Walkers not closing gates on public footpaths

[MadBlackLab]

Local headlines of two horses being killed after walkers left gates open. http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/botesdal...ccident_after_escaping_from_a_field_1_2987734. What can us horse owners do to make sure gates are shut after use?

 

[yaffsimone1]

It will be near on impossible to make all walkers always shut the gate, albeit they are imbeciles if they cant close a gate behind them!. I guess the landowner should install a footpath style, self closing or kissing gate etc. Anything that does not require manual closing

 

[MadBlackLab]

It will be near on impossible to make all walkers always shut the gate, albeit they are imbeciles if they cant close a gate behind them!. I guess the landowner should install a footpath style, self closing or kissing gate etc. Anything that does not require manual closing

Yes I agree

 

[AmyMay]

I agree yaffsimone1

 

[pip6]

Self-closing gate. I've only ever stayed at one yard where there was a footway through the field. Problem was usually familes going for a sunday walk with dogs & kids, often deciding horses field (containing about 10 horses) suitable place to play frisbee or chuck balls / sticks for dogs. Cue upset horses, then dogs chasing horses, then people screaming because darling Fido wont come back etc. Some people not only aren't aware of how to behave around stock but don't care if their actions cause stock to be injured or killed. Hardcore walkers that came through seemed to be much more responsible. Only stayed there 1 month before I gave notice....

 

[RunToEarth]

It will be near on impossible to make all walkers always shut the gate, albeit they are imbeciles if they cant close a gate behind them!. I guess the landowner should install a footpath style, self closing or kissing gate etc. Anything that does not require manual closing

That or a stile in the wall/fence next to the gate, and a padlock on the gate - although if you are doing this you should speak to your local access officer to confirm what you are doing and why.

 

[Sleipnir]

I can't help myself and see this thread only as a reference to the Walking Dead.

 

[OrangePepper]

If it is a normal field without a public right of way then it is important to have a metal gate which has reversed hinges so it can not be lifted off the hinges and a metal padlock box which contains the padlock to make it difficult to angle grind the lock off.
If a public right of way goes accross the field then a metal self closing gate should be installed.
Take a look at www.centrewire.com

 

[yaffsimone1]

Self-closing gate. I've only ever stayed at one yard where there was a footway through the field. Problem was usually familes going for a sunday walk with dogs & kids, often deciding horses field (containing about 10 horses) suitable place to play frisbee or chuck balls / sticks for dogs. Cue upset horses, then dogs chasing horses, then people screaming because darling Fido wont come back etc. Some people not only aren't aware of how to behave around stock but don't care if their actions cause stock to be injured or killed. Hardcore walkers that came through seemed to be much more responsible. Only stayed there 1 month before I gave notice....

Ive not a had a problem withi people using a footpath or right of way through my fields, but I have had a problem with people thinking they can come through regardless

 

[Buddy'sMum]

What can we do? Absolutely nothing.

I'm actively looking for land with no public rights of way, so I can move and sell my yard, I'm so fed up with people who use and abuse the footpaths across my land.

I hate using self-closing gates with a horse in tow, think they're dangerous but even so, I do have a couple. But I've had them left wedged open, also had stone stiles destroyed, umpteen polite 'please close the gate' signs ripped off and recently, a padlocked full sized field gate (next to which there's a kssing gate) lifted off its hinges - my horses all escaped/were chased onto the main road.

It's only a matter of time before one of my horses ends up seriously hurt or worse because of these people.

 

[yaffsimone1]

I've not a had a problem with people using a footpath through our fields because there isn't right of way, but I have had a problem with people thinking they can just come through regardless.

From the main house (a oldy worldy large thatched cottage, not mine unfortunately) the owners walk their dogs through one of our paddocks into the woodland behind, thus creating a 'pathway' in the grass. All of this is owned by the landowner and none of it is a footpath or right of way (the paddock or woodland). However people do generally use the woodland as a public right of way, even though it isn't, to reach an area which is officially public space.

One sunny summer evening I was standing in this paddock and watched a woman in the woodland get onto her belly and scramble commando style under the fence into our paddock, her companion, husband or whatever was still standing watching her.

Naturally I went over and asked what *** she was up to. She said 'oh i'm sorry I thought that house over there (the nice thatched cottage) was a pub'. So I said '1. no it isn't a pub, and 2, if it was is this how you would normally enter the grounds to a public house?

Oh yes i'm sorry she said, please can you let me out through your drive?

Me...um no you are to go back the way you came and that is commando stylee under the fence! and I did stand there and watch her scramble, red faced back under the fence. Husband (or whatever) was in stiches. I could have allowed her to leave via the driveway but I was In a mean mood and I took great pleasure in watching her wriggle back to the otherside.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

Problem was usually familes going for a sunday walk with dogs & kids, often deciding horses field (containing about 10 horses) suitable place to play frisbee or chuck balls / sticks for dogs. Cue upset horses, then dogs chasing horses, then people screaming because darling Fido wont come back etc. Some people not only aren't aware of how to behave around stock but don't care if their actions cause stock to be injured or killed. Hardcore walkers that came through seemed to be much more responsible.

