when land owners change their mind about permission to ride land

[baylady7]

Hello
One of our (actually the farm where I board) neighbors, who in past years allowed us to hack around his dormant fields (have been harvested for the season- most of the time the field is not accessible as it is with crops) advised us today he would prefer not having horses there. He was polite enough about it- I said okay and thank you, and went on our way. Now I am just a boarder, so I advised our BO and suggested she may want to call him to let him know we have the message and will not return unless otherwise informed that it was okay to do so. We still have a wonderful neighbor that allows us to hack around his beautful farm, so we are not landlocked (thankfully).
What makes folks change their minds? Liaibility? Bad day? Part of me wants to deliver him a nice hospitality basket with regrets noted and best wishes relayed. Part of me says let sleeping dogs lie and be thankful for the one neighbor who allows us to go there.

How do you deal with neighboring land owners?

[Arcadien]

For land owners that are farmers, the # one rule is - do not mess with crops!!!

I lost permission to ride on valuable close field due to an inexperienced rider on a green horse accompanying me, and her horse having a complete meltdown when it saw people working in the crops at a distance.

She broke the #1 rule - do not mess with the crops. Her horse spooked, then stared, then started backing up into the crops. I kept telling her to “get off, get off!” But she didn’t understand I meant to get off her horse - in that situation, if you horse is headed into crops, the only answer is to leap off and GET THEM OUT OF THE CROPS, asap. Instead, she sat there kicking and growling as he trampled and spun. Finally she got out and on the road with me, but my heart was already sunk.

Sure enough in a couple days the farm owner saw me riding and said, regrettably, he could not allow us to ride around his field anymore. It was a tough blow for me, that was the main exercise area I had, but I understood. He made up some lame excuse about not wanting horse manure around his crops, but I read between the lines, and didn’t blame him.

Do not mess with the crops!!! If your horse is frozen or whatever, GET OFF it and get it under control, not to remount until well away from the valuable crops.

I knew my friend didn’t intend any harm, and she’s apologized many times since, and I’ve forgiven her, but that doesn’t really get me back the best riding land I had.

So I pass on the advice, to save others from losing permission to ride on farm land - the crops are KING - do whatever you can to prevent a single hoof mark in the field, especially anywhere near growing or harvest seasons!!!

Other than that, it’s pretty much case by case, I think. Do what you can to maintain a friendly treaty, and I mean whatever you can ! They, the landowners, are king here, so treat them like royalty every chance you get!

[twofatponies]

I live in dread of neighboring land owners shutting down the riding permission. Having that access is such a blessing. We try to maintain good relations by being very, very careful about where we ride and when (ie one farmer lets us ride the edges of his hay fields, but if it’s very wet we avoid them anyway, so as not to gouge up the ground or leave tracks in the hay, even though he didn’t mention that).

And we deliver goodie baskets every Christmas with a thank you card.

And we make a point of stopping to say hello and exchange pleasantries any time a landowner is out and about, as well as going out of our way to let them know when the cows have broken through the fence again, or if we saw interesting wildlife, etc. We ask all of them about hunting season, too (who is hunting what, where and when), so we can stay out of their way.

We also take care to carefully train any new boarders, showing them exactly where and how they can ride and warning them which landowners are most fussy, etc.

After that, it’s just fingers crossed!

[pdq]

Send him a dish of brownies, or a nice tin of cookies, along with a note of thanks for letting you ride on his land in the past, and how much you enjoyed and respected his generosity. You can say you hope his decision to withhold his land now was not due to any indiscretion on your part, if so you sincerely apologize. Thank him again for his past kindness, and know that his beautiful property will be sadly missed by you on your future rides.

If he’s a nice guy, he may turn around and give you permission again.

What makes them change their minds? Finding out their land is being used by someone who takes liberties, does not respect the land or landowner, acts entitled, or is rude or annoying to the landowner. Or the owner may have acquired livestock that they don’t want bothered.

As Barn Owners we deal with neighboring land owners by visiting them now and then in person to chat and catch up on the local horse news, invite them to our barn activities (shows or events or picnics), send them a thank you card every time we have an organized ride that goes over their property (in which they are ALWAYS asked first and give approval prior to the ride), organize road clean-ups on roads that front their property and let them know we are doing this community service (an excellent way of keeping us on their good side), have a Christmas Cookie Gifting that includes a personal delivery by us every holiday. I’m sure other barns have other ideas, but these are the ones that work for us.

Being a good neighbor is work, especially when it comes to “borrowing” your neighbor’s property for riding.

[PRS]

I’d have to say the number one reason a land owner would withdraw permission to ride on his land is abuse of his generosity. Abuse could be, as mentioned above, damage to his crops, fields or facilties, littering or all of the above amounting disrespect of his person or property. I too have only the generosity of the local farmers to thank for my riding trails. I try very hard to not disrespect their property, crops or equipment. So far they’ve all been very nice and accomodating, many have stopped to talk with me and I consider them friends and neighbors but I never forget whose land I’m on and that I can only ride by their leave.

