The
yard I keep my horses on has had rubble (bricks, mud
with wire poking out etc.) dumped into the field where
the horses are grazing at the moment. They will
not move the horses to another field and so they are
stuck grazing with the rubble.
Due to this having been dumped at the bottom of the
field where there water is, the horses are quite often
grazing around it. This rubble is, in theory,
going to become our outdoor school but at the moment it
is in the field with a digger and also an old tractor.
If one of my horses should injure themselves on this
rubble, where do I stand?
Am I admitting responsibility by letting my horses graze
in this field?
I really would like to move my horses out, but as they
won't let them change into another field and trying to
find another yard to take 3 horses is almost impossible,
I am a bit stuck!!
There is no point in trying to get the other people on
the yard to rally together, so to speak, and all of us
approach the yard owners as no one else seems to give a
damn and the couple that do, won't speak to the yard
owners. As the owners have their own horses in the
field too (5 of them with one in foal) they're not going
to worry about my horses when they don't care about
their own!
I
would've thought if you have spoken to the yard owner,
but they've refused to move the horses then it is their
responsibility if one of the horses is injured. Might be
worth putting it into writing too. (obviously these
thoughts are not backed up by any legal knowledge!)
But you still want to make sure your horses are not
injured. I think even if this situation is resolved, you
should seriously try to find a new yard. Sounds like
they do not care enough about the horses.
--
The
livery yard owner would certainly be liable for any
injury to your horse, although any award could be
reduced by your 'contributory negligence' (as in you
knew the stuff was there and that it might be harmful
but allowed your horse to graze there.)
It is a problem - but if it's any consolation, MOST
horses are quite sensible about avoiding hazards they
KNOW are there. But if the rubble, machinery etc
are in a suitable corner, would the owners agree to
fence them off with some electric tape??
Even though my horses are
insured, it will still cost me the £100 excess should I
need the vet. Although that's not the point as I
don't want any of mine injured in the first place.
It really is so difficult to find somewhere to move 3
horses to. The only ones I can find will cost £60.00
per month more than I am currently paying! I don't
mind paying a bit more but £60.00 extra is a lot of
money.
Why not buy
your own electric fence equipment, and block off the
dangerous obstacles?.
If your
horse should be injured on this rubble, you have a
strong case for arguing that the yard owners are liable
to compensate you for your loss. They have contracted to
provide suitable turnout and grazing for your horses,
and your argument will be that a field with this rubble
in it does is not suitable.
Your case will be much stronger, however, if you give
them notice (in writing, keeping a copy so that there
can be no argument about it later) stating that you do
not consider this arrangement to be safe or suitable and
that you consider it to be a breach of their contractual
duty to provide adequate turnout and grazing. This will
also provide a safety net against the risk (which I do
not, as it happens, consider to be all that great) of
their being able to argue for a reduction of any damages
on the grounds of contributory negligence on your part,
as it would show that you had been alert to the risk and
had done everything in your power to avert it. So much
for legal theory. The danger with such a strategy is
that many people do not like receiving notices of this
kind, and it may provoke the reaction "If that's
your attitude, I don't think I want you on my yard"
accompanied by notice to leave the yard at the end of
whatever contractual notice period you have. This is a
risk which you will need to weigh in the balance when
deciding what to do, especially since you say that
alternative livery is hard to come by and more
expensive.
Again, this is all very well, but it is addressed to
what will happen if your horse is injured. Prevention
being better than cure, I think there is much to be said
for the suggestion that you might wish to fence it off
yourself. However, technically speaking, erecting a
fence on somebody else's lend (even land which you are
paying to graze your horse on under a livery contract)
is a trespass. There is nothing you could do to prevent
the livery yard owners taking your fence down (although,
provided you have told them that you are erecting a
fence and that the fencing belongs to you, and provided
it is of a temporary rather than a permanent character,
they must return the fencing to you and could in theory
be prosecuted for criminal damage or theft if they were
to destroy or dispose of it - another very high risk
strategy, albeit very satisfying!).
