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

He needs to put up a fence.

You are just doing normal things in your garden. Horses and ponies are nuts and scared of everything but you can't make this man dictate what you can do in your own home. There is a horse and pony board on MN it might be interesting to get some views on there - The Tack Room. I am not a horse owner but have some experience on a farm where the livery horses were apparently scared of the pigs. The pigs weren't moved but the horses were eventually taken elsewhere for different reasons.

I can’t see how you could be U if all is as described. If your normal garden use means making lots of sudden banging noises that probably would distress the horse but the answer is still for him to move it elsewhere on the property if you couldn’t or wouldn’t stop banging

He needs to move the horse to a quieter location then, and I think that's all you can tell him. He has absolutely no chance of any legal action because you're only making perfectly normal, reasonable day time noise on your own property. What have you said to him so far when he's complained? I'd be telling him to crack on with legal action if that's what he wants to do but that no solicitor in their right mind is going to say he can stop you from using your own garden because his horse gets upset by noise, and that surely the sensible thing to do for everyone is to move the horse. As a PP said, if he carries on threaten your own legal action for harassment.

Unless it is excessive or early or late this is the noise of normal life. I would tell him that and suggest if he doesn’t agree he contacts the council. I would tell him to stop harassing me and if he fails to heed that warning I will take legal action of my own. Good day.

He hasn't got a leg to stand on. His choice to have a nervous pony located there and of course you are going to make normal garden noise. Make no concessions to this bullying man: if you give him an inch he'll take a mile.

does he not have anywhere else he could move the pony to? I think normal garden noise should be expected. Maybe you could give him a heads up on tankers arriving as a compromise? Do you have legal protection with your house insurance they might be able to advise