We own a field by our house where we keep our horses. We have to cross our neighbour's field to get into it, we have a legal right of access in the deeds from when his field was sold to to go with property. When we first moved in he had blocked off this access by fencing over it but we made him re open it because we had the right of access.
He HATES us for this and the fact that we have horses which he also hates. We just about tolerate each others existence but he makes life as difficult as possible - turning on chainsaws when I've been riding past in full high viz, putting a sheep shelter in the middle of the access path through our field so the sheep bolt out just as we're leading the horses past etc etc. Thankfully the horses are very good and have adapted well. However last winter he bought piglets and fattened them up etc. He kept them in the separate bit of woodland at the bottom of his field so no issue at all. Recently he's opened up the woodland and field and bought new piglets and now we're having issues but dont know where we stand legally.
The first one is that the pigs run over to you as soon as they see you in the field. The seem to spend all day in the woods but emerge in the cooler evenings. I often see them chatting to the horses through the gate. They are very cute but trying to then get through the gate into our field without them is very difficult. The only way we've managed so far is by having 2 people there and one physically pushes the piglets out of the way. Not had to take horses through with pigs present until tonight.
I was leading my horse and dh had our LO's pony. Halfway across the field we see the pigs running towards us from the trees. They catch up to us as we get to our gate. I managed to get my horse through whilst dh held the piglets back by waving a fly mask at them but there's 4 of them and they were milling around everywhere and went under the pony's legs and she panicked and bolted and gave dh terrible blistering rope burn.
I'm really worried as these pigs will only grow bigger and the nights will draw in so imagine how terrifying that will be to the horses in pitch black. Also my husband's horse is about 500kg and could kill a piglet with one kick if it got under him. To add to the issue if I'd been on my own it could have been really dangerous for me especially if it had been one of the big horses not the tiny pony involved. I'm 3 months pregnant and now I'm terrified I'll get inured trying to access my own field.
In the deeds originally when the neighbour's field was sold off and the right of access to ours retained, it was a clause that the owners of my field would fence off the right of access but this was never done. Doing it would cut off access to the field automatic water feeders (There's a stream in the woods). But I don't know what else to do. Anyone know where we stand legally with this danger/ situation?