To feel upset at the thought of a stable next door

[AnnieHoooo]

Neighbours daughter informed me she is building a stable on their land for her cob horse and pony. It's 1 metre from my garden fence and 4 metres from my kitchen window.

AIBU to want to move house?

I have invested 15 years into my garden. The horses have pulled my fence right down already and eaten their way through my escalonia, laurel and hawthorn.

It absolutely isn't. Pig farms and chicken farms stink....stable yards don't.

Horses smell.

I can't believe someone can build something with effluence from it and not provide drainage at least to a soakaway on their land.

We can no longer speak to a planner in our part of Scotland - only emails (which get put up publicly on the planning application, if there is one) but if you can phone a planner at your council for info do that.

Thinking about it horses whinnying can be noisy, as there are 6 acres perhaps in planning ask it's moved further away as it'll be noisy

Horses smell really nice. A friend has some enormous horses and if they didn’t tower over me so much I’d be giving them a good sniff!

Don’t put in poison hedges, imagine the guilt of seeing a horse die and knowing you caused it.

I love the horses, no Issue with them but they do create horses urine smell which would drain into our garden and attract rats and flies.

I always think how odd it is when people live in the country and then object to the livestock they find there.

In this situation the horse is not livestock - It’s a pet.

Would you like horse urine draining in to your garden? I don’t think I’d be too keen.

I'd go and sit and have a chat with her. Explain your concerns and even bring up the fact you're having to replace the fence at your own cost. Maybe look at alternatives spots for her stable and go with some suggestions.

We live next to a paddock (I love it), the neighbours have put an electric fence about 2 from our boundary as the horse has broken fences before. Rats are also a problem, but I have 3 terriers so they don't tend to last long in the garden. That said, if you're on a slope and the stable will be above you, it's the urine that would concern me if you think it might seep into your garden. Poo I'm not bothered about.

If stables were problem free they’d all be handy to the horse owner, bottom of the garden or nearer- there ….. but they’re not. Rats, flies,smell - how near your house is the rodent infested feed going to be stored??
I know that eg dog kennels as a business are only allowed in the middle of nowhere, for a reason.

Absolutely insist that the neighbour pays for any damage - plants eaten, bites out of the fencing etc

I don't know where you stand on planning, the regs are complex and I see you're Scotland so could be regional differences. But whether she needs planning permission or not, it's pretty poor un-neighbourly behaviour when you have 6 acres to plonk a stable a metre from your neighbours property and also to allow horse piss to drain onto their land. And it's got sod-all to do with choosing to live rurally so just having to put up with it. Besides, it's clear the OP isn't complaining about the horses as such, it's the fact the owner can't be arsed to keep them secure and seemingly couldn't give a shit about the impact on her neighbour

If it’s boggy ground they are possibly putting it on the highest bit (which is why the houses are built there). Planning are v strict about flooding risk round here due to higher rainfall. Also further away it might need a proper track to it if boggy land.

To non-horsey people, horses and their excrement smell disgusting. I wouldn't like to live next to a stable.

I would have no issue as I love horses.

But your neighbour would need to improve the fence first and agree that she would pay for any future damage the horses might cause.

I really don't see this as a reason to move home.

I love horses. I really do but Jesus do they smell. There is a leather smell from the saddle and bridle but the horses themselves have an odour and then there is the manure and urine smell. It's overpowering at times.

custardbear · Today 06:54
‘Thinking about it horses whinnying can be noisy, as there are 6 acres perhaps in planning ask it's moved further away as it'll be noisy‘

I’ve got a horse (not at home sadly… we live in a semi rural area, but normal house with small garden, horse lives a mile away at a livery yard).

I think some of the objections re fencing, etc are entirely reasonable but I can promise you, noise from whinnying won’t be an issue!! Despite what you see on tv horses really don’t whinny loudly and on repeat. It’s dubbed because that’s what the public think horses do!

Mine might make a low, barely audible nicker when he sees me approach and wants his breakfast but that’s it. They are not really vocal. The only time they really whinny shrilly and loudly is when they’re distressed that they are alone/their heard mates are leaving them.

You are far more likely to hear banging around from people mucking out, or talking loudly (or if she has a naughty pony like mine, kicking the stable door to tell her to hurry up with their breakfast!) 😂

What’s the issue with the stable?! Well they usually come with huge piles of stinky manure and flies, and it’s 4m from OP’s kitchen so will have that stench wafting in?!

OP this is all incredibly tricky. If you have a good relationship with neighbours so far, I’d speak to them and say the horses are already causing damage and that putting a stable so close to a kitchen is not on in terms of hygiene, air quality and smell. If they can afford a horse surely the garden is big enough to site stable elsewhere further from your house?

Also speak to the local council to see if they can do anything but I suspect all you’d have is a claim in ‘private nuisance’ ie you could sue them but it’d cost more in fees than you’d probably win. However I may be very wrong. The council may know of some health rules or something.

Good luck! I’d be so sad and angry about this. What a selfish tit of a neighbour.

She definitely won't need planning. We bought a 3 bay stable with tack room and hay store and didn't need planning as it was on skids so technically classed as a temporary structure. Ours was for goats not horses but was designed for horses and we carefully researched the planning around stables etc.

OP is perfectly entitled to plant stuff that horses shouldn't eat, it's not her job to provide fodder for them. She isn't poisoning them, because it's so easy for the neighbour to protect them by putting up adequate fencing - which she should be doing anyway rather than leaving the horses to destroy OP's property.

Could you ask her if its possible to sit down and discuss some of the details as theres one or two things that concern you being so close and would hope to find a happy compromise so as not to make it awkward later

Horsey person here.

It's your neighbour's responsibility to provide adequate fencing on her side of the land. She has a lot to lose if the horses escape.

Hope you find a happy compromise.

The laurel was there before the horses. We live in a very windy and exposed area with stormy weather and up to 100mph gusts. It took decades for the hedges to grow to provide a shelter belt. I would never deliberately poison them. I was trying to protect them from eating the laurel and escalonia hedging by putting mesh barrier roll over the top. Didn't work!

Thanks for all the advice from those who keep horses. I'll email planning today.

From the info the OP has given it is impossible for anyone to categorically say whether planning permission is required or not.

I work with the English regs, and know nothing about the Scottish regs, apart from the fact that there is a difference, so am not going to express a view.

What I would say is that if the stable starts to appear and the OP hasn't been informed about an application to report it to the Council who can investigate. Also, Environmental Health may be able to assist.

SEPA deal with drainage etc in Scotland. Scottish Environment Protection Agency

Also what are the roads like, and turning visiblilty for vehicles with horsebox. Might be unsuitable.

Rules are probably different for Scotland. If your house is lower than her land and the proposed stables, ask how the run off will be dealt with? If not properly attenuated, you will end up with horse urine and diluted dung on your property.

Also, ask her what fly control regime she intends to put in place. I can recommend Red Top Catchers, they are very effective but you wouldn't want them upwind of you.

In your position I would be talking to my Local Authority Planning, Building Control and Environmental Health Departments.