Is there any legislation to help us keep horses away from our hedge?

Bally8

Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

My husband and I are being driven mad by three horses that are kept in a field beside our house. We have a sheep wire fence around our boundary and last year we planted a hedge about a foot inside that. It is a very young hedge but we cannot get it to grow because the horses are constantly eating it. I have to chase them away countless times a day and I am just sick of it. Looking at the hedge last night it seems a lost cause and we will have to go to great expense and effort to replace all the destroyed bits.

Do we have any grounds here to make the owner of the field take better care of his horses and put up a fence on his side? If we didnt have the wire fence the horses would have free access to our garden. Surely there is something we can do? Could we send him the bill for the hedge or claim off his insurance?

We are looking at putting up a proper fence ourselves but can afford it any time soon.

MagicSean

Have you spoken to him about it?

William Powell

Add a single strand electric fence on inuslated standoffs so anything leaning over gets a shock. Horses are very sensitive to electric fences and will soon learn to stay away. Trouble is a decent fencer unit is expensive. Either use the standoffs to keep the hourse further away from the hedge by having them stick out into the field or to raise the height of the fence or both.



Standoffs are like this



From http://www.electricfence-online.co.uk/shop/electric-fencing/electric-fence-insulators/insulators-for-wooden-posts/stand-off-insulator-348141.html but glambia will have something similar. If you need a cheap energiser unit online will be the cheapest but I know the more expensive units last for years.

Bally8

Thanks for the responses. We were afraid of using an electric fence as we werent sure if we would be allowed do this. I suppose I was concerned that the owner would go mad if his horses got shocked.

We cant speak to him about it as he wont talk to us after we objected to planning permission he was seeking for the field. He has taken it very personally. So we fear that anything we do will be taken as antagonistic.

We will definately look into setting up the electric fence thanks.

William Powell

afaik horses are a lot more sensitive to electic fences than cattle (sheep with all the wool can often walk through them if not done right) so if you don't have access to the field put the electic wire (white tape is better for horses as they can see it) on top and on your side of the fence perhpas one strand on the top of the posts and another about 30cm or so higher on standoffs (but battons with insulators would do) to stop the horses reaching over. Mains powered units are really the best but if you are worried (no need) then you could use one of the smaller battery units, problem is they will run out and you'll forget to replace the battery. Also horses are smart and if they have winter coats on then they will know that gives protection against the electic fence so you do need a wire that will catch their necks as they reach over.

Peregrinus

If you're planting the hedge to mark a boundary with property where livestock is kept, then it stands to reason that you need a stockproof hedge. Erecting a stockproof fence or an electric fence to protect the hedge might be quite pricy; would it be cheaper and a better long-term solution to replace the hedging with something that will stand up to the horses, e.g. blackthorn?

William Powell

Peregrinus wrote: »

If you're planting the hedge to mark a boundary with property where livestock is kept, then it stands to reason that you need a stockproof hedge. Erecting a stockproof fence or an electric fence to protect the hedge might be quite pricy; would it be cheaper and a better long-term solution to replace the hedging with something that will stand up to the horses, e.g. blackthorn?

Doesn't really matter what the hedge is as when it is first planted any horse that can will reach over and grab the tops of the plants and pull them out, I've seen it happen lots of times.

Bally8

Thanks very much for the helpful responses. We went with the cheapest option for now and added battons to the posts and ran 2 lines of electric fence high up along it. We also put white tape up about 2 feet into the field although it is not electrified. We were able to borrow a mains power unit and this is plugged in to our garage. Amazingly enough the horses havent tried to pass the white tape, which they have done many times before. Could it be they sense the electricity off the boundary fence? Working very well so far so while its not the prettiest of things to look at, it might give our hegde a chance to develop. I very much appreciate the help, thanks.