There's a couple saying they can't see the harm (but not saying the do it) and one saying they have a friend that does it (but she doesn't ride with the friend when they do), lots saying they have permission to do it and some Scottish bods saying something like England is so flipping backward about these things, some of us saying don't say people are moronic if they don't know or don't ask because they don't know about direct drilling, there's a few farmer types who say their farmer other halves would be really quite cross but I honestly can't find anyone saying "I gallop willy nilly across stubble fields because it's fun and why shouldn't I". I suppose I could have missed that.

 

[YorksG]

Erm, I've had a look through this thread and I can't find anyone saying it's okay for them to ride around other peoples land. There's a couple saying they can't see the harm (but not saying the do it) and one saying they have a friend that does it (but she doesn't ride with the friend when they do), lots saying they have permission to do it and some Scottish bods saying something like England is so flipping backward about these things, some of us saying don't say people are moronic if they don't know or don't ask because they don't know about direct drilling, there's a few farmer types who say their farmer other halves would be really quite cross but I honestly can't find anyone saying "I gallop willy nilly across stubble fields because it's fun and why shouldn't I". I suppose I could have missed that.

Where did I say people on this thread say they can? There are plenty who seem to think they should have the right, in the world outside this forum, and tbh a fair few on here who can't seem to understand that they are riding on others property!

 

[Blurr]

Where did I say people on this thread say they can? There are plenty who seem to think they should have the right, in the world outside this forum, and tbh a fair few on here who can't seem to understand that they are riding on others property!

Okay, I see your point now but you didn't say you were talking about friends, acquaintances and strangers so I assumed your breathless indignation was due to the posters here. My mistake. Anyway, how many do you know/see? A ball park figure will do so we have some ersatz empirical evidence to add to the melting pot. So far on here there's one friend of poster, which is a pretty poor showing for something that gets so many backs up.

 

[Enfys]

I wish I could give a link to the thread I saw, but it all got terrifically heated and was deleted.

On that page there were many people more or less saying "Hell yes! A stubble field is fair game, and if farmers want to stop people then they should lock their gates"

Many years ago a farmer friend of mine once got so peed off with all and sundry using his stubble fields as their own glorified play ground that he pulled a muck spreader into the gateway and went home.

 

[YorksG]

Okay, I see your point now but you didn't say you were talking about friends, acquaintances and strangers so I assumed your breathless indignation was due to the posters here. My mistake. Anyway, how many do you know/see? A ball park figure will do so we have some ersatz empirical evidence to add to the melting pot. So far on here there's one friend of poster, which is a pretty poor showing for something that gets so many backs up.

I would suggest you read the OP again. As I live in a non arable area my direct observation of this particular issue is somewhat moot. However horse riders attitude to land ownership, unless land owners themselves, appears to be one of entitlement, much like the expectation that vets etc should not make a living out of their profession, but donate their services to horse owners

 

[ThoroughbredStar]

Definitely not just "ok"- if you have permission then off you go. We also have a terrible time in our area of people trespassing on the gallops belonging to racehorse trainers and yes, including their well manicured and daily tendered grass and all weather gallops- very insulting, rude and gives all the other local riders a bad reputation!

 

[undergroundoli]

I'm sorry but I cant agree - your land is your land regardless of how much you own - if someone wants to have land to ride on freely then they should buy it or ask permission
I don't have acres and acres of land but I do own more than a lawn and I would be seriously ticked off if people thought it was OK to go and ride on it, walk their dogs on it or stroll along my river frontage without my say so

I absolutly agree that it belongs to you and that as long as you respect the relevent laws you can do what you like with it, and certainly decide who comes on it, but it is not the same as a garden.

How would these people feel if someone just came onto their property for a gallop round the horses field while the horses were in the stable? Or came and sat in your kitchen as it was raining outside and they didn't want to get wet?

I'd be seriously wiereded the duck out if I found you in my kitchen and I'd have know idea what the hell you were doing there. I'd assume you were drunk or crazy, but I'd wonder weather you are actually robbing me or are an escaped sex maniac. If I found you galloping round a field I'd know why you were there. You might have anoyed me, but you wouldn't have scared me. Surely you'd be more upset by people being in your house than in your field? If you were in my (hypothetical) garden I'd worry you were trying to break into my house, or seeing me wandering naked between my bed and the kettle.

 

[Blurr]

I would suggest you read the OP again. As I live in a non arable area my direct observation of this particular issue is somewhat moot. However horse riders attitude to land ownership, unless land owners themselves, appears to be one of entitlement, much like the expectation that vets etc should not make a living out of their profession, but donate their services to horse owners

You're right. That makes two. A 100% increase on my previous estimate.

As a horse rider and land owner I neither ride on other peoples stubble nor want people on my land. I thoroughly approve of my vet making a living from his profession, if he didn't I wouldn't have a vet. We're singing from the same hymn sheet, believe me.

 

[Wheels]

I love riding in stubble fields and having a wee jump over a few bales but only ever would I go into a farmers field with their full permission. I mean how hard is it to knock on the farmers door and ask if its ok to go in those particular fields until they are re-ploughed or seeded?

 

[RunToEarth]

I love how so many horsey people are completely flippant about riding on land that isn't theirs without asking, but would probably be hot with rage if I rode in their arena without paying my customary £10 for 30mins...

People around us have been great - they have all asked bar one, who was riding in a crop of standing wheat so I think stupid is probably the right word to use. If you are not informed enough to recognise the difference between stubble and direct drilling you also should be speaking to the landowner before having a blast.

It is really hard and the ground has deep cracks this year - when people have come to ask I have been quite happy to tell them where the deep cracks are - I would not be wanting to hit one at a canter.

A few years ago now we had a claim against us after a woman cantered into a drainage trench. Putting asides the fact that she must have been in another world not to have seen it, it angered us that she tried to claim against us for her own ignorance.

Owning and managing land for agriculture isn't always the "jolly" that a lot of people think it is, so to help yourselves with no thought for who owns it is incredibly rude, and a civil offence.

That asides, I watched someone jumping one of our round barley bales out in the field the other day. She had permission to be there, but she was a grown woman and I would assume would have seen the risk of jumping a round unpropped bale, evidently not, made my stomach turn!

 

[RunToEarth]

How would these people feel if someone just came onto their property for a gallop round the horses field while the horses were in the stable? Or came and sat in your kitchen as it was raining outside and they didn't want to get wet?

I know that was written in jest, but I stayed with my auntie last year in Cornwall who is a tenant farmer of the National Trust. Beautiful old farmhouse with a NT plaque on the front telling you the date it was built, etc. We were sat in the kitchen waiting for the August 2012 drizzle to pass when two people let themselves into her house and said "hello, we are National Trust members - just wanted a look around" with their NT membership card. I was in a complete state of shock but apparently it has happened to her a few times!

 

[YorksG]

I know that was written in jest, but I stayed with my auntie last year in Cornwall who is a tenant farmer of the National Trust. Beautiful old farmhouse with a NT plaque on the front telling you the date it was built, etc. We were sat in the kitchen waiting for the August 2012 drizzle to pass when two people let themselves into her house and said "hello, we are National Trust members - just wanted a look around" with their NT membership card. I was in a complete state of shock but apparently it has happened to her a few times!

Good grief that is a step too far.

 

[Clodagh]

My OH lets anyone who asks permission to ride, as then he can tell them where not to ride as well. Anyone riding without asking will be shouted at.
If you do ride on stubble, and really want to hammer your poor old horses legs into the ground at the moment, please do it in the same direction as the tramlines, not across them. That is for the sake of your horse, not the farmer.