What to do about kids messing with the horses?

[Sawing]

Sorry I've seen this topic before but I'm really needing some input. I live in a rural area but there's probably 12 kids early teens to 2 that live close. We've had issues before with rocks thru tractor windows but the parents have paid to replace them.

my issue today was I found deer corn in the horse feeder and rightly assumed the kids had been feeding them. Okay this pen has 12 tb and qh broodmares some a very high strung and i was injured this summer when I accidentally got between 2 that don't like each other. So I've been very clear with all the kids about not messing with the mares.

I went to discuss this with one of the parents and she said oh yeah 10 of them were out there in the pen the other night. The reason they knew this was her boy got on a mares back so they could take pictures!!

I'm sorry at this point I starting crying I was so upset and stressed to her this is a 1200 lb mare who's only training was to run down a track fast. So a 50lb boy is setting himself up to be killed. I told her I can't handle the thought of one of those kids getting killed or injured and explained how dangerous horses can be.She didn't act too upset but asked me to come back this evening maybe I could get thru to him!! What's the deal I NEVER would of considered doing that as a child and if I did my mother would beat me.

I'm going to stop by everyone's house tonight and explain the horses are off limits. I'm putting up no trespassing signs and getting a trail cam so I'll know if they stop by again. I called the sheriffs department and they said if they do it again they will stop by and have a talk with them. Like they said if anything happened I'd be sued so fast it would make my head spin.

Is there anything else I can do? I'm concerned about the kids getting hurt but I'm very attached to these horses and I have night mares about colic or getting run thru a fence. Thank good my minis are in a area they can't get to!

 

[dannigirl]

If it were me and I caught them on camera, I would take it to the police and see what my options were. If they won't do anything, I think I would get some info from a good lawyer. As you said, if someone got hurt, you would be liable--unless your lawyer can find some sort of loophole. If you cannot afford a lawyer, I would either go to each set of parents or send certified letters (so they have to sign to get them) and let them know that you will not tolerate it any longer and you will prosacute if it happens again. I know that sounds drastic with neighbors, but it seems to me that they are just ignoring you and letting their kids do whatever they want. Like you, my parents would have had my hide the first time they found out I did something like that.

Hope all goes well for you.

Angie

 

[targetsmom]

I would suggest you contact a lawyer and your insurance company ASAP...and also set up security cameras, lights (on motion sensors), and no trespassing signs.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I'm going to make things worse because instead of advice I am going to offer another concern. If you get to the point of involving the authorities it may escalate into something worse than it is now. Now I am not suggesting that you do nothing but think hard about your approach because in my experience (I've seen it more than once when one of my neighbours made the neighbourhood teens mad) teens and preteens can be quite vindictive. To the point of endangering the horses, one person had her horses repeatedly turned loose to run on the road. I hope that your talking to them tonight will help them to understand that the horses are not play things but I just wanted to offer a caution anyway. Good luck

 

[Carolyn R]

Talk to the parents and get some game cameras you can set up where they would enter the pen. In the meantime, document everything you can.

 

[SMW]

http://asci.uvm.edu/equine/law/horselaw/child.htm

http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-resources/horse-legal-issues.aspx

hopefully this helps.

 

[Sawing]

Thanks my concern has been retaliation so I haven't gotten ignorant and voiced it as a concern for the children. I'm putting up trail cams to watch and contacted the sheriff. I just don't want to loose everything because of careless parents.

 

[Rhondaalaska]

I would turn them in to the police for trespassing. They are thugs and need to face the concenqences for their actions. Their parents won't so you have to before they get hurt and sue you. Or get one of your horses hurt or killed.

 

[valshingle]

Can you hotwire (electrify) your fence? That should put a stop to trespassers.

 

[shalakominiatureshowhorses]

This is actually very coincidental that this topic came up. Yesterday, my mother and I were sitting on the couch watching TV, and I look outside to see 2 kids and a dog walking the back of our property behind the round pen. I know the dog well, his name is Jake. When we first moved in, we had problems with the dog trying to play with the horses, he wasnt aggressive though, at that time. Jake is really sweet, but we called our neighbors to let him know that our horses and our family had problems with Jake being around on our property (there isnt a fence seperating us, just some cedar trees). The owner trained Jake with a shock collar to not cross certain areas of their property, and it has worked. That was about a year ago. Now i see Jake and 2 kids ramdomly walking down the fence line trying to reach the horses, they were in the back pasture though. These kids and their parent/guardian live in my neighbors rented-out cabin thing thats on the back of my neighbors property, so i have seen them once or twice. I watched them for a while, seeing what they were trying to do. They wanted the horses to come over i guess. I walked out on the porch and yelled (not mean, but for them to hear me) at them to leave and not come back without permission. They just stared and walked back to wherever they came from, along with Jake.

Today, I saw Jake in the brush staring at the horses, awkwardly, like he wanted to attack them or something. I ran out of the house and yelled at him to go home, and he ran off.

