I love it! Where can I get one for my guy???:lol::lol::lol:
[QUOTE=3horsemom;2970459]
we board at a lovely private barn with a long curvy drive the leads to the barn set way off the road. one day we were coming home from a horse show and as my husband turned in the driveway he was met by a caravan of cars, each filled to capacity. now we are in a 3/4 ton pickup pulling a 2 h gn and the first car was a kia. the kia refused to move out of the way. now my dh is a really sweet, mellow kind of guy but he was tired, he was missing the cowboys game and the d#%n kia would not move! like he was playing chicken or something. so my husband proceeds to move forward inch by inch until i am convinced that dh is going to run the guy over. i mean what if they had been friends of the b.o.?! not likely, but…
so i hop out of the truck and walk over to the guy and he rolls down his window and omg it was like being at a grateful dead concert. one whiff and i wanted some m&m’s. they wanted to just drive up and see what was on the property and pet some horses. we keep the gate shut now.[/QUOTE]
I went through something very similar. I was driving a one-ton dually with a very large camper on the back plus hauling a 4 horse with 4 horses in it up a forest road to a trailhead to do some work on the trails with my horse group. Now forest roads are pretty narrow - one lane only. Here comes some guy in a car and thinks he’s going to make me move my rig over so he can go by. No such luck. I’m not risking getting my rig with my horses stuck in the ditch so he can drive by to get his double tall, non-fat, no foam latte at the nearest stand (it is Washington afterall). I park it and wait until he gets the idea that I’m bigger than him and if anyone is moving it ain’t me. I had to get out the newspaper and prop my feet up on the steering wheel before he got the message and backed up the road to a turn out. :lol: I was tempted to go into the camper and fix myself a sandwich and a drink while I read my paper; I was starting to get hungry afterall, doing all this waiting for the moron to get a clue. My goodness didn’t I get the evil eye as I waved to him when I drove past. :D:D:D
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I used to live in an area that was quickly becoming suburbanized by the time my husband and I left.
Next to our property was a field that was owned by my grandfather-in-law. He had a herd of cattle that he kept in the field.
One day I looked out the window. Next door at the field was a SUV that was parked on the side of the road. A very suburban-looking dad was holding his little boy (probably no older than 4 years old) over the fence so the little kid could pet the BULL. Bull was not happy. He was slinging his head around and pawing the ground and looking like he was going to charge. Fortunately, nothing bad happened but it is scary that these people seem to think farmland is a public park and if there are farm animals, it is automatically a petting zoo.
Now, I am happy to live in a place where my horses can’t be seen from the road! :yes:
If you put one of these in your pasture, people will generally avoid trespassing:
A lot of people are terrified of pigs. This one likes to run up to people and make really loud squawking, grunting and squealing noises.
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Slightly PG rated post
My husband raises and shows purebred cattle at several big shows each year, where you get quite a bit of traffic through the stall area. It’s fun, talking to people about your livestock and, yes, they want to pet the cattle. Since a show stock string is pretty accustomed to being handled and groomed, it’s cool and some animals really like it.
One of our bulls was grand champion at the state fair a few years ago. Two women were chatting with my husband and one asked if our bull (who was lying down) was gentle and if she could pet them. My husband said, sure and started to show her how to scratch his poll, which he loved. No, she said, I meant them, pointing to his testicles.
My husband said, I don’t mind if he doesn’t. But you do it at your own risk.
And she did. Said “thanks” (to my husband or the bull?) and they went on their merry way.
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:lol: :eek: :lol: :eek: :lol: :eek: :lol:
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:lol::lol::lol:
Did the bull smoke a cigarette afterwards?
YES! That’s what I was going to say. I talked to a lawyer about 5 years ago concerning my dog who had been known to charge at people. If people came onto our property, he would go ape sh*t. I wanted to post a Beware of Dog sign. The attorney told me that would seal my fate right there. It is an admission that I am harboring a dangerous animal. She said you are FAR BETTER OFF posting a No Tresspassing sign.
Anyway- I’ve seen cars stop and watch as the Arab is galloping around the pasture rearing and flagging her tail like a nincompoop, but I’ve never seen anyone get out of their vehicle, or approach my fences.
:eek: I feel really dirty now after reading mp’s post… :lol:
The place where I keep my horse is surrounded by suburban hell on 3 sides. Apparently, it has gotten better, but when the houses were first built, kids from the new subdivision would cut through our pasture at night in order to get to an old, abandoned house on the other side of the property. A couple of years ago, they were even coming up to the fence and rustling plastic bags that the horses thought were filled with treats. The horses would walk up to the fenceline and instead of getting treats, they would get hit with plastic bags full of rocks. :mad: However, now we have an “attack pony”. She was starved/abused prior to the BO getting her, and has been known to, quite literally, chase people around trees in order to get treats that she thinks they might have for her. Luckily, it appears that the little hoodlums have been caught and/or reprimanded, because there haven’t been any issues with them for some time.
