Problem with my neighbor who owns horses

[creseida]

I have a relatively new neighbor who moved in about 4 years ago. He bought the home and wooded acreage next to me, proceeded to clear out all the trees and put up horse fencing and a barn. Before his fencing was done, he brought some of his horses home (including a stallion) and used a 12 x 24 chain link dog run for turn out.

He finished his fencing this past summer and brought the rest of his horses home. He has 6 (I think) and keeps breeding more. They are TWHs, or at least the stallion is.

When his horses are out in the big field, rather than teach them to come when called, he insists on rounding them up with his ATV and chasing them until they happen to run through the gate back to the barn by sheer luck.

The other day, him and two of his buddies (who can barely ride) were running down the gravel road with his 4-5 month old foal running loose. At first I thought the foal was loose and they were trying to catch her. No, they were chasing her to “train her” and hitting her with the ends of the reins to make her run. She didn’t want to run because, well gravel hurts on foal hooves.

Also, since his horses have been here, they have escaped no less than 5 times. And where do they run? My hayfield. How does he catch them? Chases them with the ATV through my field. (I haven’t actually been home to yell at him in person for doing this - part of why I’m here).

I come home and receive an email from him telling me he discovered his stallion was out of his corral (he thinks he learned to lift the gate chain). Of course when he went to catch him, he took off and came to my place towards my horses. He trampled my hay and of course challenged my gelding through my fence, knocking part of it down. Fortunately not enough to get in with either him or my mare. My neighbor was alarmed for my horses because he is aware that his stallion “viciously attacks” his own gelding (!) so he chased him all over my hayfield (again). He also damaged some recent tree plantings of mine, “But at least none of our horses were injured!” was his joyous conclusion. Not this time…

The guy really has no business owning a stallion. He honestly has no business owning horses, but at least they’re flat shod and well fed.

He is a nice guy but I’m really done with the crap from his horses that are ultimately doing what they do because he’s got more dollars than sense.

Ideas?

[trubandloki]

You do not have to be home when it happens to point out that him driving his 4wheeler all over your field is damaging a crop.

I would start with a polite discussion about him paying you for the things he has damaged. That might be enough for him to want to better contain him animals.

[SuzieQNutter]

Don’t worry about what he is doing on his property. Fix your fences. Have your fences good enough that a bull or a stallion can not get in.

Yes he should be paying for damage. The dividing fences he should pay half for.

Tell him he cant take the ATV in the hay field at all. That means it is up to you to A) remove the stallion out of the field (You have to decide whether you can handle the stallion or not but it would be better to B) up to you to have a good enough fence that he can not get into the hay field in the first place.

[OTTB2]

You have 2 things in this post. A opinion which is yours and has no reason for him to hear. He lives in the US owns his land he can own/do what he wants. Simple solution. Get goods fence. Make him pay damages and tell him to stay off your land.

[creseida]

My hayfield is unfenced. It is the buffer between my paddocks and his fence line. Fortunately my fence managed to keep him out, although several lower boards were pulled down. I also have hotwire on top, which is why I think the top board wasn’t pulled down.

I was out surveying the damage and he came over and apologized again. I very politely but firmly told him that if he insists on keeping a stallion, he needs proper stallion facilities. I told him he needs double locks on all doors and gates and his barely 4’ high fence should be at least 5’ high. His response was classic, “Yeah, I’ve heard that but I thought since my guy was well behaved…” Yes, your guy IS well behaved, until he starts thinking with his little head and not his big one. Then he’s 1200 lbs of testosterone with a one track mind: kill all the males and mount the females.

I told him I don’t want my horses attacked. “Well he’s only done it to my one gelding”. Yes, Charlie, that’s what stallions do. They KILL potentially competing males to be ruler of the herd.

I also discussed his habit of chasing horses with the ATV every day and told him his life would be much easier if he simply trained his horses to come when called at dinner time. You’re just asking for a horse with a broken leg chasing them. “Well they associate the 4-wheeler with dinner…”
"No Charlie, if they did, you wouldn’t have to CHASE them. They’d run to the gate and be ready as you came towards it. Instead they run AWAY. They think “Oh it’s the CHASE GAME! Everybody RUN!!”
I said, “I’m trying to say this in the nicest possible way…”
And he interrupted and said, “I’m being stupid right?”
“Kinda, yeah.”

I tried to be very nice but very firm that a loose stallion is a huge potential liability. He asked me what he could do to make amends.
“Stallion-proof your property and put up hot-wire to keep the other horses from crawling through the smooth wire fencing and escaping.”
“Done”.

I hope so. I took pictures just in case…

[2horseygirls]

IMHO, chasing a 5 month old foal down a gravel road is cruel. If it were the neighborhood hoodlums instead of the owner, most people would recommend reporting them for cruelty.

Regarding the damage to your hayfield - lay spikes inside the fence on the perimeter. That takes care of ATV tires.

Send him the bill for the tree plantings, and depending on how much of your hay field he has torn up, send him a bill for that. One time is understandable, but 5 times in a year? Oh hell no!

ETA: It does sound like you had a reasonable conversation, and he seemed open to your comments, so I’m going to cross my fingers for an improved relationship in the future

[beau159]

If his stallion is repeatedly getting loose, I’d be calling animal control and/or getting the police involved. It IS the owner’s duty to keep the stallion in HIS fences.

