YO dumping nails etc in my field

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alidav

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Can anybody suggest what I can do about this as I am extremely worried. My YO gave me notice and I have to leave by 31st August. She now wants me out ASAP because we had a row about my gate being padlocked which I am sure I have a right to do (she cut through the chain the other day). Yesterday I found she had chucked old tiles, plastic light switch, wiring and 3" screws in my gateway where the horses shelter out of the sun. There are 3 gateways in the field & this adjoins my friends field. I have video'd the rubbish before removing the most dangerous items. Does anybody know if she is allowed to come into 'my' field and use it as a dumping ground or is it like a house and I have exclusivity? Any help appreciated and yes I will be ringing the RSPCA in a minute because its a health issue to my Arab and other two mares.
 
I wouldn't wait till the end of the month if you can get out now go! what an awful person this YO is, I would have picked up all the rubbish and dumped it on her doorstep!
 
At this time she is still your YO and has a duty of care to the welfare of animals on her premises. Don't waste time fighting her on this, get the hell out of there. Who knows what she will do next.

Why did she give you notice, have you had previous run ins with each other?
 
Thats exactly what a friend suggested I should do but to be honest I dont trust her. I am worried to death about what I am going to find next. I think she is more than capable of letting the horses out. I wish it wasnt the weekend because I would go and see a solicitor.
 
She gave notice to the other lady on the yard and me because she wants to rent out to a local farmer. Having said that she has advertised for another livery! The other lady has had people ringing the RSPCA about a mudddy pony (he is a stallion and rolls around in the dirt like every other horse) and one of her mares had an abcess so she was reported for that too. I haven't been reported at all but I imagine the YO is fed up with the RSPCA visits and as this other livery happens to be my boss I'm her target too. Mental isn't it?
 
Umm, I'm gonna be a bit contradictory here: regarding the padlocking of the gate issue.

This is a difficult one, coz I don't know the set-up of OP's particular yard/fields, BUT as a YO myself, if I wasn't given a key to the padlock, I'd not be very happy TBH. There may be all sorts of occasions when the YO/landowner might need urgent access to the field - one very obvious example being if a horse is obviously poorly, i.e. lying down, colicky or whatever, or there's some other emergency such as fencing broken, then YO/landowner would need urgent access.

We've got a field here which is crossed by an electricity pole, and the electric suppliers have the right of access at any time, whether the gate's locked or not!!! This is a common rule applying to all utilities, and they don't need to ask first before they come onto land!!!

IF the livery gave a copy of the key to the YO/landowner, that is fair enough, but to just padlock a gate without so much as a bye-your-leave or asking first isn't going to engender a great deal of good feeling between livery and YO/landowner!

Having said that, its obviously not right for YO to then be sabotaging the field entrance area; that is very wrong and obviously, and with justification, OP is upset.

But I do think that before padlocking the gate in the first instance, this should have been discussed with the YO and a copy key given to them.
 
The only gate I padlocked was the one where walkers keep going in and back out of because they think its the footpath. I didnt padlock the other two gates. I didnt have a spare key but said if she had to go through that particular gate I would leave it unlocked on the day she needed access. She ignored that and cut the chain. She never gets involved with the horses so wouldnt need to get to them and if she did there are two other gates.
 
regardless of whether padlocking the gate was right or wrong YO must be a complete fruit cake to be putting nails etc in a field with horses

I had someone put nuts and bolts in my horses feed once, I can tell you I was out of that yard within 24 hours!!

Sorry but I don't understand why you are bothering with legal advice No way would I even bother, what would be the point? by the time lawyer sent letter etc it could be too late.

Just leave now!!
 
I'd be ringing round as many yards as I could today, to try and get out of there asap. I wouldn't bother with a solicitor as I feel this would make her worse, she obviously isn't quite all the ticket.

Even if you find a field for now, get out.
 
Have to agree with Bosworth, the OP asked if it was the same as renting a house, I doubt that but if you rent a houe you are not legally allowed to change the locks and not give the landlord a key! :eek: It is still her land and you do not have the right to lock the gate and deny her access to it. If I kept getting visits from the RSPCA I too would be unwilling to allow the people involved to remain on my land.
 
I'm sorry but I don't care what has or hasn't gone on between the OP and YO but there is absolutely no need to indanger a innocent animal, disgusting behaviour to try and intentionally harm an animal just because of who it's owner is! Sick!

I would advise trying to find a field to rent with that many and get out asap.
 
soulfull said:
regardless of whether padlocking the gate was right or wrong YO must be a complete fruit cake to be putting nails etc in a field with horses

I had someone put nuts and bolts in my horses feed once, I can tell you I was out of that yard within 24 hours!!

Sorry but I don't understand why you are bothering with legal advice No way would I even bother, what would be the point? by the time lawyer sent letter etc it could be too late.

