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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Horse in neighbours back garden -illegal?

154 replies

riverrock · 01/09/2011 00:58

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

OP posts:
pickgo · 02/09/2011 11:04

My local garden centre is now selling horses for the garden.

MissMap · 02/09/2011 11:08

Horses need company. I would never keep a single horse alone. Even another breed of animal is appreciated by a single horse, maybe not a one legged, propped up, chicken, but they really do need companionship.

One of my horses is very good friends with a sheep.

Maybe you could befriend the horse?

( I realise that could sound a little insulting, I am not in any way comparing you to the sheep.)

kenobi · 02/09/2011 17:15

Yes, get a sheep for the neighbour's horse, but don't tell the neighbours. That should freak them RIGHT out Grin

OTheHugeRaveningWolef · 02/09/2011 17:26

Even another breed of animal is appreciated by a single horse

I'm now imagining a dating agency for the single horse.

VivaLeBeaver · 02/09/2011 17:31

I live in an old Victorian 3-bed semi and there is an original brick stable/loose box in the back garden. So even though my garden is a slightly bigger than usual garden I could keep a horse if I wanted to.

Oh and quite a few kids at dd's old primary school were picked up on horseback.

fourkids · 02/09/2011 17:39

slavetofilofax, goats are different - you need a DEFRA holding number for them, ie permission.

ChristinedePizan, the majority of horses don't need to be stabled in winter, although many do, and many people choose to stable them for convenience etc even if they don't need it per se.

OP, why do you mind if it looks happy and healthy enough? there is a rope around its neck - not ideal, but it isn't tethered? Most of us wouldn't keep a horse in our back garden, but I'd say it's horses for courses to be honest...

Also, they probably won't leave it there for too long because because it won't take long to eat all the grass and start to churn the ground to mud.

It isn't completely unusual for horsey folk to allow horses in their gardens/garages/conservatories...

coccyx · 02/09/2011 17:44

Poor horse, no company and no where to run

Original poster
riverrock · 02/09/2011 17:49

Tbh i have never heard /seen anyone keep a horse in their
back garden in a housing estate before [naive ] .
Ok the grass in almost eaten away now and the poor thing
has started to eat the plants and hedges in the garden.
The smell is vile from the heaps of poo that seem to be just
left to rot.
They did thankfully remove the rope from around its neck this
morning.

OP posts:
QueenoftheVerse · 02/09/2011 18:05

I'd definitely ring BHS or ILPH asap by the sounds of it. If the horse doesn't have any grass/hay/feed to eat and is now starting to eat plants and hedges that CAN BE bad. There are poisonous plants and hedges that horses shouldn't touch. It is good that they've removed the rope from its neck though.

It really doesn't sound like there's even nearly enough grazing for a horse there, and if they're not even cleaning up its droppings then that's a worry too.

fourkids · 02/09/2011 18:14

I would advise caution...at this stage the grass is ALMOST eaten away, not completely, and assuming it has water and is healthy, it probably isn't coming to any great hardship if this is a temporary arrangement...and I wouldn't take it upon myself to be the busy body that reported it. Not just yet anyway. I would keep an eye on the situation. Plenty of people put horses on restricted grazing for health reasons - it might look cruel, but if a horse or pony is laminitic, for example, it is cruel not to...

Also, I'm sorry to say so, and I'm sure I'll get slated, but the comments about the family being travellers seem uneccessary - I mean, this fact has absolutely no bearing on whether it is illegal to keep a horse in the back garden (as is NOT the case, as long as it is well cared for and has everything it needs, and there are no covenants in place to forbid it etc). And wondering if the riding school down the road has lost any horses just because the family are travellers (as the post implies is the case) comes across as a touch prejudiced.

carabos · 02/09/2011 18:23

I agree with Fourkids. Travellers are often very knowledgeable about horses and their horses are more valuable assets than pets iyswim so it's unlikely they will knowingly let it come to harm. It is an issue that the droppings are not being picked up as the horse will stop eating the remaining grass as it becomes contaminated and you certainly don't want to live next to a muck heap which will attract flies and other vermin (including rats). For that reason you may want to speak to environmental health as they will take action long before the ignorant animal rights fanatics RSPCA.

pickgo · 03/09/2011 01:22

Viva Oh and quite a few kids at dd's old primary school were picked up on horseback.

Where was that if you don't mind me asking?

VivaLeBeaver · 03/09/2011 07:33

Rural Nottinghamshire, but quite a horsey area. Most mums are in jodhpurs and a lot of kids have their own pony.

MissMap · 03/09/2011 10:42

In our rural area one Grandfather occasionally collects his Grand Children from school with a horse and trap!

Loshad · 03/09/2011 10:57

disagree massively with fourkids and carabos here. If the horse has had a rope round it's neck, and they are not collecting the droppings I do not for one second think it is there because it has laminitis. Why would you not create a electric mini paddock within your field.
Virtually everyone i know (apart from at work) is horsey - i do not know of a single person who would even for a second think a garage or a conservatory makes adequate or acceptable accomodation for a horse.
The lack of shelter is alos a problem - if only fences then yes the wind will be kept off but it sounds as though the horse has no means to get out of the sun.
I will definately be flamed, but sometimes the truth hurts - i have never run across a traveller who cares for their horses that any other horsey person/bhs/ilph would consider to be ok. The various ones near us graze their horses in fields full of ragwort, never worm, trot them flat out down the road, break in and work hard at 2, never poo pick or cross graze with other species, let their fields go totally bare then think dumping in a ton of carrots is a good idea, etc, etc.
However sadly for the OP the RSPCA are beyond useless, you may have more joy with the ILPH, or possibly the local council.

