!
Let your neighbor know if he is the cause of either you or the horse you are riding being hurt he may well have to move to afford the legal costs. Then I would put up a fence to screen all of their activities from you and to protect you from any more projectiles.
I have a very similar story, it went on for years, 24 hrs a day,
very evil behavior.
I went and bought a barn stereo, blew that one up quickly,
went and spent some real money and already had XM radio,
Base on high with the worst rap I could find,
they called the cops on me and I laughed and laughed,
Things are much better now but since “here” has since became
an industrial area, I am buying some outdoor speakers,
always buy land in city limits:lol:
There were 4 houses in the area when I moved here, true country.
No crazy neighbor story, but I am so sorry you’re having to deal with them!
Could you turn into the mean neighbor? There’s always one that when a toy end up in their yard (arena), it was as good as gone. If anything of theirs gets thrown in the ring, confiscate it. . . I don’t have kids, and I have very little tolerance for unsupervised, poorly behaved ones. I would think about running electric wire outside my ring. . . That will keep them off the fence! You will have to post signs though, for liability reasons, which may not fit the nice look you’re hoping for.
You certainly have my sympathy. . . You also have better self control than I do. I would probably get in trouble for saying very inappropriate things to the children and the parents. . . I hope it gets better for you.
Leland cypress.
Call the bishop of their ward and tell him how bad the neighbors are being
Privacy fence? Arborvitae hedge? Security cameras everywhere so you can record them throwing stuff on your property/kids coming on to your property. Be sure to put up no trespassing signs and video surveillance signs.
I have a batshit crazy neighbor that has numerous restraining orders on him for threatening to beat up/kill people, tries to stare in my bedroom window whenever he “checks his fenceline”, and hides behind bushes to spy on me when I do chores. I think I prefer him to your neighbors!
Thanks guys, I appericiate all the support and advise!
I was actually wondering if there is any legal recourse if anything happens to me/a rider or my horse because of his negligence while we are riding and I have proof I have spoken to him about it on several occasions. Maybe there is!
Funny you should mention the trees! We just started planting giant Thijas! We got over 35 but unfortunatly, they will take years to grow enough to be a valuable screen for their shenanigans. We cannot put up a fence because the arena is too close to the main road and would obstruct the view, we did clear the shrubs with the city though.
I should call his bishop! Great advise!
I have tried effortlessly to avoid them at all costs and navigate my riding times around their outside time but as soon as I walk outside… They walk right back out. Plus, with home schooling, they never leave.
Funny you should mention it… I do now have cameras and at night are set for motion and heat. They start recording when they pick anything up.
I agree with Leland cypress, or some other sort of fast growing, thick shelter tree. Another one might be hybrid poplar screen trees like these http://www.eburgess.com/detail.asp?pid=6765&nav=tre or hybrid willows like these http://www.eburgess.com/detail.asp?pid=7287&nav=tre.
Life is too short to deal with bad neighbors and these hybrids grow really quickly! Although, I like the idea of electric fencing too!
Sheila
Good fences make good neighbors.
I’m sure you already checked with your insurance agent, and the sheriff’s office about the legal requirements for “No Trespassing” signs. I would have a cease-and-desist letter sent by an attorney about the trespassing. Every time something comes on my property I would destroy it, and trash it, including balls, kites, and anything else. When a kid or someone else comes on the property, call the sheriff’s office and make a paper trail. Make sure you have a camera aimed at the property line, and it’s recording correctly, for when you need it in court.
I also would never call them again, or ever say anything to them except to tell them they are trespassing, and then call the sheriff’s office.
[QUOTE=rustbreeches;7814456]
Call the bishop of their ward and tell him how bad the neighbors are being[/QUOTE]
Exactly, if they’re Mormon, they’re involved with their religion in a living way…go speak with their Bishop, mention how surprised you are at the very unChristian behaviour one of his flock has towards you and how badly it reflects on them.
