Neighbors Spooking Horses

[danacat]

@MillenniumDream

The outdoor ring of the barn is behind their house and they are clearly not very happy about that (the barn and ring have been there far longer than the house. They knew that there would be horses there when they moved in).

It just amazes me that people choose to buy property right next to an existing riding stable/ring when clearly they were not going to like being next to a riding stable/ring. So what’s the mentality? Lets be a huge problem for the riding stable – even at the expense of riders potentially getting hurt – and the riding stable will close down?

And it also amazes me that quite often rings are placed right along property lines – or land is sold off leaving ring along new property line – when clearly BO’s know that neighbors could be a problem.

[TMares]

@danacat

It just amazes me that people choose to buy property right next to an existing riding stable/ring when clearly they were not going to like being next to a riding stable/ring. So what’s the mentality? Lets be a huge problem for the riding stable – even at the expense of riders potentially getting hurt – and the riding stable will close down?

And it also amazes me that quite often rings are placed right along property lines – or land is sold off leaving ring along new property line – when clearly BO’s know that neighbors could be a problem.

My arena is on the only suitable part of my property. This happens to be quite close to the northern boundary of my property. I planted a thick buffer of eleagnous between us and the delightful trailer park next door on property that was forest for the first 20 years we owned it.

Now do you get it?

[trubandloki]

@danacat

It just amazes me that people choose to buy property right next to an existing riding stable/ring when clearly they were not going to like being next to a riding stable/ring. So what’s the mentality? Lets be a huge problem for the riding stable – even at the expense of riders potentially getting hurt – and the riding stable will close down?

In some cases I am guessing they do not realize what they are buying next to.
If they see it they do not know that the sandy space is where seven lesson horses are going to be making dust as they trot around and around during a beginner group lesson.
They do not know enough to even ask if there is going to be a problem.

Note - this is not me saying they should not have asked, this is just me saying how it could easily happen. People do not know what they do not know.

@TMares

My arena is on the only suitable part of my property. This happens to be quite close to the northern boundary of my property. I planted a thick buffer of eleagnous between us and the delightful trailer park next door on property that was forest for the first 20 years we owned it.

Now do you get it?

Yes and no.
You have always known where the property line was, even when nothing was over there. There was always a chance that nothing would become something. Can’t blame people for using their land.
I think your solution was perfect though.

My next door neighbor is still mad that my house exists. He lived next door to a farm field for lots of years, when we bought it to build a house he very much wanted the town to tell us we could not build there. The town, thankfully, told him that if he wanted to have control of the land next door he had to buy it.

[TMares]

My point was this…you build where you CAN…and sometimes that’s along a boundary. What’s to be “amazed” by?

And yeah I know shit happens, thanks.

[Beck]

I’m in Ontario, Canada, so obviously laws may differ greatly. Here we have something called "The Line Fences Act". When there is a dispute between neighbours about fencing on boundaries a team of “fence-viewers” is sent out to assess the situation. The fence-viewers arbitrate what must be done to satisfy the law. The beauty is that the cost of the solution - the cost of building a suitable fence - is shared between the parties. So, in a case like this one, a horse farm might be awarded a decision that requires the offending neighbours pay half the cost of the construction of an appropriate privacy fence. It’s a very old piece of legislation: dates back to when they took ‘good fences make good neighbours’ seriously. Maybe there is something similar in place where you are?

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

Not excusing the neighbors, but I’m wondering what exactly happened.
When you say you were thrown - do you mean you fell off when the horse spooked, or did it buck you off or rear or something?

The latter two reactions seem a little extreme over dogs and loud people, but maybe you’re riding green horses? If so, I’d do some work on the ground first and then under saddle to get them used to dogs running at them. Warwick Schiller has some good free you tube videos about dog proofing horses (and car proofing, etc.)

If it’s the former, I sympathize - my old barn had a blue tick hound with a wicked sense of humor who liked to leap out of the bushes and scare my first horse. But you know, I got really good at sitting a spook.:yes: And after awhile I began to suspect my horse thought it was as much of a game as the dog.:rolleyes: Anyway, maybe you could look at the situation as an opportunity to develop some new riding skills? I’d recommend Sally Swift’s classic, Centered Riding, especially the first four chapters.

It’s a shame, but you probably can’t do anything to change the neighbor’s behavior. But just imagine how good it will feel when their shenanigans don’t bother you or the horses anymore!

[danacat]

[QUOTE=TMares;n10438530Now do you get it?[/QUOTE]

Who – me or OP?

[danacat]

@TMares

Now do you get it?

Who – me or OP? Not getting what your comment has to do with my ‘in general’ post to no one in particular.

[Redemption3]

Not sure if barn owner can put up sonic noise emitters at the fence line pointed in their direction if the horses would be okay with it. If it is dark, motion-activated flood lights in their direction and cameras taping it. It is not alright to harass anyone and cause dangerous situations regardless if they own their property or not.