However, our barn owner has had to get kind of creative and proactive. When the neighbors were letting off really loud fireworks and scaring the horses, she figured out which house it was and went over. Nobody answered the door, so she peeked around back, said hello and went up and said something like, “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know who’s setting off the fireworks, do you? They happen to really be scaring the horses, etc…” Putting it like that really seemed to work. The guys of course were like, “Oh, that’s our neighbors, and they just left, but we’ll tell them when they come back.” These weren’t mean people…they were just a little ignorant. Haven’t had a problem with them since.
Now, we’ve got several people in the subdivision who look out for us. I also believe that the county sheriff moved in and there is a house right at the curve of our driveway that has about 4-5 state troopers living in it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt matters any that they drive their state cars home. 
On the non-law enforcement side, we have 2-3 sets of neighbors who have asked permission to walk their dogs along the driveway and show their appreciation by keeping a lookout for delinquent behavior.
Once in a while, people will wander over, but I haven’t seen anyone just randomly walk up and try to pet horses. There’s a hotwire running the perimeter now, and when someone brings their little darlings by, they find someone who boards, lives, or works there. We help them by finding a kind, non-mouthy horse who will gently pluck pre-approved treats from the little ones’ hands. If, for some reason, they show up at a bad time (like feeding), we suggest another time for them to come back. Kindness seems to go a long way with the ones who genuinely are not mean or bad people. Some of them are really interested and care, and learning how to make that work for us has been very helpful. You never know - one of those little kids may actually turn into a horse person someday!
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The insurance company or the health care provider might ASK but I don’t think there’s any obligation to ANSWER. I was at a riding clinic when I broke my arm, through my own stupidity. Every. SINGLE. TIME. I went to the doctor I was asked where the accident occurred, what was going on at the time, was there an instructor in charge, etc. I point-blank said that I would not tell them because it was an accident and if anyone was to blame it was me (I?). Insurance covered it without me answering.
Of course I KNEW it was my fault. If I had said that it was the trainer’s fault, or that the barn was poorly constructed, or ANY kind of justification that might have occurred to me, I’m sure they would have been off and running. And considering how many one-time trail riders were “bucked off” or “thrown off” a wild 18 hand stallion, I do think that impressions of horses can be a bit, shall we say, SKEWED.
We live on 32 acres in an area which used to be considered Rural Ontario but is now quickly becoming surrounded by sub divisions from a town on either side. Our neighbour is a fruit and flower grower who has a thriving “pick your own strawberries” business every Spring. Last year I caught 4 small children in my paddock walking towards my horses, one was a toddler and the oldest would have been about 8 yrs old. I have nightmares thinking about what could have happened to the toddler if the horses had got really inquisitve and thought that the children had food as they are used to being given treats by my little grandchildren when they are in their stalls and therefore equate children with treats. Luckily a loud yell from me distracted the horses long enough for the kids to pick up the toddler and run for it. I have a hotwire around my wooden rail fence but these guys were small enough to get under it. It just leaves me wondering where the heck the parents are.
You can do that, but if you do that the insurance company almost always then has the right to refuse to pay for the medical bills (depends on the policy and its language but I cannot imagine many companies that would not put it into the policy- I know mine did).
I have also never had an emergency room or doctors office ask me the address where it happened or who was there 
They have been told “horse bite” or fall or whatever and it was my insurance company that sent me a form that asked those questions after the fact and stated that if I did not provide the information they reserved the right to deny coverage.
You can, however, fill out those forms in a way that pretty much paints a picture of no fault and in the instances in which I have had to fill it out, I have warned the people identified in it that the form exists and that I will be an excellent witness for their side if gets to that- even so I have never had the insurance company go after anyone for coverage on my behalf not even the injury where there might arguably have been some liability and the medical bills were big (surgery, OT, PT, three specialist opinions, etc). But maybe I just have a nice insurer
Okay- back the topic
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At my old barn, the owner owned a Halflinger and she used him for driving. The horse was notorious for nipping and biting people so they put up a sign that said No Tresspassing and Do Not Pet the Horse on a tree next to the pasture. One day a young boy and his father stopped by and they ignored the signs and the young boy decided to pat the horse. Well, the horse bit the young boy’s hand so hard he had to be taken to the ER to get stitches and of course the animal control was called to make sure the horse had his rabies vaccines, etc.
Some people have no common sense. :rolleyes:
:sigh: Our farm sits right where it’s been for over 30 years (land was in the fam. before that, but that’s when the house & barn were built & occupied) in a town that has slowly grown up around us; city folk moving to the country, paving everrything, painting it green & calling it the lawn, as my dad used to say! Over the years, we’ve had people let animals out into the road, people steal animals for kicks (& then turn the poor things loose in other towns–WHY in God’s name would you want to travel 40 miles with an adult buck goat in your car, anyway? ), had people injure (& on two occasions, kill) animals in the course of trespassing on our property–the list goes on. When the hotwire went up, one of the neighbors complained to us that his dog was traumatized by the shock he got from it–while attempting to get into our pasture & run the new baby lambs–for the THIRD time that spring.