[tabula_rashah]

I agree with send him some homemade goodies and nice thank you note including the “I hope it wasn’t anything I did” part. Maybe he’ll let you ride there again, maybe he won’t.
I can definitely understand many reasons why people wouldn’t want to let riders on their property- hey, maybe he read the Have You Been Sued thread?-
That being said, I ride on a lot of private property- and try very hard to follow all of the landowner rules- don’t ride when its wet, stay off of crops, clean up after the horses, etc. We also take cookies to all of them every Christmas and do things like make sure we stop to chat and let kids pet the horses

[wendybird]

Gates!

Leave them as you find them - as a former land owner, I found that the most aggravating thing that could happen was for someone to leave a gate open and the stock escaped/mixed up afterwards.
Definitely not an endearing action!

[baylady7]

all good info- thanks!!! What I have done since then is send a nice fruit basket to the neighboring farm that does allow us to ride there- from the farm as a whole so that they know we all are appreciative.

This weekend coming I will ask a friend who knows the farmer who rescinded permission if the guy has any health restrictions (he has been in the hospital recently and does have some health problems) and then send something over there too. What a nice idea and hopefully it will at least make him smile!!! Frankly riding around the edge of the field is rather boring so we are not missing too much, but I really want to make sure he knows we are appreciative of his generosity in the past.

[joe21]

[QUOTE=baylady7;4479486]

What makes folks change their minds? Liaibility? Bad day? [/QUOTE]

Others posted some good ideas.

But to answer the above questions, the best answer is to “ask.” Since the landowner handled the situation on friendly terms, it seems the door is open to approach him in a friendly way and find out what the problem is and how or if it can be rectified.

[SpottedTApps]

Since you are at a boarding situation, my first guess would be that at some point he saw a rider doing something he wasn’t comfortable with on his land. You were the person he saw and felt secure enough to talk to.

Someone riding unsafely? He was worried if they got hurt he’d be liable? Someone disrespecting his land in some way?

[Lori]

Back at my farm in VA, the landowner closed his land to riders when my crazy neighbor went galloping through near to the house with all of her loose dogs running amok. Come to think of it, that is why I kicked her off of my land, too.
Unfortunately, the hunt was cut off of it (she was not even in the hunt!!). Then when the farm was sold, the hunt tried to get permission again, but the new “city boy” owner did not want “hoof prints” on his precious field.

[apprider]

It’s not always the boarders causing the issue., sometimes its a perception of the barn owner not being neighborly. I used to board at a place where all permission to ride along the edges of a neighbors field was pulled after the landowner asked for help getting plowed out after a snow storm.

[candyappy]

I think it usually stems from someone riding when or where they are not supposed to. Crops are expensive to put in and maintain until harvest and some people just don’t respect others property and ride into the fields and damage them. Our neighbor lets us ride in his fields before planting /after they have been harvested and I am very thankful.

[oldpony66]

Arcadien, I was in a situation long ago, where it was MY horse that damaged some not yet harvested crops. I felt bad about it and approached the landowner (actually, land renter) about the damage and said that I had done it and simply asked them to asssess the damage and bill me for it. The guy laughed it off and said if I damaged enough to have to bill me he’d be sure to do so.
I never saw a bill, but if I hadn’t fessed up to it he may have looked at the damage very differently. Considering several of us rode his property from the same barn, I certainly didn’t want to ruin it for everyone!

I agree with apprider too, I know two people near me who don’t have permission for private land. One had permission and lost it, and it was over a personal issue that I can’t even remember now, it was so stupid. Differing opinions on how many rescue cats should be on your property, or something like that not even related to horses. The other one asked permission from a landowner who later got back to her and denied permission on advice from an attorney… yeah, there you go with the liability issues.

[ReSomething]

Not horse related but we had to remove our beehives from a property because the new owner thought our bees didn’t “look happy”. She replaced us with someone who was “organic”, I expect it was just a case of he talked nicer to her/buttered her up/she had a history with him.

As far as riding across other people’s land, there is a big difference between apologizing ahead of time for damage you’ve done and having the landowner discover it on his own, much more positive to inform than be discovered. It’s also very difficult for a landowner to know who committed some disrespectful act such as leaving a gate unlatched and if the result is bad enough sometimes they cut everybody off.

There’s a hunt near here that has landowner appreciation days, big feast and entertainment, always a good public relations move.

[sorrelfilly721]

[QUOTE=tabula rashah;4480645]
and try very hard to follow all of the landowner rules- don’t ride when its wet, stay off of crops, clean up after the horses, etc. [/QUOTE]

How do you clean up after them? I rode mine through a neighborhood once and she pooped in the street right at the end of someone’s driveway. I was mortified, but had no idea what to do about it. Do you bring bags? I know this sounds mocking, but I am really serious (although the visual is making me giggle a little).

[trubandloki]

[QUOTE=sorrelfilly721;6864479]
How do you clean up after them? I rode mine through a neighborhood once and she pooped in the street right at the end of someone’s driveway. I was mortified, but had no idea what to do about it. Do you bring bags? I know this sounds mocking, but I am really serious (although the visual is making me giggle a little).[/QUOTE]
Come back after you are done riding, with your pitchfork and a muck bucket (or bag) and clean up what you left behind.

[Eggplant_Dressing]

This is a 4 year old thread…

[riverpup]

Thank you all for the bump of this thead! Access is a concern of mine as I wonder what future generations of riders will be able to do.

[rmh_rider]

One bad apple makes owners change their minds.