Most of my life I’ve lived in rural areas and never understood issues with neighbors until I moved here. I had to be very firm with one nosy neighbor.

The barn owner has a right to use the property without harassment from anyone.

[TMares]

@danacat

Who – me or OP? Not getting what your comment has to do with my ‘in general’ post to no one in particular.

You.

“And it also amazes me that quite often rings are placed right along property lines -”

I’m telling you why it isn’t amazing. It’s practical and economical for many farm owners. This isn’t personal, it’s just true.

[Casey09]

Oh, that’s such a tough situation!
On the one hand, for some people and horse combinations, you could really get your horse desensitized to a lot of things.
On the other hand, as an amateur, I’d probably rather not ride next to screaming kids and dogs charging the fence - even on the calmest horse ever. It would be annoying! Some horses also, no matter how you try, never really desensitize to certain things. Even if you get a horse relaxed about some of it, the neighbors might constantly look for something new to scare the horses - and let us face it, there’s always something out there that’ll spook a horse.
I would do some soul searching on how irritating it was for me and the likelihood of getting your particular horse desensitized. I don’t know what the dogs are doing, but most people don’t like and get scared walking by a dog really charging a fence. It’s a natural, instinctive reaction.
I would wonder if working in that ring doesn’t, unfortunately, set beginners up for failure.
The benefit of not owning them property is that, if there are other options, you can simply move until this is resolved. That’s probably what I’d do. Number one, the noise would bug me. Number two, even if you take your horse out there and desensitize, it’s always going to be a high risk place to ride - and I’ve only got one head, back, etc. and as I reach middle age, I’ve realized that I do not really want to train horses to perform in a circus ring.

[trubandloki]

@Redemption3

It is not alright to harass anyone and cause dangerous situations regardless if they own their property or not.

Disclaimer, my response is based on reading lots of ‘the neighbors are scaring my horse’ threads on the internet, where after reading you learn that the neighbor dared to mow their lawn or trim a tree or do any number of normal neighbor things.

People using their property in a way that you do not like does not equal harassing or constitute causing a dangerous situation.

Kids playing in their own yard (which frequently includes screaming) is allowed. Even if it is right next to your riding ring.
Dogs running and barking in their own yard is allowed. Even if it is right next to your riding ring.

Because you (general) find these things a problem does not mean they are doing anything wrong.

Usually the easiest way to fix a problem like this is to have a discussion, a polite discussion, with the neighbor to see if you can find a common ground solution. They call you before they do target practice (a frequent complaint in these types of threads) so you know not to ride that reactive horse at that time. You call them when you have a scared kid riding and they nicely have their kids come play in the front yard until the lesson is over. The list is endless.

But if we (general horse owners) insist the rest of the world remain silent and stationary on their own property just so we can use our property how we want we are quickly going to become unwelcome. That is when towns and such start passing laws that make owning horses difficult.

[RainWeasley]

If OP isn’t the owner of the property I don’t think there is much they can do. But if I owned it, I would think it would be good to at least try discussing it with the neighbors. If they have issues with it, find out what the issues are and if maybe there is something that can be done to compromise. If it’s the dust, maybe a sprinkler system or a line of some kind of vegetation to filter the dust so it doesn’t drift to neighbor’s property. Explain politely that a lot of unexpected noises can spook even the best trained horses and that can cause serious injury, especially things that could be perceived as a threat like barking dogs. If they are okay with it, maybe they can help the owner/trainer desensitize horses to the dogs and kids by having them go crazy at an agreed upon time when the trainer can work with various horses themselves while chaos ensues so they aren’t putting clients in harm’s way.

There is always the possibility that those people just won’t care, and again, I don’t think OP can personally do anything about it. But I have always found that being polite and understanding and actively trying to find a solution (without casting even a hint of blame or criticism toward the offending party) works a lot better than just, say, telling neighbors they need to stop doing what they are doing or else.

[ecileh]

@trubandloki

Disclaimer, my response is based on reading lots of ‘the neighbors are scaring my horse’ threads on the internet, where after reading you learn that the neighbor dared to mow their lawn or trim a tree or do any number of normal neighbor things.

People using their property in a way that you do not like does not equal harassing or constitute causing a dangerous situation.

Kids playing in their own yard (which frequently includes screaming) is allowed. Even if it is right next to your riding ring.
Dogs running and barking in their own yard is allowed. Even if it is right next to your riding ring.

Because you (general) find these things a problem does not mean they are doing anything wrong.

Usually the easiest way to fix a problem like this is to have a discussion, a polite discussion, with the neighbor to see if you can find a common ground solution. They call you before they do target practice (a frequent complaint in these types of threads) so you know not to ride that reactive horse at that time. You call them when you have a scared kid riding and they nicely have their kids come play in the front yard until the lesson is over. The list is endless.

