AIBU to carry on normal garden noise despite neighbour's nervous pony?

He is being ridiculous. You can use your garden, not
your problem he has the pony right next to you. He needs to move it

If it was me I'd would say thats fine, if you feel you need to go to court you should feel free to do so but we won't be stopping using our garden..

This is because he would be laughed out of court.

Report him for animal cruelty! Why is that poor animal kept in a stable all the time? It should be out in a field eating grass and being able to run around in the sunshine all day long!!! Seriously no wonder it’s got issues if it’s locked in a box all day every day! He’s an idiot!

He needs to move the pony. I’d have lots of garden play dates and get the leaf blower out.

As a horsey girl , I’d say exposure to noise is good for pony. But i would need to know more about it. Seems odd that a farmer is like that. I’m intrigued to know more. One of my horses is as daft as a brush and once spooked at his own fart but he has to get on with it!

WTF no! Would be my response

The problem is most likely that the pony can’t see what is causing the noise. Id suggest to the farmer that it would be happier out of doors.

Unfortunately we can't move our garden but you can move your pony

If he’s only keeping one pony on its own then that is not good and probably contributing to it being stressed. It doesn’t sound like you’re being excessively noisy, but he needs to move the pony to somewhere quieter if it’s getting upset living there. What he’s doing is just cruel by the sound of it.

You have one garden ........and are entitled to use it as you see fit . He has one horse and lots more options as to where he can put it .
I would be telling him EXACTLY where to put it .....and his complaints !!!!!!

He can threaten legal proceedings but I don’t believe he has a leg to stand on, you cannot trust someone call his bluff however he sounds the sort that would become petty ie storing manure on your border etc. I would try to reach a comprimise of no noise on school days between 9-3 (ie when your child is at school), and after this he may need to move his pony (ffs) on the other side of his garden / field.

however sounds like the pony is well loved just hope he doesn’t get stressed with the pony.

I would love to say to him you and your pony are stressing me out!

You could warn him about any undue noises like the tankers, renovations, stuff like that. Even sticking a note through the door if you are going to mow would be very kind if not at all necessary. Other normal garden noises you are just going to have to say

‘We’re allowed to make normal noises in our garden. Please stop coming over and telling us we can’t’.

You are doing him a favour de-sensitising his daughter's pony. If it can't cope with daily noise how will his daughter be safe out hacking or at shows? Our youngsters were grazed next to busy roads which made traffic proofing much easier.
It's more likely his impatient aggressive attitude that makes the pony nervous.

I’d tell him to fuck of that the noise from your garden is not excessive and if it’s a real problem for his horse then he needs to move his horse so it’s not near anyone’s garden. He’s a bully who is used to getting his own way with his employees until they quit and then he gets to do it all over again. He hasn’t a leg to stand on legally, I’d get a camera mounted for your garden so you have have footage of his unreasonable behaviour and proof you are not having nightly raves 🤣.

Ffs, he's being ridiculous. Surely he has other fields he could put his nervous pony in where it wouldn't be bothered by such perfectly normal noise like lawn mowing and playing on a swing?

YANBU, not in the slightest.

All these responses seem very helpful to put him in his place. Maybe turn the tables on him and tell him if he doesn't take better care of his horse you will report him to the RSPCA.

As others have said, the horse needs a companion, something like a bombproof old Shetland who costs little to keep but isn't phased by anything. And regular exposure to the sights and sounds to become used to them (and actually being able to see what's making the noise might help with that)

Tell him to move his pony. What a cheek

Horse owner here - the owner needs to take responsibility for his own horse. If he only has the one, then to start with he’s a pretty shit owner - horses are herd animals and draw comfort from their herd companions. They can become very stressed living on their own. Horses become used to noises and stuff going on around them. What can stall this desensitisation though is poor handling by their human, horses can feed of human emotion and I’ve seen plenty of nervous horses made nervous by their nervous owner/rider. It’s often a vicious circle.

My horses had a trampoline complete with all the neighbourhood kids on it for years when the kids were younger - I called it the toddler cage, it was a good place to keep them in a safe place out of the way if I was leading big horses around the yard. The horses were a bit surprised by screaming, giggling, bouncing kids to begin with, but they soon got used to it. I try and get my horses used to all manner of things that might spook them - as a result of the activities I do with them they can now parade down a high street waving flags in front of a cheering crowd while motorbikes ride past and helicopters fly overhead. (One of them is still suspicious of pigs and donkeys though!)

Cutting the grass, having oil deliveries, and kids playing in the garden sound like normal things. I’d carry on doing them.

A lot of horses are spooked by sight so actually, a fence could help massively.

But also OP, horses need company - if this pony lives alone in a stable constantly then it’s no wonder it’s a nervous wreck.

Oh yes, good idea, that'll help with noise. 🙄

I live next door to a show jumping yard that breaks young horses, brings them on and then sells them into top flight show jumping all over the world.
When we first moved in we asked about noise they said ‘horses need to get used to it’ they only time they ask us not to mow is when they buyers come to see a horse.

Does the pony live alone? Does it get out the stable? Its living conditions are probably a bigger factor than the garden noise.

Generally horses become less skittish with more exposure to things (eg. Our horse was terrified of tractors rattling by his stable until he wasn’t anymore and got used to it). It’s his responsibility to train his horse. If you were letting off flares and fireworks next door that would be quite different.

Yanbu.
And I expect if he went to see a solicitor they would tell him to move the horse!