That’s pretty amazingly bad behaviour.
Braided electric rope fence just on your side of the property line. Do sign it for liability reasons and add the requisite no trespassing signs. May sure it has a good strong charge. Then plant your nice privacy screen of trees inside the fence so you don’t have to look at it much. Lot’s of composted horse manure around the trees will help them grow faster. 
More on the passive aggressive side - loud, base-pounding music that is triggered by your motion sensors so it kicks in every time they come out and stops when they leave. The more profane (but still with-in legal limits) the lyrics, the better to deter them. Hopefully they will direct the children to play elsewhere to avoid the “profanity.”
Be the evil witch of disappearing toys, etc when those land on your property. They learn fast. (I had to be the evil witch of toy confiscation when, years ago, my then young DS took to throwing toys down the stairs when he didn’t like the way things were going. Smart kid; that gig was over in just a few days and not replaced by other negative behavior.) Or maybe hold confiscated items for ransom - I will give it back (in a week or a month) if you all leave me to ride in peace. Not sure if that would backfire though given the father’s obviously rude lack of respect.
Wonder if the “kill 'em with kindness” approach would work in a strange way. Given that father obviously doesn’t care for or about horse, maybe if you offered the kids brief “pony rides” in exchange for leaving you in peace (I get peaceful ride, I’ll give you a pony ride at the end) ,dad would start keeping them away if he doesn’t want them enjoying the horses. He sounds like he might have control issues and if you shift that balance who knows…
You have given them notice that some of their irresponsible behavior could cause serious injury. Let them know that they will be held responsible for the costs of any injury they cause. A letter from your attorney (maybe with a cc to their insurance company) would be a good paper trail.
Years ago we had to deal with 2 boys who would taunt our Australian Shepard (who we tied mainly as a precaution when we were not home.) One day we came home to find the boys’ bikes at the edge of our driveway, dog broken loose from her chain and very happily sitting right next to the bikes. Fortunately she was a sweetie not inclined to hurt even those heathens but she just wouldn’t let them retrieve the bikes. Smart dog. Eventually, days later, I brought the bikes back and quietly let the boys know that would be the only time I returned them. Last time the boys every came down the street that we knew of. Karma is so sweet!
Good luck. Lousy neighbors are the worst.
“Kill them with kindness” is almost always the best course of action, but no way, in no uncertain terms, EVER let them ride any of your horses. That is a legal disaster waiting to happen… Bake them cookies, pay them compliments, whatever-- but absolutely no pony rides!!
I agree that them coming onto your property is wrong.
Other than that, they are allowed to do what they want on their property when they want to do it. You riding your horse is not their problem to work around.
Maybe they are rude, but clearly you had an attitude about them to start with (the comments about their family size, religion and home schooling) so who can blame them for not bending over backwards to make your world amazing.
I would put up the Leland Cypress on the fence line (where they won’t get on their property) and then put up a privacy fence on that side of your arena to block what your horse can see and help dampen the noise.
OR move your arena to a different location.
Another vote for speaking with the Bishop. Mention you are concerned that a member of “the Church” is making it difficult for you to have good relations with the church. Bishops will put a stop to anything that reflects badly on the church.
Call it “the Church”, try not to use the words Mormon or Christian, as those will make you seem like an outsider.
Be as nice as you can, but put up barriers to keep what is on their property on their property. I’d plant stickery, fast growing plants and put up a privacy fence. Beyond that, you may have to live with the rest of it, though I would guess that they discourage their children from listening to most music. Even just plain pop music may be enough - and most of my neighbors play that when outside.
[QUOTE=halfmagic3;7814410]
Not sure if this really should be my first post as I don’t want to sound like a complaining jerk… but I just had to rant and hear any other struggles out there. Maybe this way I wont feel so alone, agitated and bad for myself!
