# Would you buy a property with a public footpath on it?



## indiat (14 June 2014)

Hi all,

So, our dream house was snapped up by someone else before we could get our house on the market, the one with six, lovely, very private acres.  I am praying to every deity I can think of that by the time we get an offer, the buyers will change their minds, but I have to be realistic and assume it is gone. There are two other properties we would be interested in but both have a footpath running through them and hubs is saying no way! One has eight acres and a path running around the edge of one paddock. One has four acres but apparently the path crosses over a corner of the field, lopping off about a quarter of it. Is it possible to change the path so it hugs the edge of the field without major faff? Thank you all in advance!


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## Fides (14 June 2014)

Speaking from previous and current experience...

Previously I have had a footpath moved at a cost of approx £2500.

I am currently in a property that has a footpath running through the middle of the field (and also past the side of my house) and do not have to spare cash right now to get it all changed. All I can say is the flaming sense of entitlement that some walkers have is unbelievable! If you purchase the property see if you can get them to drop the price by the cost of having the path relocated.

To give an example of how annoying walkers can be - my property is 16 acres and one walker stood not 12 feet away from where I was eating my lunch in the garden whilst reading his map. Of all the places he could stand he stood where he could be the most intrusive. If you say 'do you mind?' (as it was creeping me out!) the reposnse is 'it's a public footpath I can do as I please'. And then there are the people who think the horses are a toy for their children...


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## martlin (14 June 2014)

Out of the 2 properties you mention, I would go for the one with 8 acres and path running around the edge, then I would fence off the footpath if possible. If not, I would look elsewhere as having people wandering around your property can feel very intrusive.


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## amandap (14 June 2014)

No. I once rented a place with one and it was a nightmare! Sorry but once bitten twice shy.

ps. If I had to choose I would choose the one with it round the edge as well.


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## Spot_the_Risk (14 June 2014)

No.  Too many bad stories from friends and customers who do have paths crossing their land.


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## indiat (14 June 2014)

OK, that's made up my mind for me then!  OH doesn't want anyone doing anything daft like giving our greedy and ever so friendly Highland bread so he chokes to death, or strangers being anywhere near the kids. I am heartbroken about that house - I wish I had a voodoo doll of the buyers, evil cow that I am.


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## debsandpets (15 June 2014)

Hell no !!! I currently rent some sheep grazing with a footpath running through and we lost a lamb yesterday due to some MORONS feeding the sheep an entire carrier bag of what looks like biscuits ......... Short of leaving the body by the gate with a flag up its bum saying look what you did I don't know how I can get the idiots to stop, so if I were purchasing any land that potentially had a FP running through - I would run for the hills in the opposite direction ........


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## dogatemysalad (15 June 2014)

If the thought of possible scenario's upsets you, you're right not to go ahead really. I don't mind too much as long as the ROW doesn't run too near the house. I've lived on properties with footpaths but they weren't heavily used and didn't cause any grief, but I agree that somewhere else it might be a real pain.


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## gnubee (15 June 2014)

I have 2 footpaths running through our 5 acres. One of them comes up from the main road. It is entirely fenced off from the horse fields as it was already half done when we moved in, and I worry about the accessibility meaning people with limited understanding of the countryside code or how to behave around horses coming up. I also maintain it only to the bare minimum standard required to keep it useable at the road end to deter people from coming up it. I have seen a family walking on it once. 
The other one is part of a proper hike - think you are about 2 miles from the road before you reach our bit. I think I have seen walkers on it twice. It goes directly through the middle of one of my fields, so hard to fence off, but the people you get on it tend to be proper walkers with at least a vague understanding of how to act sensibly around horses.

I'm touching wood as I post this, but dont write off an otherwise good bit of land without at least considering how much issue the footpath will cause. If you are in a proper countryside area and people will have to pass 4 other fields of ponies to get to yours and looks barely used, its a bit of a different scenario from having one coming directly up from the local estates that people keep bringing pushchairs up.