I would video, photo, and document each time the stallion gets out and wrecks havoc on your property. You never know when you’ll need the court evidence if he seriously injuries one of your horses.

[Epona142]

Jeez, did my neighbors of the house that burned down move next to you? Sounds horribly familiar.

[lorilu]

The next time it happens, have a lawyer write him a nice letter, stating your damages and his liability, and asking for his insurance provider’s contact info. I bet he has no farm insurance, only homeowners/
You can find out if he has a mortgage, I believe. The mortgage holder might be interested in damages and potential lawsuits.

[stryder]

As crazy as this may sound, the guy sounds trainable. Just straight-out ask him if he wants advice, and if he does, give it to him. Be direct and firm. The alternative is that he’s going to end up paying you a lot of money, and you’ll have a neighbor you can’t stand. And so will he.

[Doctracy]

I had the exact same problem,except the guy wasn’t nice and my ex-husband was pyscho.
I found out we had no recourse since we lived in a county that was still “open range”. The only thing we could do was shoot the stallion if he was eminently endangering us or our livestock.
You will have to put up good fending or just deal with it.

[melhorse]

What someone does on their own property is non of your business. I do not know a single horse farm owner that has not had one horse escape at least once… it happens, fences get repaired and people learn in time-give this guy some slack!
Welcome to a free country where you do not get to pick who moves in next door. :lol: Know it could be way worse!!

Put up a perimeter fence on YOUR property- this can be cheap barbed wire or page fence and mind your own business

[TBROCKS]

[QUOTE=OTTB_;8468586]
You have 2 things in this post. A opinion which is yours and has no reason for him to hear. He lives in the US owns his land he can own/do what he wants. Simple solution. Get goods fence. Make him pay damages and tell him to stay off your land.[/QUOTE]

Pretty much this. The way he rounds up his horses is of no concern of yours. The only thing that concerns you is when he or his animals trespass on your property and cause damage and endanger your horses. IMHO you need to address the serious issues and learn to ignore the annoyances that aren’t your business.

[jvanrens]

[QUOTE=melhorse;8468797]
What someone does on their own property is non of your business. I do not know a single horse farm owner that has not had one horse escape at least once… it happens, fences get repaired and people learn in time-give this guy some slack!
Welcome to a free country where you do not get to pick who moves in next door. :lol: Know it could be way worse!!

Put up a perimeter fence on YOUR property- this can be cheap barbed wire or page fence and mind your own business[/QUOTE]

You must have missed where the OP said his horses have escaped at least 5 times and he chases them around her hay field with his ATV? Yeah, once or twice, I’d cut some slack because they’re horses and crap happens (though the ATV would royally piss me off if it is wet out and the field is getting torn up between it and the horses) but after that I’d be getting PO’d in a big way. Most areas are not a fence out, but fence your stock in or be responsible for their damages, especially a stallion with an attitude. OP is minding her own business, OPs hay field and health of her horses is her business.

Sounds like she’s given him lots of slack and some advice and is hopefully looking at fence for her hay field just in case the neighbor is too dense to take it.

[stryder]

@jvanrens;8468821

Most areas are not a fence out, but fence your stock in or be responsible for their damages, especially a stallion with an attitude. OP is minding her own business, OPs hay field and health of her horses is her business.

Most of the western states are fence-out. Having a stallion may change things, IDK.

[dog_amp_horsemom]

It must be stressful to live next to him. Here are a few suggestions: send a registered letter asking for reimbursement for damages and ask to please keep his stallion off of your property and no ATV in the hay field.
Take a video if it happens again and take to the sheriff’s office and hopefully the magistrate will handle it for you.
Be thankful that he is nice! I had a stallion escape my neighbor and he attacked my show hunter who was out in his pasture. The stallion jumped over all of our pasture fences and was Wild. Then another friend of mine had her neighbor’s stallion escape and come over - seriously injured her gelding and impregnated her mares. She had the Vet come over and give the mares an injection to prevent pregnancy and take care of the gelding. When she went next door to present the stallions owner with the bill he told her to wait a minute - then came to the door with a gun and pointed it at her and told her to get off his land! She put her farm on the market and moved immediately!
I had a friend who had some trouble with her neighbors and the registered letter took care of it - is why I mentioned it.

[stryder]

@jvanrens;8468821

Most areas are not a fence out, but fence your stock in or be responsible for their damages, especially a stallion with an attitude. OP is minding her own business, OPs hay field and health of her horses is her business.

Most of the western states are fence-out. Having a stallion may change things, IDK.

[hosspuller]

IMHO … First, is your state a fence in or fence out ?
This is THE big factor in your next steps. It determines responsibility for your damages to hayfield, fence, etc.
Next check local fence & real estate laws … fencing, livestock, zoning, (you don’t want to start actions that will affect your horse keeping) Make sure you’re in compliance.

[lorilu]

Fence out or fence in is no excuse for his driving his ATV on HER hayfield. That is trespassing.

[aloysha]

It sounds like Charlie is ‘trainable’ !!! She did say he asked if he was being dumb! If possible, be neighbourly and helpful, give him good advice and keep things friendly. Of course he should pay for any damages, but there’s no reason to inflame what sounds like a pretty calm situation. Worse thing can be neighbours that hate each other, especially when there is livestock or pets involved.