I have been riding most of my life, mostly hunter/jumpers but grew up in California and thus was a boarding child prodigy. After marriage, my husband’s naval career landed us in Virginia where we were able to finally buy a farm, which has always been a dream of mine. We didn’t have a lot of time to find the most “super ideal” set up and although I absolutely love my farm, I wish we would have been able to be a bit more picky with location. Unfortunately, we were forced from a rental (it was a large farm) that we were in the initial processing of buying on a short sale, when the landlord foreclosed and we had find a new farm in less than a month’s time. Although I am thrilled we were able to find what we did and we really have made it amazing… there are certainly some things that were not ideal for us! One being how long and narrow our acreage is, which puts us SO dang close to our neighbor’s houses! =(
We chose to build our arena on the best draining, highest ground and easiest to maintain location. It is a 180 X 240 turf arena with a complete set of jumps. We also chose to put the arena where we did, and placed it close to a certain neighbors home/backyard because they were retired, had a weekend home on the beach and had no kids; we absolutely loved them, even with all the cattle they had! After 35 years of them living there, they decided to permanently move to their vacation home on the beach and left us with a new young, Mormon family, that enjoys having many kids and home schools their ever growing family that has no respect for the horses or our riding. I also believe they half moved in there because they were so intrigued by all our animals and thought we could offer their kids and friends a lovely petting zoo! Uggg… things started getting worse over the past 6 months and when my husband deployed. They started coming out as soon as I would mount my horse and do the most ridiculous things and then retreat as soon as I would dismount. I put up with it and rolled my eyes till one day I couldn’t take it anymore and actually unleashed on the husband. He knew I was riding as that was exactly when he decided to start all the ridiculous “chores” he was doing outside. I thought he had gone inside but he was behind his garbage cans (behind the house and just out of sight from my horse and the direction we were traveling) and much to my shock and while I was jumping a large oxer… he decided to throw a 25 ft drainage pipe towards his garbage can that he totally missed and it ricocheted off the can and in to my arena. My horse who is pretty bomb proof as it is, was terrified and twisted in mid air and almost completely rolled on me. The neighbor saw this, didn’t offer an apology, an “oops”, or even an “are you ok?!” When I called him on the phone after I attempted to cool off and asked him to please be mindful because it really has started to become a major safety issue for me he told me, “Well I don’t own horses, I never will and I don’t care what makes them spook! Sounds like you have a personal problem and you can’t tell me what to do on my property!” Wow, all I have to say is wow! I have dealt with the kids flying garbage bag kites around my arena, throwing things in my arena, one jumping in my arena while I was riding, weed whackers being thrown, trampolines, flying kiddie pools, fly away slip in slides…etc and I finally lost it. I would never try and tell someone what to do on their property but where is the decency these days!? They have also decided to start parking all their friends tent trailers on the other side of my arena which has now made my beautiful arena look like I also own a trailer park. I have called the city on them twice and they are now within regulation with those but they are still right up against my arena. =( I have decided I am going to install speakers and play rap music to try and send them away.
Anyone else have any crazy neighbor stories out there? I want to feel a little less bad that I paid so much money for my home, lived here well before they did and have dumped even more money in to my farm, only to be harassed every time I try and ride. My one horse is so frightened by these neighbors that when they come outside, I can barely even ride him in the arena. Lesson learned… never again buy a home on acreage, that close to neighbors! If you can see their house, they are too close. Ha ha…[/QUOTE]
Op, I am sorry you are going through this but you decided to build an arena very close to the back yard of another house. I do not know why you would assume that the kindly neighbors who were retired would remain in their house as long as you do.
It sounds like you bought a marginally suitable property and put an arena so close to another residence as to be somewhat unsafe if the other property owners are outside using their backyard. That is not the neighbors problem.
I do not see how, if what they are doing on their property is not illegal, they would be liable for any injuries to you. Of course I am not an attorney I just don’t see what the justification would be for a law suit. You have no right to tell them what they can and cannot do on their property any more than they can tell the same to you.