Original poster
riverrock · 03/09/2011 11:01

Yes but you would expect to see horses etc in a "Rural area" . I don't live anywhere near the countryside . Horse was taken away just before sunlight this morning , hopefully to be given some exercise and food . Most likely it will be brought back after dark tonight .
Their back garden is in bits , most of the grass has turned yellow and has muck and poo patches all over it . My neighbour on my other side knocked in to complain to me because my dog barked for an hour last Tuesday night(when the horse arrived) Hmm so i redirected him to the source of the problem .
fourkids I have had So much trouble from this family since they moved in beside me it is very hard not to judge them . One of their children has even hit me in the face with stones and has damaged my property . My ds has been kept indoors for most of the summer holidays because they threatened to stab him , and they carry pen/flicks knifes around in their pockets.

OP posts:
ChippingIn · 03/09/2011 11:02

I would love a horse in my back garden.

I would also love to have a 'back garden' that a horse would be happy in.

MissMap · 03/09/2011 11:11

riverrock : I am so sorry to have been flippant in previous posts. I did not understand the gravity of your situation.

I hope things start to improve for you soon.

VivaLeBeaver · 03/09/2011 11:17

There is a riding stables in my town which is an ordinary street of terraced houses in the city centre. The street looks like Corrie, but the end terrace has a driveway down the side of it and 5 meters down the driveway are 15 stables. Its very odd seeing all the kids coming out the drivway on horses.

Original poster
riverrock · 03/09/2011 11:22

No need to say sorry MissMap Smile.
I didn't really mean to post about the trouble they have caused on here tbh as that's a Whole other thread , but being told i was being " prejudiced" against Travellers just sent me over the edge this morning after another night of very little sleep .( Horse likes to tap dance on their decking area) at least that's how it sounds.
The police don't want to know or get involved either so I've been told by another neighbour .

OP posts:
ExitPursuedByATroll · 03/09/2011 11:25

If they are tenants, can you not approach the landlord. If I was renting a house out I don't think I would want a horse in the back garden.

Original poster
riverrock · 03/09/2011 11:31

I have spoken to their LL but he wants to use my complaint against them as his way of ending their contract Sad I've been advised both in RL and on here not to put my name to any complaint as it could bring a lot more trouble to my doorstep. LL admitted to feeling very intimidated by his tenants.

OP posts:
pickgo · 03/09/2011 17:56

OP, surely if this family has got everyone feeling intimidated, including their LL Shock then the police could be contacted to have a quiet word withem. Try ringing your local cop shop and ask to speak to the neighbourhood officer. This is just up their street

Original poster
riverrock · 03/09/2011 18:20

Thanks , LL said he was going to try get onto the police himself about them as he wants them out too , but i can't see LL getting rid of them easily tbh.

OP posts:
fourkids · 03/09/2011 18:30

OP, I have no issue at all with you judging a family because "One of their children has even hit me in the face with stones and has damaged my property . My ds has been kept indoors for most of the summer holidays because they threatened to stab him , and they carry pen/flicks knifes around in their pockets"...In fact I have every sympathy - they sound like a nightmare. And that would seem to me to be a very straightforward reason to contact the police or their landlord.

However, I'm sorry to be a too politically correct for some people's liking, but you can really only judge people by their OWN behaviour, rather than by their predecessors/their race/their religion etc. Very few people would dare complain of these things and tag on the end that the people in question were black or Muslims or Jewish...and we should remember that the Nazis did the same things to the gypsies that they did to the Jews...(end of lecture :) - I dare say it wasn't meant exactly like that anyway). And the fact that they are travellers has absolutely nothing to do with the legalities of having a horse in the garden.

And Loshad, I didn't for one minute suggest that a conservatory makes adequate accommodation for a horse (LOL), I said many horse people have had them in theirs, not kept them in theirs! But there is nothing wrong with a a garage - I know several people who have adapted theirs as temporary living accommodation for their horses when necessary. Nor did I suggest this horse is laminitic - I gave it as an example of why a horse might have its grazing restricted.

As it happens, my guess would be that this family have had some sort of grazing crisis and are doing their best to house (garden?) the horse in the short term. I agree it is far from ideal - but would also suggest that far worse goes on, and that (sorry to repeat) if the horse is happy and healthy it probably won't come to any harm for a few days. Although I would be comcerned about the decking - it wasn't built to carry 3/4 ton of horse and if it put a foot through, it would be very nasty. I can't for the life of me see why anyone would be in a huge rush to call the police (or suggest it had been stolen from a riding school - though maybe it has, who knows?!). But, as has become apparent, there is more to it than originally meets the eye.

I guess I'm a live and let live sort of person. Have frequently picked my kids up from school on their ponies (not sure of the relevence, but responding to everyone now I've started!)...and never poo pick if I can get away with it. So shoot me!