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## Char0901 (15 June 2014)

A friend of mine owns a farm and surrounding land. I know she has public footpaths in places but not exactly sure where. I do know her biggest problems with them have been dogs off the lead around sheep and lambs and people not closing gates so our horses wonder off to socialise with the cows! Thankfully its all very well fenced and there's another gate closed somewhere so they can't go too far.
Posts on gates etc mean nothing!


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## Honey08 (15 June 2014)

we have footpaths on our land.  Never had any  trouble.  The ones down the sides of fields are easy, just fence them off From the field, use a good strong fence and make it as high as possible.  On cross field paths, we fence an intermittent line of plain wire fencing (top strand only) so walkers can duck under from the horses if need be.  Also make sure the gates have springs on them (as in kissing gate stiles) so they can't be left open, padlock the larger gates.  We've not had a single issue with the paths and our horses in 40 years.


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## PorkChop (15 June 2014)

We have footpaths all over our land, about 100 acres.  I find it a nightmare, we have had footpaths changed with great expense.  I have no trouble with people using the footpaths, it's just that so many people deviate and think they have the right to walk wherever they want with their dogs off the lead.


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## Archangel (15 June 2014)

I live on a bridleway, it is very busy with cyclists, walkers, sadly not too many riders.  It comes close to the house but really we have no problems, we fenced off the garden when the cat arrived as lots of dogs used to run ahead of their owners and come in the garden and house and I thought it would be safer for the cat.!  It is the litter that drives me potty (not cat litter by the way - dropped water bottles and sweet wrappers).


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## jrp204 (15 June 2014)

Personally, if the 8 acre property ticks all the boxes I would fence the footpath off with stock  fence  ://www.tornadowire.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/R13-120-8.pdf with 2 rows of wire on top making it 1.5 metres high, the wire is more expensive than ordinary stock fence but is horse friendly and higher.


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## WandaMare (15 June 2014)

We bought a place with a number of footpaths and at times they have been a nuisance. However I don't regret buying because the property has more important positives which override the footpath problems. eg good location, outdoor school etc. I also believe that having a public footpath is considered in the price of the property so we probably wouldn't have got the same for our money without it being there. It felt intrusive the first few years but we have got used to it now and more experienced at dealing with problem walkers and the council timewasters. It causes us very few problems nowadays, in fact I have met some nice people walking on the footpath who helped us bring in our hay one year, so its not all bad.


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## Fools Motto (15 June 2014)

If I had a choice, then no to footpaths. Last year, despite a style, walkers thought it wise to open the gate - and leave it open. 25 steers merrily trotted off down the main road. Thanks.
Also, they do like to treat fatty pone to sweeties..
Now we have chained gates, and moved the horses to another field - which to be honst is a bit of a faff for us as its not so easy to bring them in through other fields and through the cows. Hey ho. 
I wish you luck in finding your perfect new abode.


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## FreshandMinty (15 June 2014)

If it was a property with a hundred acres and the footpath was at the far side and able to be fenced off, then maybe, just maybe. However on your average equestrian property with about 6 acres or so, then hell no. I cant understand why anyone would even consider it ?! Fiddes, did you know about the footpath when you bought your house? If you were hell bent on it then if it were me you would simply have to factor in the cost of moving them onto the cost of the property.


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## Old Bat (15 June 2014)

We have 5 acres of fields around two sides of our garden, with a footpath around the edge of the fields bordering the garden and one across the middle. There are 4 footpath gates to negotiate with springs to self close and the path goes past three five-bar gates into our garden and stable yard which are closely monitored by three very large and noisy lurchers. The field gate onto the road is padlocked. We've put "Please Do Not Feed the Livestock - Vet's Orders" notices on the boundary gates and have never had a problem in nearly 20 years. (Touching wood here!) The locals stop for a natter and the outsiders and rambling clubs scoot through very quickly as they tend not to notice that the loud lurchers have very waggy tails at the other end!


