Horse in neighbours back garden -illegal?

[riverrock]

Well just as the title says, this can not be legal right?

Excellent Perry

Does the horse have clean water and enough to eat? Does it look well fed and happy or is it thin and miserable? If you are worried phone the RSPCA who will send someone out to look at it.

Many people keep horses in towns or cities - the military have 2 story stable blocks in london! It isnt necessarily cruel or illegal. But i appreciate you might not like it and it is highly likely the people dont reallyl know what they are doing. Horses need an awful lot of grass / forage to be healthy so if you keep one in the garden you are going to have to feed it a lot of extra food. Also, being a herd animal they are much happier in company of other horses

If the horse it not being ill treated or is not bothering you by whinnying at all times of the day and night then why does it matter to you.

I live in Blackpool and the man at the end of my road has 4 donkeys in his shed that he takes to the beach every day.

They always look pissed off though, like someone has nicked their donkey car or something.

Well we occasionally keep 2 Connemara ponies in our garden. However it is a large garden(said rather boastfully) and Connemara ponies are small.

Our neighbours don't mind. The ponies are well looked after.

Hey, just a minute, are you talking about me? Well are you, punk?

Our next door neighbours but one had a pony in the garden for a little while.

I didn't mind that - I wasn't so keen on the SEVENTEEN BILLION PIGEONS he kept out there and all.

Those effing pigeons.

Nope. No planning permission or anything needed. According to Farmers Guardian If you keep a horse or pony at your home, the residentially incidental horse (?incidental to the enjoyment of a dwelling house'), doesn't need planning permission though this may be affected by how much garden you have.

If it's a residentially incidental horse, then they're entirely within their rights.

Well I suppose it makes a change from someone complaining that their neighbour has a trampoline in their garden!

Train him to win the National

shirley grin

If your that worried about regs give the British Horse Society a call. They will be able to advise you.

I know several horsey people that have kept them stabled in their back garden though.

We had two Welsh Mountain ponies in ours when we were kids.

Why is it a problem OP?

I'd like the OP to come back an say it's a nice, cared for horse and not neglected

and

I also agree with InTheNightKitchen - it's a sad state of affairs when someone looks at something a bit out of the ordinary like this and the first reaction is 'There's got to be a regulation about this, right?'.

Bloody NuLab created more pointless rules and offences during their tenure than the previous 30 years' governments. I'm sure they didn't make up a rule about keeping horses in your back garden simply because they didn't think of it, as they all lived in Islington where that just wouldn't happen.

I want a pony

Fucking hell, I never thought there would be two threads on Mumsnet where the phrase 'incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse' would be used. One was surprising enough.

PS You definitely don't need planning permission. Even for stables, depending on their size, etc.

My friend kept a pony/small horse in her back garden in Beckton. She had to walk it through the house to get it out.
Her mum wasn't best pleased to say the least. The family were of travelling stock though.

MrsRhettButler Thu 01-Sep-11 12:29:29
I want a pony

You can have ours. We would keep her in our back garden (hardly any grass left in her field), but:

a) all the grass in our garden has been destroyed by builders and chicken, and
b) she is evil.

When would you like to collect her?

OK, we can all relax missmarj is here and she REALLY knows what she is on about

MissMarj, maybe that's what they're building in DeVere's next door garden - it's stabling the size of the Royal Mews...

With a gym of course

Do they know its there? I mean - has it been there long or did you just wake up this morning to find it there?

Can't see why it should be illegal though. When I was a kid our neighbours kept a pony in the garden and a seaside donkey during the winter. I loved that donkey.

You don't need a licence to keep a (domestic horse). Nor a donkey.

You do need a licence to keep: wild or dangerous animals - and DEFRA specify what is classed as each.

Since the big foot and mouth outbreak, you also need to register to keep goats, sheep and pigs. You must also keep accurate records and obtain permission to move them. This is more about traceability and limiting any spread of disease, rather than control.

Oops, meant (domestic) horse.

There are some types of horse classed as wild.