If this happens again, im going to have to call my neighbors again...asking him to keep his dog and any of their guests (they have partys every weekend) off the property

When i lived at my old house with Bentley and my goat Missy, we had an incident where our goat was litteraly drug under some fencing and only God knows what these boys did to her, we found her tied up to the fence, with the boys walking around the property. After some interviewing, they "rescued" Missy after she "escaped". That could be true, but i never trusted those boys.

Do what you think is best for you, your horses, the kids and your neighbors....

sorry for such a long post, just know your not alone having this problem

 

[MountainWoman]

Sawing, trespassing laws vary from state to state. You need an attorney or a paralegal to check those for you. If it were me, I'd file trespassing charges if it ever happens again because of the attitude you received when you spoke with the parents. If the parents dismiss it, probably the children aren't going to stop. I know you worry about things escalating and that's a good point but you are putting everything you own at risk if a child were to get injured or if they were to let your horses out and someone got injured in a car accident. They probably have the pictures they took plastered all over social media sites and it might be their idea of a good time to sneak into your pasture.

The other thing you could try is to take the children under your wing so to speak and see if they really like the horses as opposed to being pests. You could try educating them, let them help you with chores and try that.

 

[BriarwoodAcres]

My grandparents had this problem as they're just in walkling distance from a housing edition with a bunch of kids. They would walk the back field which on the other side was a corn field and some would throw the horses celery and who knows what else. We saw a couple kids and their dog running around and chasing the horses. We had enough at this point. We changed all our fencing and it was all the electric tape fencing. There were I belive 5 strands, sitting low enough dogs wouldnt be able to craw under and seperated just right you cand climb through, since then, we've had no problem.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Dear (Parent

Since your child is now a regular visitor on my property without my permission and in spite of my requesting that this be stopped I wish you to sign the waiver below accepting the fact that my horses, which are normal, non-aggressive, non-dangerous horses, could accidentally and without malice, kill your child whilst s/he is trespassing on my property. If you are not willing to sign this waiver I require that you take steps to prevent your child form trespassing on my property. If you do not I shall take it that you assent to actual damage and injury to your child being a real possibility, and shall forward the whole matter to the police and the child protection agency.

Yours faithfully

(concerned horse owner)

PS I wish that you had been more receptive when I called to see you in person the other day, I obviously take this matter far more seriously than you do but I cannot live with the possibility that one of my normally well behaved horses could, through your child's stupidity, cause real damage to your child. I also cannot afford to pay any damages should this happen, for this reason I have had this document drawn up by a solicitor.

 

[susanne]

When we had our horses in a very urban neighborhood in Portland, OR, I was worried that neighborhood kids would mess with them. I took the path of befriending them and, in our case, it worked extremely well.

While our neighborhood was great, we were within a few blocks of a major thoroughfare and a big, low-rent apartment complex. Most of the kids who lived there were at-risk, latch-key pre-teens. They frequently walked along the alley at the back of our property and always stopped to ask about the horses. After talking several times, we formed the "Mingus club." The idea was that they could accompany us on our walks through our neighborhood park (as if we could have kept them away). If their parents gave us written permission and signed a release, they could help us care for them. In exchange, they had to promise never to come onto our property if we weren't there, never to feed them without permission, and to let us know if they heard of anyone else bothering or threatening to bother them.

Sadly, none of the parents could be bothered to even come meet me, so none of the kids were allowed on our property, but they nonetheless accompanied us on our walks and took their roles as protectors VERY seriously. One little boy spent hours outside the gate discussing horses and the hows and whys of their care.

We moved out of town before these kids got into junior high, so I can't say if this would have continued working, but while we were there these kids were devoted to "their" horses.

It sounds like your neighbor kids are a bit older, so the same approach may not work, but I'd try to identify at least one of the kids that seems open to friendship, or perhaps offer an older kid a part-time job doing yardwork (not with the horses -- although stall-cleaning while the horses are out in the pasture could possibly work). Make them feel important doing this -- tell them you are hiring them because they are mature and responsible and that they have to continue acting this way to continue working with you. An older sibling or friend can have much greater influence over kids than even their parents or the police. You still need to keep an eagle eye on them, but reward the kind of behavior you are looking for. Let the word get around that you are relentless with those who misbehave, but loyal and kindd to those who do right.

Good luck. I know we were lucky, but I always take the approach of preparing for the worst but still hoping for the best -- sometimes it actually works!

 

[Sawing]

Thanks everyone there are some really good ideas here. I'll see what I can make work for my situation. I'm going to try and get all the parents together and discuss this. I think it's a problem that none have livestock but hopefully I can get thru to them how dangerous this behavior is. Thanks again for your input.

 

[Riverdance]

When I lived in Mn, I had all of my property fenced. Including a gate across the driveway. I had some of my Minis in a paddock area to the left of my house. Well, one day while I was pulling up to my driveway and got out to open the gate, I saw several teens in the paddock area trying to ride the Mini's. I walked up to them, knowing that I had to be nice, because angry teens can be a real problem. I talked to them in a nice way (though I was peeved), then told them they were welcome to come by when I was home, but not if I was not home. I also explained to them that this horses were too small to hold their weight.

They left and I never saw them again, nor did I have any problems with vandalism either.