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## YorksG (15 June 2014)

When we bought this place one of the important things was no footpaths, as we had a horse with a lot of food intolerances. There is footpath next to one of the  fields, we electric fence the horses back from the wall. A lot of the people from the next village walk their dogs on that path, lots of them off the lead and running through their sheep  If the houses and land tick all the other boxes, I would fence the paths off with stock fencing, with electric to keep the horses out of reach. Just be aware that people will complain if you fence, even though it is quite legal. Our old YO when we were at livery fenced the path and people tried to get the council to make him take it down, 'cos they wanted to walk wherever they wanted!


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## RunToEarth (15 June 2014)

No. We have miles of them on the farm and they cause nothing but grief.


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## indiat (15 June 2014)

It's good to hear that some people manage it fine but I only have a budget for a tiny amount of land and OH is hot on his privacy so I think we will err on the side of caution and go for land with no public access. But thank you all for your replies, I do appreciate it.


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## rara007 (15 June 2014)

At my parents we have one running along the edge of our schooling field, winter turnout and through the middle of our hat field, another running through the middle of our summer turnout and another cutting all the land up. They're quite busy but in all honesty cause very few problems- maybe as we have dog chasing small ponies- people learn quick! We don't have any livestock to be bothered. We've had a bit of a problem when we've had colts and now we have a very stalliony gelding having to turn them out quite a walk away to avoid the paths. There's footpaths everywhere all through our village so not really an option to avoid. Sadly there's very few byways and bridleways though!


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## glinda (15 June 2014)

NO&#8230;. never again!

I have a small 90 acre farm and a footpath running between the paddocks and the arable part of the farm&#8230;.. we have fenced it off at great expense so its pretty darn obvious where the footpath is but I still find people will wander all over the place- including into my actual garden right by the house (with dogs off the lead).

One excuse for walking across my garden (quite a distance from the actual footpath) was that the footpath was muddy and they didn't want to get their shoes dirty!!!!! Another couple came right up to my house with 2 big dogs off the lead and then complained when my own dogs starting barking at them- apparently they wanted a shortcut as the path was too long for them !!!

I could go on forever- the path is a right royal pain in the proverbial and I hate it!

If people actually just walked on the path and were respectful of others property then it wouldn't be a problem but they really ARE NOT and they should be ashamed of themselves.


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## southerncomfort (15 June 2014)

Could you plant thick high hedging?  Maybe not Lleylandii but something similar?  I guess if it's a very long footpath it may work out pretty expensive.


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## Ranyhyn (15 June 2014)

I have a footpath across one of our fields, we haven't ever found it an issue.  That said its one of the fields furthest away from the house and we don't graze our horses in it, only our other livestock.  We often have groups of ramblers sat in there, or kids camping.  As long as they are respectful they act as another pair of eyes and people have often stopped to tell us something is caught somewhere etc etc


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## Orangehorse (15 June 2014)

We are right at the end of the village with two footpaths that form a very convenient cross for dog walkers
me included.  Touching wood furiously, we have had very little trouble, although the cattle got out last week and I wondered if they had been frightened by dogs, but well out of sight of the house and they could have been out for hours.

One winter the horses were turned out to graze in the field with the footpath running the whole length of the field and I did fence it all with electric fencing, mainly because the mare was grumpy and quite likely to turn her rear end on anyone, so I thought that if there was a fence up there would be no excuse for them mixing.

When the crops are harvested we tend to have people wandering all over the fields.  No, they are not "doing any harm" - but it is annoying and I have been grumpy with people at various times.  My OH will also play the part of grumpy farmer and I think the locals are a bit wary of him!


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## rubyrussell (15 June 2014)

Intersting thread, we have a fp through the middle of our horse field which then goes over a busy  railway line which they want to move closer to our house we are adiment we dont want it moved as no trouble to us where it is and any move will cause us in convince,  can we be made to agreebto move it and how much will it devalue our property?


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## indiat (16 June 2014)

Glinda - 90 acres and they STILL cause grief?! :O I'm definitely avoiding them!


