Horses being left in fields without owner's permission

[101damnations]

I thought this might be the best place to get some advice.There have been problems in our area with travellers putting their horses into other people's fields,without permission from the landowner.The first thing the landowner knows about it is a neighbour alerting them.When they contact the travellers,they say that they can't get over to move them for x days.They have done this several times locally,and are basically trying to get free grazing for as long as possible,before anyone notices.

Apart from padlocking gates [which isn't always possible on bridleways],is there anything we can do?The police and RSPCA have been out to these horses before,as they seem to escape onto the roads on a regular basis,but would they do anything if the horses were on someone else's property?

Thankyou.
101

[MitchyInge]

How cheeky! I suppose it's better than taking other people's horses out of fields without permission?

[JustMyTwoPenceWorth]

I suppose you can't catch the horse and take it back to them, saying "Hi, your horse seems to have escaped onto my field, thought I'd bring it back for you."

And do that every time.

Surely they wouldn't be cheeky enough to say "no, we took him to your field to graze" would they?

[Goingspare]

Perhaps you should ring your local police station and ask exactly what the legal position is (and what would happen if one of the interlopers injured a horse or owner who was there legitimately). I suspect them being in the field is a civil matter though, like trespass or squatting, which of course can be expensive and time-consuming to sort out.

I wonder if the horses found on the roads have been turfed out of fields, poor beggars, though they could just have been ineffectively tethered on the verges.

Padlocks don't always do the job, by the way: a few years ago the fence round a friend's field was partially dismantled to let some horses in, then not fixed properly. All the horses ended up wandering round on a main road.

[dysgov]

We used to regularly have the same problem... so one time we removed the gates and a part of the fence. Some of the animals wandered off - the travellers got a bit angry, but they haven't been back in 4 years. We have replaced the gates with upright strong wooden posts to stop vehicles entering the fields (they can be unlocked if needed) and if we have any stock in the fields, have chains between the posts. We have been checked out by travellers several times, but they have left us alone.

[101damnations]

Thanks for the responses.There are some good ideas here.The travellers in question live about 30 miles away,but are in the process of trying to get pp to live in a field they have bought nearby.I spoke to a neighbour today who says she thinks it is a tactic to try and strengthen their case-saying they need to live there to prevent their horses straying.

That is interesting dysgov,I didn't know it happened elsewhere too.They don't half have a brass neck.