I actually wonder sometimes if the neighbors are spooking the riders more than the horses and it’s just being conveyed downwards through the saddle, so to speak.

My boarding barn backs up onto property with people who target practice and it always seems to rattle my fellow boarders and the barn staff way more than the horses. I often come in to hear the shots ringing out and am met by someone saying “be careful! the horses are all freaked out!” and on my way down the aisle I see…12 horses calmly munching hay and snoozing in their stalls.

We also used to have an outdoor that ran against a property line. The neighbors had a pool and would spend time on their deck…playing loud music, jumping into the pool, etc. I was in the ring several times when riders would complain about their horses being bothered by the noise and…no, those horses were doing fine. You just can’t steer.

Which is not to say that I doubt the veracity of the OP. Or that I doubt horses can be spooked by these type of things. It’s just that the older I get and the more miles I ride, the more I think a good 80% of the problems are between the helmet and the reins.

[Palm_Beach]

@MillenniumDream

I ride at a small farm (20 horses) in a pretty small town. We have been having problems with our neighbors for a while but they have recently escalated. The outdoor ring of the barn is behind their house and they are clearly not very happy about that (the barn and ring have been there far longer than the house. They knew that there would be horses there when they moved in). The problem has become so bad that people are getting routinely thrown and my trainer has had to stop lessons frequently due to their actions. Just last night while I was training a horse I was thrown while they were screaming and letting their dogs run barking and growling at the horses. My barn has small children and I am becoming very worried that someone is going to be seriously injured or worse because the neighbors decided that they do not like horses. Does anyone know of anything that I can do?

Move to a barn where the trainer actually knows how to train. Horses should not be bothered by dogs unless the dogs are actually underfoot. My aussies run up and down the fenceline next to my ring barking their heads off while I ride, and I always let them do it for a few minutes before yelling at them to lay down.

[Palm_Beach]

@ecileh

I actually wonder sometimes if the neighbors are spooking the riders more than the horses and it’s just being conveyed downwards through the saddle, so to speak.

…

Which is not to say that I doubt the veracity of the OP. Or that I doubt horses can be spooked by these type of things. It’s just that the older I get and the more miles I ride, the more I think a good 80% of the problems are between the helmet and the reins.

I must be older than you because I think it’s more along the lines of 95%.

[MsM]

In my example the problem is that the neighbor seems to deliberately start a noisy piece of equipment when someone rides by. His house is not near the ring. He brings stuff near the property line to start it up. While the horses are generally fine hearing farm equipment, it is hard to prevent a reaction to a sudden loud noise from a hidden source.

[Redemption3]

@trubandloki

Disclaimer, my response is based on reading lots of ‘the neighbors are scaring my horse’ threads on the internet, where after reading you learn that the neighbor dared to mow their lawn or trim a tree or do any number of normal neighbor things.

People using their property in a way that you do not like does not equal harassing or constitute causing a dangerous situation.

Kids playing in their own yard (which frequently includes screaming) is allowed. Even if it is right next to your riding ring.
Dogs running and barking in their own yard is allowed. Even if it is right next to your riding ring.

Because you (general) find these things a problem does not mean they are doing anything wrong.

Usually the easiest way to fix a problem like this is to have a discussion, a polite discussion, with the neighbor to see if you can find a common ground solution. They call you before they do target practice (a frequent complaint in these types of threads) so you know not to ride that reactive horse at that time. You call them when you have a scared kid riding and they nicely have their kids come play in the front yard until the lesson is over. The list is endless.

But if we (general horse owners) insist the rest of the world remain silent and stationary on their own property just so we can use our property how we want we are quickly going to become unwelcome. That is when towns and such start passing laws that make owning horses difficult.

It didn’t sound to me like they were just using their property and coincidentally scared the horses on several occasions. Perhaps the OP exaggerated the situation. If that is what it is then I rescind my reply because it is worded to a neighbor who intentionally causes a dangerous situation. That is not legal regardless of property rights; it isn’t merely inconvenient. Harassment would be the least of their worries if someone got hurt and it was decided through legal channels that they were intentionally causing a disturbance. But I’m jaded. Until I moved out where I live right now, I never had unsolvable neighbor issues. My neighbors are @sses , the two-legged kind; they do exist. Civility works most of the time. My apologies if I misread the OP.

[S1969]

@MillenniumDream

…they were screaming and letting their dogs run barking and growling at the horses.

Screaming kids? Screaming adults?

It sounds like harassment and I would get it on video. Put two cameras on the arena fence and point them at the neighbor’s property.

Then take them to the police.

[endlessclimb]

The ring is right on the property line. Both parties have a stupid tax to pay here, but yours is that you put a permanent structure on a property line. Buy the front property if you don’t like what they’re doing. They own it, you can’t control it. Desensitize your horses and get over it.