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## Jericho (16 June 2014)

No I would not - I havent even had experience of it but we did buy a house recently with 7 acres and I couldnt bear the thought of people coming on to it, especially with out of control dogs, children etc. We did look at a house with a footpath and it was one of the major concerns we had about the house.  Sadly there are just some people that have no respect for other peoples property and it is those few who would end up being a nightmare


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## Buddy'sMum (16 June 2014)

Nope, never again! I have several very well used footpaths criss-crossing my land and it's a nightmare, so much so that we're planning to move soon.


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## rebmw (16 June 2014)

Our neighbours have a footpath up the side of their field and I have lost count of how many times I have had to run and rescue their free range hens from loose dogs. They have had a fair few killed which would've made me gone mad personally. 
They had their house up for sale a couple of years ago and it never sold despite a reasonable price tag and I wonder if the footpath was a factor. 
The footpath crosses a 16ft track of ours which links my two fields and despite footpath signs I have still had to leg it up the field to redirect walkers. I'm amazed at what people say. I don't want to go over stiles up the footpath so I'd rather walk up your field instead! Erm no!
We put up a polite but firmly worded sign which seemed to work and then fenced the field with tornado fencing which is far harder to climb over than a stile!
I personally wouldn't want anymore footpath than the 16ft we have.


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## RunToEarth (16 June 2014)

indiat said:



			Glinda - 90 acres and they STILL cause grief?! :O I'm definitely avoiding them!
		
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I think the more acres you have the more right everyone feels they have to it. We have 16km of public access on the farm and there are no end of people making their own routes up.


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## Echo Bravo (16 June 2014)

We have a footpath going through our field, stables one side haybarn on the other, have had to put up electric fencing to half one paddock where the fp goes through and people have learnt to put their dogs on leads coming through as my horses will chase loose dogs and if I'm about will yell at owner of said loose dog. I once chased a English sheepdog with a spade as it chased my chickens, the owners thought their dog running after my chickens was funny, till I turned up at full charge ready to brain the dog, maybe it was also me yelling I'd kill the F@@@ker and sue them. They never appeared on my property again.


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## Fides (16 June 2014)

Echo Bravo said:



			. I once chased a English sheepdog with a spade as it chased my chickens, the owners thought their dog running after my chickens was funny, till I turned up at full charge ready to brain the dog, maybe it was also me yelling I'd kill the F@@@ker and sue them. They never appeared on my property again.
		
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I've done that with a pitch fork - got called a psycho...


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## cambrica (17 June 2014)

I must be really lucky. We have a public footpath down the side of our field. It is fenced off as its also a droveway for our neighbour farmer to take his cows through to the field beyond. Some years I've not seen one person use it, very rare to see anyone tbh and I've never had any issues.


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## Buddy'sMum (19 June 2014)

Buddy'sMum said:



			Nope, never again! I have several very well used footpaths criss-crossing my land and it's a nightmare, so much so that we're planning to move soon.
		
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So last night I came across a bloke with a metal detector digging holes in the field my horses are in. And no, he wasn't even trying to be careful about it and replacing the turf so my lovely summer field now looks a right mess. "But it's a public footpath" was his reply to my "Excuse me but WTF do you think you're doing?"


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## pip6 (19 June 2014)

No, never. Was one place with fp through field. No end of issues with people picnicing, throwing frisbies for yappy dogs, dogs chasing horses etc. At another place fp was 1/4 mile away, still had issues with people they had right to wander around other fields on farm away from fp. People do not respect that is is someones home/livelihood, they seem to regard it as a playground (hate kids and balls, funny how they always seem to end up in horses direction, little gits) or a place to walk their dog & let it defacate anywhere so they don't have to pick up its poo.


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## indiat (19 June 2014)

I was talking to a friend today who has actually found people have left the footpath, wandered across the fields and got into the hot tub in her garden! I am really shocked at the amount of aggro people are putting up with. We are going to see a property on Saturday that is stunning, twelve acres, outdoor school with a waxed surface and a stunning Grade II listed house.   BUT it has a footpath running along the bottom field and I am thinking this is why it is within budget as everything else offers a maximum of six in that area and houses are not as nice. OH wants to see it as it is so amazing but after reading all these replies, I don't think I will touch it! One thing that does make me curious, do these problems stop when you're land is private? Do people respect that and just take the pee only when there is a ROW?


