Horse rules in equestrian communities

[Ed_the_foxhunter]

Well, I certainly have enjoyed this thread immensely, even if I did not get a copy of anyone’s rules. I have certainly gotten a lot of good thoughts and suggestions, and several great out-loud laughs, my favorite being the quote about people wanting to look at the L.L. Bean catalog. I actually wear a lot of LL Bean clothes, but I get mine off eBay! For the comments related to the OCCR document, I thought you might be interested to know that this was the source of much of the problem…VERY poorly written OCCR document that is so ambiguous that it causes more conflict and confusion than it cures… It creates, for an example, a “lake easement” to which all members of the community have access. It does not, however, define the easement. As one of the owners whose property adjoins the lake, I have pushed back on the informal assumptions that have guided the activities of several neighbors for far too long. The OCCR refers to hiking and bridle trails, but has not one word about horse manure on said trails. Since there is no restriction on horse poop mentioned, I am falling back to the general courtesy position.

Where I think we are going to come down on this is that horse poop on the roads will be picked up or raked off the road onto the 20" access easements on either side of the road, within 24 hours of deposition… For the trails that are not paved, but which are intended for BOTH hiking and riding…the guideline is to keep your horse moving during the elimination process so that no piles are left…just a string of biscuits which will disappear quickly. For those with zero tolerance…well tough (horse) sh*t!!

Fortunately, our HOA board is a relatively small group of all reasonable people, several of whom ride, or used to ride. That makes things a lot easier. I attended the HOA meeting this week and ended up Chairman of the Horse Poop Committee, tasked with developing “guidelines”, since there is no authority in the OCCR to regulate horse poop, on trails to which horses clearly have right of passage. I did learn that one of the complaints about the horse poop came from someone whose dog was eating it… which is really interesting, since we DO have a community on-leash or under control guideline already published, but nothing about horse poop, so I really hope that complaint comes up in my problem-solving meeting.

Do you think “Talking Some Sh*t” is too blunt an invitation phrase?

Seriously, thanks again for all the input.

Ed

[Foxtrot_s]

Good reading - and decided to remain independent.

[clanter]

@Ed the foxhunter

for an example, a “lake easement” to which all members of the community have access. It does not, however, define the easement. As one of the owners whose property adjoins the lake,
Ed

never having had such a lot. just wondering Where does you lot end according to the deed? does it extend into the normal water level or is stopped at water’s edge?

just asking as my family owned land on the Ohio River where the state line went to the water’s edge on the north band of the river

[Ed_the_foxhunter]

clanter, wrote: “just wondering Where does you lot end according to the deed? does it extend into the normal water level or is stopped at water’s edge?”

Our lot on the lake goes right down into the water… The original subdivision plat shows where each lots is laid out, then the lake easement was simply hand-drawn on an unofficial version of that plat…with no metes and bounds!! one of our corners is under water!!

That is part of the reason some of the other lot owners and I are demanding a survey of what the community claims as public access, since the community claims access to and use of the lake, but we are paying the property taxes on the land that is under water! The documents that created this community, and the community covenants, could not have been written by an attorney…or at least not a sober one who was marginally competent. There are typos and misspellings throughout the document!

For years, people just did not care, since they assumed that what they had always done, they would always be able to do… That all came to a screeching halt the day I came home and found orange ribbons all down through my woods. A member of the trail committee who had “been in charge of the trails for years” decided she wanted to build a developed trail across the easement on my property, leading from the street to the lake. (I’m sure it was a coincidence that the trailhead was directly across from her driveway!) Anyway, it never occurred to her to contact me about her plans for a new trail, which, by the way, would have meant felling trees and excavating.

I pointed out that the community covenants provide of an “access easement”, means that she can walk on on our land to get to the lake, but there is absolutely nothing that conveys to the HOA the authority to modify or build anything, including a developed trail, upon that easement. She assured me I was wrong, but could find no document to establish her rights… The HOA backed me up, which is what started this whole thing.

I suspect it is, in fact, this trail Nazi who’s complaining about the horse poop because she walks her dog on the trails every day, and knows that we have horses. Another reason to reinforce the advice to read the community covenants, not just the website, before buying into a community with an HOA!

[JanM]

I also suggest that people google the subdivision name, and HOA, or reviews, or anything you can think of before buying in that area.

When I was thinking about retiring elsewhere, I looked at real estate costs, and for any big subdivision that looked likely I looked at HOA newsletters, if I could find them. And also looked at reviews. I found that every single HOA in a condo/apartment type community had repeated newsletter articles about what to if squatters move in next door, and others outlining how many people weren’t paying HOA dues, and how fees will go up if people don’t get caught up. I decided that town was a bad place to move to after more research.

I also ran into reviews that said some HOA’s were dominated by a few people who were fanatics, and making everyone miserable, so I passed on those also.

[pluvinel]

@Ed the foxhunter

clanter, wrote: “just wondering Where does you lot end according to the deed? does it extend into the normal water level or is stopped at water’s edge?”

Our lot on the lake goes right down into the water… The original subdivision plat shows where each lots is laid out, then the lake easement was simply hand-drawn on an unofficial version of that plat…with no metes and bounds!! one of our corners is under water!!

That is part of the reason some of the other lot owners and I are demanding a survey of what the community claims as public access, since the community claims access to and use of the lake, but we are paying the property taxes on the land that is under water! The documents that created this community, and the community covenants, could not have been written by an attorney…or at least not a sober one who was marginally competent. There are typos and misspellings throughout the document!

For years, people just did not care, since they assumed that what they had always done, they would always be able to do… That all came to a screeching halt the day I came home and found orange ribbons all down through my woods. A member of the trail committee who had “been in charge of the trails for years” decided she wanted to build a developed trail across the easement on my property, leading from the street to the lake. (I’m sure it was a coincidence that the trailhead was directly across from her driveway!) Anyway, it never occurred to her to contact me about her plans for a new trail, which, by the way, would have meant felling trees and excavating.

I pointed out that the community covenants provide of an “access easement”, means that she can walk on on our land to get to the lake, but there is absolutely nothing that conveys to the HOA the authority to modify or build anything, including a developed trail, upon that easement. She assured me I was wrong, but could find no document to establish her rights… The HOA backed me up, which is what started this whole thing.

I suspect it is, in fact, this trail Nazi who’s complaining about the horse poop because she walks her dog on the trails every day, and knows that we have horses. Another reason to reinforce the advice to read the community covenants, not just the website, before buying into a community with an HOA!

So…you have now found that bit of missing information that explains why things turned the way they do.

And since you are now officially head of the Poop Committee, you are now in a prime postion to start writing things down in proper legal documents to favor the horse owning residents.

Unfortunately this will suck up a lot of your time…

If you have the majority of property owners to be reasonable people perhaps the group can hire an attorney to draft CCR’s and lay out the HOA requirements in a way to favor horse owners if questions on interpretations should arise in the future.