Just leave now!!
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Totally Agree !!!!!
 
5 little words..
Get out of there NOW.
She can hate you all she likes, but she should NOT put the welfare of your animals in danger, they haven't done anything wrong! Utterly disgraceful, i'd get out of the pdq!
 
Bosworth said:
hmmmmm would be very interested to hear the yard owners side of the story
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Sure, I agree - there is always two sides of every story and the owner should have been supplied with a key to the padlock after the subject had been discussed beforehand, but surely dumping dangerous rubbish in with animals on your property is unacceptable. It doesn't matter if the OP'er is the biggest nightmare livery on the planet - no need to put her animals at risk of harm. There are better ways to encourage a livery to move on and after all, she has already served notice on OP. Jeeze, I'd be looking to move TODAY if I were OP!
 
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Regardless of what has gone on between you, you do need to leave soon. I know how horrific it is trying to find somewhere with more than one horse, even with plenty of time to do it! What I would recommend is to ring round/visit local farmers. They are your best bet of finding somewhere for your lot as may well have a field you can use. Particularly start with farmers who sell hay, and ask around local yards/fields with horses as their landlords may rent other fields also.
 
I would call farmers all around your area today and leave if i got a safe field.
I think your yard owner does have a right to access her own field at any time, you should have got permission to lock the gate and provided her with a key.
If you are a BHS gold member you can access legal advice even at weekends.
As for the screws and rubbish, she definitely has it in for you, and by the sounds of your post will get at you by endangering your horses.
Which leads me back to the get out now.
Once my horses were out, i would let her know in no uncertain tems what a low level sack of s**t she is for putting innocent animals at risk.
 
I agree with other comments get the hell out of there now. Even if it means finding a field to rent in the short term before going elsewhere. I know how hard it is to find somewhere when you have more than 1 believe me as I have 4!
Good luck to OP, whereabout are you btw, you can pm me if you prefer so as not to give info on here.
 
I've just got back from the yard and nothing else has happened. I can assure all of you I am not a nightmare livery. I look after my horses really well and go at least once a day. I have never given her any worries etc and I am 50yrs old so very much responsible. Thats why I cant understand all of this. And like a lot of you said, fancy taking it out on my innocent horses.

I've been door knocking yet again but to no avail. Somebody offered me a barn and 1.5 acres which was kind of them but obviously way too small. I'm in North Devon btw.
 
IMHO, I would be taking up the offer of the barn and 1.5 acres. It would give you a safe stop-gap at least and the time to find something else more suitable for you and the horses.

Regardless of what may or may not have went on between you and your YO, bringing the horses into it and endangering them just isn't on!
 
estrella-pequena said:
IMHO, I would be taking up the offer of the barn and 1.5 acres. It would give you a safe stop-gap at least and the time to find something else more suitable for you and the horses.

Regardless of what may or may not have went on between you and your YO, bringing the horses into it and endangering them just isn't on!
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I agree with estrella pequena its a safe stop gap until you get sorted out, at least you can stop worrying about them being hurt
 
I'm not trying to be nit-picky here, BUT am wondering if it might be the case that the YO is NOT responsible for the nails etc in the field?

Sometimes a workman/builder etc has no idea about where to dump things and will, if idle/unscrupulous/whatever, might be thinking its an OK place to bung his rubbish?? Its so easy to assume something very often, when in fact there's another explanation to be had.

Has the YO had builders/repairs lately? Perhaps there are some local yobs or fly-tippers who're responsible for the nails etc?

Like I say, its so easy to make assumptions.
 
where i used to work we had some trouble with a livery who was refusing to pay their bills. so the YO gave them notice; after notice was up and they still hadnt left, he padlocked the hay and straw stores, removed their tack and feed from the storage areas and padlocked them too. Then livery owner decided to use one of the empty stables as their own private storage area and padlocked it to keep YO out.

Solicitors advice was that to cut the livery owner's padlock was considered criminal damage, and YO would be liable even tho the livery owed about 3 grand in fees. Was very frustrating for the YO, as it was his own property and he was being kept off it by some very horrible people. I can understand why your YO has (rightly or wrongly) cut the chain. If you padlocked it just to keep walkers from leaving it open, maybe a 'keep this gate closed' sign (on a piece of paper selotaped into a plastic folder wallet, not necessarily an expensive plastic jobbie) may have been a more appropriate deterrant, without incensing your YO?

Agree that it may be difficult to know beyond reasonable doubt that your YO is the one leaving nasties in the gateway.

Also agree that while 1.5 acres with a barn is far from ideal, it would provide a perfect and desperately necessary stop-gap for your current situation. If indeed it is as worrying and dire as you make out, i wouldnt even have considered turning this offer down - i would be that worried about the safety of my horses that anything temporary would do, no matter how cramped, just to get them away from there.

Hope you get it sorted asap.
 
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