^^this^^ and not forgetting the people who decide to have picnics in the middle of the field of horses...

 

[madlady]

I have moved from somewhere in the past that had a footpath running through it - we had people having bloody picnics in the field!

On not closing the gate though I got so fed up with it that I chained and padlocked it - the council then replaced the gate with a stile - it was on record though that I had complained numerous times about the gate being left open.

Where we are now there is a bridleway through one of the fields that has self closing gates - these now have reversed hinges and double chains on because people were purposely propping them open and at one point we had 4 mares with foals wandering the lanes. In each instance I told the council what we were doing and why we were doing it, they did offer to fence bridleway off which was agreed to but they haven't been yet so the gates remain locked.

 

[Dubsie]

I've not a had a problem with people using a footpath through our fields because there isn't right of way, but I have had a problem with people thinking they can just come through regardless.

From the main house (a oldy worldy large thatched cottage, not mine unfortunately) the owners walk their dogs through one of our paddocks into the woodland behind, thus creating a 'pathway' in the grass. All of this is owned by the landowner and none of it is a footpath or right of way (the paddock or woodland). However people do generally use the woodland as a public right of way, even though it isn't, to reach an area which is officially public space.

One sunny summer evening I was standing in this paddock and watched a woman in the woodland get onto her belly and scramble commando style under the fence into our paddock, her companion, husband or whatever was still standing watching her.

Naturally I went over and asked what *** she was up to. She said 'oh i'm sorry I thought that house over there (the nice thatched cottage) was a pub'. So I said '1. no it isn't a pub, and 2, if it was is this how you would normally enter the grounds to a public house?

Oh yes i'm sorry she said, please can you let me out through your drive?

Me...um no you are to go back the way you came and that is commando stylee under the fence! and I did stand there and watch her scramble, red faced back under the fence. Husband (or whatever) was in stiches. I could have allowed her to leave via the driveway but I was In a mean mood and I took great pleasure in watching her wriggle back to the otherside.

I do that with walkers who either climb the (mostly barbed wire) outer fences and cross a steam or electric fence from the public park that is behind us, aiming for the road. They then ask if they can go through our back garden (and under the carport) to get to the road, so I take great delight in saying no they have to go back the way they came and then they protest 'but I had to go over an electric fence/barbed wirefence/through a stream, I can't go back that way ' so I then say 'that's exactly why you shouldn't have got this far, you came through that way and that's the way back' Is worth while having to re-staple the barbed wire on just to watch their discomfort.

 

[SuperH]

We had a problem with footpath users leaving the gate open at my previous field. We solved it by removing the gate and putting a stile in. Obviously doesn't work in every situation but it worked well for us. I them padlocked the field gate to prevent them taking a detour to that (which was nowhere near the right of way).

At our current place we have a bridleway running through, to be fair we have very little trouble with people leaving the gates open here, I think they see the cattle and close them. We have more issues with people not having their dogs under control or wandering through random fields that they shouldn't be in than gate issues.

 

[Dry Rot]

There was a popular country TV series that always ended with the comment, "...and always shut the gate!"

It used to drive me nuts as the Country Code actually says to "Leave Gates as You Find Them". Sometimes field gates are left open so stock can gain access between fields.

Yes, the answer is a self closing gate and that is normally not difficult for a good fencing contractor to arrange. If it's tied back or held back with a large stone, it's pretty obvious that's the way it is meant to be.

 

[3OldPonies]

I really do feel for all of you having rights of way problems. A footpath crosses the field that my boyz are in and I've had to fence it off with electric fencing (with electric tape gates so we can get across from one side to the other) because when I first moved there people seemed to feel that it was OK to just wander across to the stables for 'a look at the shetland'. Recently the parish council removed the stiles (which were at least a bit of a deterrent) at either end of the field and replaced them with huge wooden stockproof kissing gates. Now you would think that this wouldn't cause a problem, but - when you have a shetland who has worked gates out, and pesky cyclist removes the gate catches so he can get his bike through easily - then you have a problem. However, all was not lost, a helpful dog owner having spotted the issue before I (and fortunately before the shetland did) told me about it and I replaced said catches and superglued the nuts onto the bolts. Hey presto! A fix that Mr Cyclist and his trusty bike spanner could not remove!

 

[Bigbenji]

Shhhh don't start a thread that may anger the beast that is the ramblers Association 👀
At my friends yard they complained about her having electric fencing even though she had warning signs up and a non electric 'gate' for them to get through (this was after they had complained about the original hook handle she had) apparently if people wanted to wonder round her field they could be in danger of being shocked, well stick to the ruddy footpath then!
Poor friend then had a woman shouting at her to remove her horses from the field as she wanted to walk through the footpath but was scared of horses.