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## Red-1 (19 June 2014)

I guess it is a matter of access. We only have a bit of land, but the only gates to the road are tall solid wooden ones, and locked! There is also a ditch and hedge, plus horse fencing. It really would be difficult for anyone to get in. Once they are on your land then farm gates are very inviting......


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## Eventrider92 (19 June 2014)

I work in a rights of way department so I deal with diversions . We charge £3k approx per diversion . This new modification will have to be practical for the walkers and possibly benefit them in some way ( to prevent objections ) if you want to discuss further feel free to message me


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## Highlands (19 June 2014)

I have two... Fencing and a mains box ( with warning signs and no I don't electrocute them) seems to keep people on trail and the savage native ponies on... The ramblers can be a pain but the average walker are fine. Neighbours even better the more eyes and ears the less chance of break in.


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## Houndman (20 June 2014)

Buddy'sMum said:



			So last night I came across a bloke with a metal detector digging holes in the field my horses are in. And no, he wasn't even trying to be careful about it and replacing the turf so my lovely summer field now looks a right mess. "But it's a public footpath" was his reply to my "Excuse me but WTF do you think you're doing?"


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Illegal metal detecting is a serious criminal problem and many important archaeological sites have been damaged by it and they are robbing our nation of its history.  Unauthorised removel of items found is theft.  This should be reported to the Police immediately if you see it happening!  Take down any license plates and take photographs of the perpetrators.  Many of them are involved with crime rings so be careful.  If it was happening at night as you say then it was almost certainly a member of a criminal organisation you came across.


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## Mince Pie (20 June 2014)

Having had a quick Google,  it astounds me that there are pages and pages on what a landowner must do to maintain a PROW yet nothing on protecting themselves/livestock/crops from walkers who deliberately leave the path and cause damage.  I think it's something that should be addressed, and soon!


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## Suechoccy (20 June 2014)

My field has public bridleway/byway running around the outside of 2 sides of it (so fenced off from my field).  

It's nice for my neds to have "television" to watch, they see plenty of people, dogs, cyclists and other horses, plus agricultural vehicles/livestock trailers/harvesting stuff on the byway.  All the same sort of stuff that they'll meet when out hacking too.


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## TeddyBean (21 June 2014)

The yard I work at has a public footpath going across the very middle of the biggest field. There are signs on the stiles on each side asking people to keep their dogs on leads and keep to the designated right of way, but this simple request is never followed.

A couple of months ago someone allowed their dog to chase the horses relentlessly causing 3 of them to become hopping lame and one of them was chased into the ground and he had to be pts the next day. I have very little patience with walkers after that.


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## indiat (21 June 2014)

TeddyBean, that is aful.  Why do people have to be such wankers?


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## ILuvCowparsely (21 June 2014)

indiat said:



			Hi all,

So, our dream house was snapped up by someone else before we could get our house on the market, the one with six, lovely, very private acres.  I am praying to every deity I can think of that by the time we get an offer, the buyers will change their minds, but I have to be realistic and assume it is gone. There are two other properties we would be interested in but both have a footpath running through them and hubs is saying no way! One has eight acres and a path running around the edge of one paddock. One has four acres but apparently the path crosses over a corner of the field, lopping off about a quarter of it. Is it possible to change the path so it hugs the edge of the field without major faff? Thank you all in advance!
		
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our neighbours fenced the footpath off so the dog walkers were contained withing two [post and rail fences


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## FellOutOfFavour (21 June 2014)

We must be lucky - there is a public footpath running through the fields belonging to the yard we are at. It is fenced off so that walkers go between the fields rather than going in the fields. The path has good gates at either end which will swing shut. The path is well used, mostly by dog walkers from the village who are generally friendly and sensible. We've never had a problem with them.


