Horse in neighbours back garden -illegal?

[riverrock]

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

What's a domestic horse? Is it one that does the washing up, hoovers, etc?

My best friend used to kepp a one-legged chicken in his garden.
They used to prop it up on a brick.

Ever so slighly irrelevant, I know.

It isn't illegal and unfortunately people are free to keep horses in all sorts of unsuitable and ridiculous conditions.

I've got a much loved and spoiled horse myself and the though of anybody penning him up in a back garden makes me feel ill. A pony needs a minimum of an acre of land and a horse needs more.

If the horse looks neglected then I would recommend contacting the British Horse Society. Don't bother with the RSPCA, less than useless.

The horse needs a passport - though these are not usually worth the paper they're written on. I would also worry about welfare issues. Gardens are not usually big enough for even a small pony, plus horses are herd animals and shouldn't be kept in solitary confinement.

they used to prop it up on a brick

I bloody love that. It's like something out of a Roddy Doyle novel. What happened if the chicken got bored? Did they move the brick to another location?

Waking up with a horse in the garden next door would be the most magical occurance EVER as far as my kids are concerned. it would be like christmas. in Narnia. in the company of all the members of 'the wanted' and a couple of the nicer Twighlight ones rolled in.
They would be out there now brandishing a bag of gone off porridge oats from the cupboard at it to try and tempt it to jump the fence onto our side I'm also imagining you garden to be a suburban terace row, with the horse winsomly peeping out between the washing line with one hoof propped on next doors shed. I'm also imagning him to be enormous and shire horse like. or a unicorn.

roar at chicken brick. Don't tell me they used an actual chicken brick? That would be too wonderful.

What's the problem with the horse anyway,assuming it is cared for? I've kept horses, chickens, goats, geese, sheep - all sorts and I reckon horses have to be the quietest and least bother of them all.

at skeleton - Does it also have a fag in it's mouth while gossiping over the garden fence?

If the horse has a bit of flesh on the bones. If it's hooves aren't curling up like turkish slippers. If it has access to water and shelter... then welfare-wise it's not the end of the world.

Ideally equines would be kept in small groups of their own kind. However lots of people, even when there is the opportunity to do this, choose to keep them alone. A horse or pony in a garden that is interacting happily with a family is probably better off than one kept alone in a paddock that sees it's owner once or twice a day.

Some guidelines say that there should be at least one acre of grazing allowed per horse. However, there are circumstances where this might not be needed. Is it a small horse? Maybe a pony? Also, some horses and ponies are prone to a terrible and painful condition called laminitis, which can end up with them being put to sleep. If they have this problem then they will have to have their grazing restricted, so you might see them on bare paddocks and even wearing Hannibal Lecter-style muzzles. (So, if you are out and about don't take pity on the pony in a bare paddock and let him through the gate on to lovely grass. Don't remove his muzzle as an act of kindness. You may be sending him to a painful death).
Howzat?

When I was little the police confiscated some travellers ponies and donkeys and had them at the police station. When anyone arrived at the station gate all the ponies/donkeys would rush round to greet them hoping to get some food/a pat.

We were never away.
Loads of policemen trying hard to shoo children away with a straight face and threatening to tell our parents/arrest us etc

It does pickgo it is also donning a straw hat with a flower in the brim. Apparently 'her across the road is no better than she should be'.

kenobi, they took it in turns to be on chicken-duty.
They used to rush out to move it so it could 'keep up' with it's chicken friends.

Oh my god, skeleton, it's like the Les Dawson of the horse world.

Alistair - ha, that's hilarious. So it was their PFB chicken I can just see them on the phone - 'hold on a sec, I've got to move the chicken. Its friends are scratching in a different flowerbed.'

Gotta hand it to them, I think I would have popped it in the pot...

Do you think Riverrock is going to be freaked out when she comes back and sees her thread has gone all MN random?!

It is it sneaking in and shitting in your garden? Because this would be an unusal take on an overdone thread if so

OMG - thank you all! I'm crying with laughter here - having been in a 'woe is me I want a different life' mood all morning - all fixed, smiling again

AlistairSim

Please tell me that's all true even if its not because my life feels the better for knowing someone is actually crazy/amazing enough to do that.

They cold make it a little wheelchair like those ones they have for dogs!

Mn seems to be the place to learn about planning regs - I think we're all pretty much up to speed about "incidental enjoyment" now and could probably do an exam in it if required . Miss Marj we thank and salute you! (Hope MrsDV's neighbours don't get any ideas about horses or other non-domestic quadrupeds though!).

Where is MrsdV's thread??

Love it when mum's horse comes and watches us watching TV in her sitting room. She knows that it's time for breakfast when the loo flushes or the curtains are opened upstairs and comes rushing to the bucket.

he knows that it's time for breakfast when the loo flushes or the curtains are opened upstairs and comes rushing to the bucket.

but HOW BIG IS THE GARDEN?!??!?!? (really want it to be in a Coronation Street style setup)

Why on earth would you worry whether it's legal or not to keep a horse in a garden, unless it's being mistreated. Some horses prefer to be kept on their own, and it's not unknown for horses to be stabled 24/7. Some even prefer it.

It's not illegal. We had stables in our courtyard when I was a child and our horses used to go out in our (admittedly very large) garden sometimes. The only problems it caused were when the milkman or postman came, because they were terrified of them.

Sorry! Food bucket!!