Yes we fall under Ag/Rural. In GA there are laws protecting agriculture properties in regards to dust, noise, smell, etc. At least in our county specifically pertaining to our zoning.
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Also an FYI about the fence since it was brought up a few times…the property was already fenced partially when we bought it. My arena is set about 15 feet off that fence from my neighbors house. So I had no say over that fence and was told my property ran the fence lines. Neighbor is the one who said it was really on his property. Our deed does state our property includes the fence lines.
I’m placing a privacy fence about 8 feet from the current fence as there are 4 trees right along the other fence and we want to leave room for mowing.
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Yall it’s windy today so he got in his truck and moved it to park right by our property fence closest to the arena to sir and watch a 6 year olds lesson
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I’d take a picture of him doing that
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Yes take a pic or video but don’t let him know, because he sounds like a batshit crazy nut !
All riders should walk around in a ‘buddy’ system …inform everyone not to talk to this guy.
You, too need to be extra aware of where he is … please … he steps on property call 911 !
not kidding here … these situations can go ‘south’ quickly … no need to ask me how I know !
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Well, that’s creepy! Definitely time for a good stockade type fence.
ETA: If he complains, just explain its to help with the dust problem, leave out the part about him being creepy.
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I would plant evergreen trees or put up camo tarps between trees to fully block a turd neighbor.
I don’t see how he has any legal standing, nothing to actually sue for. But it sounds like he will continue to escalate his complaints and I’d worry what he may start doing to bother the horses or even harm them during lessons.
Is his health going down, something may be going wrong making him turn into a bother.
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I am going with lonely old guy who enjoys watching the horses versus some creepy thing.
I could be wrong, but I like that theory better.
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Older people sometimes start losing capacity and can get aggressive and wierd.
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I’d go with that too, if he wasn’t complaining about the dust.
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Ah, does that explain why so many COTH conversations take some very odd turns? I suspect many of us are older people LOL.
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i had a verrrry crazy neighbor, who has since passed. When my fencing crew was putting in a fence along our mutual appx 1/2 mile common property line, he drove along his driveway (about 200yds through a woods away) shooting off his rifle. My guys told me later that they brought along their handgun.
Same neighbor built a brush pile against our fence and told a buddy of his he was going to burn it. (in the dry woods). That friend drove over to the guy’s farm and talked him down.
Same guy, same day, after friend left, torched a trash pile by his house which caught him on fire and he had to go to hospital with major burns and stay there for about a month.
Same crazy guy, who was on O2 for COPD, died in a fire he started, in a leanto deerstand.
When he died, i was so relieved. There are a LOT of crazy people out there. Even if you don’t engage with them. Real or perceived, if they have some kernel of grievance it might just grow and grow way out of proportion. Just existing, without doing a THING!, can enrage those nutcases. My suggestion is to document everything…take pics/videos/journal notes. Keep track of his antics and by all means voice your concerns to sheriff. If your rural home is anything like mine, one phone call will have a sheriff at your door and they will write down their conversation with you.
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Yeah that was always my thought until he threatened us. Now it’s aggressive and creepy.
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Thank you for mentioning this, it’s always nice to have that reminder we don’t know what’s going on with people.
I have not talked with him since he demanded I “watch my dust” earlier this summer. I don’t plan on engaging with them.
I had to cancel our pest control because his son in law is our guy and I don’t want to talk to anyone related to him just in case.
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We had horses on our small acreage in San Diego — not even an arena, just their pens, where they very VERY rarely did anything other than mosey.
The dust in the house was still incredible. And we had a 12 foot high haybarn between horses and house.
It’s not an insignificant problem. Put up that high fence! Grow those tall trees.
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It’s entirely ok to discount his complaints because the OP is doing everything legal. She’s not required to change anything on her property to please her neighbor and I’m not sure why how he chooses to use his property is up to him, and how she chooses to use her property is also up to him because she is within all of her legal boundaries.
As far as dust control, Mag Flakes are a giant waste of money in an outdoor arena. As soon as it rains they’d be gone and she’d have to reapply them every time. There’s being neighborly and there’s getting abused by overbearing neighbors.
One of my friends lived in a horse property controlled by a HOA and her neighbor filed a complaint that her barn was going to block her view. A neighbor who had bought the property for the view of other people’s horses and the trees but didn’t want to look at a barn. So she caved for some reason and moved the barn. While doing a survey for the barn she discovered that the neighbor had built a drainage culvert 20 feet onto her property. So she promptly filed a complaint and the neighbor had to not only remove the drainage culvert but repair all the damage caused.
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CREEEEEEEEEEP
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I’m not one to call the cops, but if you haven’t already, it might be very worthwhile to have a conversation with the sheriff about the neighbor’s behavior and concerns/threats. It doesn’t have to be an accusation on your part, but more of a “here is what is happening - do you think I should be concerned and/or be doing anything differently to handle the situation in the best way?”
It doesn’t hurt to have a positive relationship with the law in case things get really weird later. 
Especially when it comes to him watching the kids ride and driving up even closer to your ring to do so. Could be nothing, or could get gross. Or he could be losing his faculties, which is truly unfortunate but still a cause for concern as you really don’t know how people in that situation will progress. To me, all of that is worth having a conversation to make it known to the authorities.
Also, if he’s so concerned about the dust, why did he come closer to sit in the wind and watch the lesson yesterday?! But I digress…haha
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It would also be entirely Legal for complaining neighbor to take up welding as a hobby, right by the property line. (now that is something horses just love! Not). Or build crazy sculptures that move in the wind or… For that matter, sitting on his side of the line and staring at people is also legal. And creepy, but still legal. ‘It is legal’ doesn’t have to equate to rude.
Does the guy sound like an increasingly difficult person? Oh yes. But frankly arena dust is an actual issue.
Take the moral high ground. Build a fence you like. It will also keep the inevitable loose horse off his property, which you really really don’t need.
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I was thinking about some kind of screen material myself. Maybe they make it in a green color so it will block his view as well?
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