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## case895 (21 June 2014)

I have two footpaths running through my hay fields and have to check them thoroughly before dropping the grass for dog mess, glass bottles and the like. I have caught one woman exercising 3 dogs in the middle before, a family riding bikes and a man with a dog cutting across. I do not cut back the hawthorn around the stiles to deter them and have fitted a fake CCTV at one stile where the local delinks use to meet up to drink and s**g. One guy occasionally parks his car in the field gateway to walk his dog and the next time I am there when he does he is getting my baling spike through his roof, especially if it is during hay making.


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## Buddy'sMum (23 June 2014)

So Saturday lunchtime I wandered down the field to check the gang who were all at the top of the banking at the far end of the field harassing a few rambers having a picnic. When I got a bit closer and could actually see over the banking, the 'few' ramblers was actually more than 20 people, all unwrapping packed lunches. In the middle of a field full of horses. Brilliant idea, eh? A couple of men were sitting on the path the horses use to go down the banking so I suggested they might want to relocate before they got trampled but no. So I faffed around, straightening up top stones on the walls and keeping an eye on things, from a distance. Eventually, my 3-year old tried to go down the path and one of the men tried to wave him away -had no effect whatsoever- so then he started waving one of those ski/walking stick things at him. At which point I went over and told the man to cut it out. His reply was, "it's ok, I have horses and have one just like him at home"!? So I suggested he go home and wave his stick at his own horse but if I saw him so much as waggling a finger at one of mine again he'd have a problem. 

Is it me?


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## Pigeon (23 June 2014)

Personally no. If I had the funds to move to the country, it would be to get away from people! I wouldn't want neighbours or walkers lol! Also for some reason people feel they can mess with horses.


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## RunToEarth (23 June 2014)

Buddy'sMum said:



			So Saturday lunchtime I wandered down the field to check the gang who were all at the top of the banking at the far end of the field harassing a few rambers having a picnic. When I got a bit closer and could actually see over the banking, the 'few' ramblers was actually more than 20 people, all unwrapping packed lunches. In the middle of a field full of horses. Brilliant idea, eh? A couple of men were sitting on the path the horses use to go down the banking so I suggested they might want to relocate before they got trampled but no. So I faffed around, straightening up top stones on the walls and keeping an eye on things, from a distance. Eventually, my 3-year old tried to go down the path and one of the men tried to wave him away -had no effect whatsoever- so then he started waving one of those ski/walking stick things at him. At which point I went over and told the man to cut it out. His reply was, "it's ok, I have horses and have one just like him at home"!? So I suggested he go home and wave his stick at his own horse but if I saw him so much as waggling a finger at one of mine again he'd have a problem. 

Is it me?
		
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No - it's not you, it's people who feel they have some genuine reason to help themselves to the countryside - the most common response I get is "Oh we're not doing any harm". Picnics are sadly familiar to me, during the royal wedding weekend we had three moorland fires at home because some idiots think it is great to drive out to the countryside with a throw away BBQ and torch hundreds of acres of land... The footpath is to pass and repass and you are not allowed to obstruct it (which 20 ramblers sat picnicing would do). I find horse riders are the worst around here, they are so arrogant.


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## Optimissteeq (23 June 2014)

I'd advise against it as well -I don't own my own place but the yard I am on has several footpaths running through it, including one straight through the stable yard and onto the fields at the back.
Last winter, I was bringing my horse back from the school after having exercised, it was dark as it was around 6.30pm, as we rounded the corner to cross the footpath a large number of runners appeared (about 20), running towards us at speed. All of them had head lamps on so they could see where they were going and some had dogs off the lead. To be honest it scared the 'B'Jesus' out of me, let alone the poor horse who broke free and joined the fray, scattering runners as he went.
The runners then started yelling at my horse and tried shooing him away, as I was trying to catch him, so I was less than sympathetic - why go running through fields in the dark anyway?
The poor horses in the fields adjoining the footpath were also spooked and this went on for several weeks before they finally gave up and found somewhere else.


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## Apercrumbie (23 June 2014)

We have a footpath going through the bottom of our field and have very few problems as it isn't used very much.  We get the occasional dog walker but I think our shetland has chased most of them away......

I didn't realise how lucky we were to have no problems - I think I'd go spare if I had people feeding and waving sticks at mine!


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