Occurrances like these (and many others) are the reason that our Year 1 photos show lovely open fencing with happy horses peering over into the parking area being petted by happy people while the Year 30 photos show 7-foot tall stockade fencing surrounding the entire property (except the driveway & parking) with a nice shiny logging chain & padlock closing up the gate. Not so friendly-looking, & we don’t particularly love it ourselves, but we sure do sleep better at night. :no:
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You have got to be kidding! WOW! I would have removed the sheep, hooked up that fence right to a power line, and let him come back.
Nope, serious as a heart attack–told my mom & my kid brother that he could sue us for injuries to the dog, but he was such a nice guy that he wouldn’t as long as we took down the fence. Wasn’t his fault–German Shepherds are bred to want to “play” with sheep, & after all, you can’t explain property lines (or leash laws, or not letting your kid turn the dog loose, or fencing your own yard in because even my non-sheepdog-dogs aren’t allowed in with the sheep, a$$hat!) to a dog. Also, he thought the fence might be illegal & he’d just HATE to have to report us to the town :eek:! We then explained to him the financial penalties of replacing an entire herd of sheep, plus the very real possibility that if–big if–the dog survived the (second) joint a$$-kicking from the 300# ram & their 145# companion goat, he definitely wouldn’t survive the bullet (we believe in the three s’s applied with great discretion). Never saw the dog again–he won’t even walk it past the house, & we went to all horses & haven’t had sheep for something like 7 or 8 years now-I’m not even sure he still has the same dog! We do, however, still have electric fence–keeps the Draft x in!
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I have also looked out an seen people in the field with the horses. One day there was a lady in the field with 8 horses. One of the owners went out and asked her to leave and she refused! She said she was a horse owner and knew how to handle them and she was interested in the Arabians in the group. So my sister went out and said if you want to look at the horses come into the barn and we can bring them in but none were for sale. The women started to argue with her that she knew what she was doing and to leave her alone. She finally left when my sister threatened to call the police. We have since moved to a different barn which my sister manages. People just wander in with thier kids to pet and feed the horses. They never read the signs. We try to get them as they come in and give them a little tour that stops at the trusted horses and a mini lecture about feeding your fingures to the horses. This seems to work on most people. I have had a few come back and come into the barn and ask who can they pet? I think my main complant is with people and their dogs. They just let them off the leash and get upset when you tell them dogs are not allowed. They thnk it is just fine when the dog takes off after a horse or one of my cats. They say the dog only chases cats if they run. ? What cat will not run when a big dog runs after them? Stupid!!
[QUOTE=Sithly;2970140]
Question: Can you still shoot rock salt at people, or is that frowned upon these days? :D[/QUOTE]
I’m sure this thread is all said and done, but I agree with Sithly. Rock salt, rat shot, come at them with a big club, try to run them over if you want. Can you claim self-defense? ‘I’m sorry officer, but I could have sworn they had a weapon and looked like they wanted to hurt me.’ I’m sure it’d make them think twice next time and hopefully make them need a change of underwear, to boot. :lol:
Sadly, this is just one of those things we horsepeople will have to deal with till the end of time. As stupid people continue to breed at a phenominal rate and want to drive to the country (or horse-infused burbs for some of ya’ll) to see all the pretty farm animals, we’re the ones who have to deal with their mental shortcomings. :mad: I just try to have fun with it. Scaring the living snot out of them is quite soothing to me. If your horses can stand it, let the dumbass people get almost the fence, then run like a maniac screaming, ‘Nooooooo, don’t touch him, he’ll rip your arm off!!’ My ponies think mom’s gone nuts when I spazz out and get loud. But, it sure is fun to watch the people run for the hills. I’ve also found a passle of large, intimidating, but harmless, dogs works wonders. They just want some lovin’, but the morons wanting a trip to the petting zoo don’t know this. I’m easily amused. Being mean to dumb dumbs keeps me entertained. 
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My husband is actually having signs made to hang on the fence by the road that say. No Trespassing on top line and bottom line will says Horses bite.
Our father in law has a sign company and he said that he could do it. That might be an option for you guys that have problems. 
JOZ, I am your mirror. I was a youngster in the day and time when parents blamed the kid for getting into trouble, and took responsibility for their childrens’ actions (IOW, trust of the child/a temporary or permanent lack of supervision that led to said child’s being where they were NOT supposed to be)
And to a child’s mind (and adults with childs’ minds), if it fronts on public property or is accessible/visible, it MUST mean ‘COME ON OVER!’