A third alternative (again with a certain risk of being
branded a troublemaker and being given notice to leave)
is to inform the livery owners that you are of the
opinion that while there is this pile of rubble in the
turnout paddock it is unsafe, that they are therefore in
breach of their contractual duty to provide safe
turnout, and that until they fence it off or otherwise
make it safe you will be reducing the amount that you
pay for livery to reflect the fact that they are
providing stabling, care and feed (or whatever it is)
but NOT safe turnout. This option carries a number of
other risks, however, and I do not think it is wise to
pursue it unless you are certain that the threat of a
reduced income will be sufficient to induce them to
fence it off. The main risks are the scope for
disagreement as to how much of the livery fee should be
allocated to each component (unless you get regular
itemised bills with a full break down); and also the
fact that if the reduced payment WERE accepted by the livery owner, they would then be able to contend that
you had accepted the risks inherent in the unfenced
rubble and modified the contractual payment accordingly.
This would then mean that they probably COULD escape
liability if your horse were injured by the rubble.
You face a difficult choice, therefore. I think your
best bet is probably to tell them you think it is
dangerous and ask them to fence it off. If they say they
do not see the problem, ask if they have any objection
to your fencing it off just to keep your mind at rest.
If they have a problem with this, then I really think
you should be looking for another yard if you can
possibly afford to do so. If you find a suitable one,
you will at least have an ace up your sleeve: rather
than being tied in to a minimum notice period, you will
be able to say that the livery yard owners are in breach
of contract by not providing safe turnout, and that you
accept this breach as bringing the livery contract to an
end. This will enable you simply to walk away from the
yard without any obligation to give any contractual
payment in lieu of notice, because there will be no
contract under which such an obligation could arise.
Again, however, it is not 100% certain that a judge
would see it this way if the livery yard owner were to
sue for a contractual payment in lieu of notice,
especially if you have not made your move quickly. He
may take the view that by not objecting to the breach
immediately you have acquiesced in the breach, and that
if you wished to rely upon the breach as terminating the
contract you should have done so immediately.
So, several options, none of them ideal. If you decide
to pursue any which might lead to confrontation, I would
suggest that you start by taking some photographs
showing the rubble and the things in it which you think
constitute a hazard to the horses, so that there is a
permanent record after the school has been laid.
I think I am really going to have look hard for another
yard. I now there is one that I could move my lot
to, which would cost 30.00 per month extra. The
only thing with this yard is that the horses have to be
stabled at night during the winter and my Section D
hates to be stabled and generally climbs out!!!
I will take some photo's this weekend of the rubble.
I would love to be able to fence it off but it is
a huge field and the water supply is behind the rubble.
If I fence off the whole of the rubble area then I
am fencing off the only water supply in the field.
The horses are climbing on it and over it. When I
raised concerns, especially about my TB who cuts himself
whenever he looks at something sharp, let alone actually
stands on it, I was told that there were lots of TB's in
the field and they were all fine and the rubble is of no
threat to them.
One further
point: If it comes to a confrontation with the
yard owner, who clearly does not consider the rubble to
be a danger to the horses, then you need to bear in mind
that none of my suggested remedies will stand up if, at
the end of the day, the District Judge does not agree
with you that it is dangerous. In these circumstances he
would say that there has been no breach of contract and
you must fulfil your side of the bargain.
Judges being mere humans, and human nature being what it
is, I fear that the "QED knee-jerk" may come
into play. That is, while no horse has yet been injured
by the rubble, the balance is probably tipped in favour
of the yard owner (unless it is blatantly and obviously
hazardous even to the most casual observer): the balance
will only tip firmly in your favour once a horse has
actually been injured on it.
Depressing, I know, but that is often the way the world
works, even in legal disputes.
I viewed a yard on Saturday which is absolutely
gorgeous. It's got everything I want from a yard
and is only a little bit more expensive than where I am
at the moment.
They don't have space for 3 at the moment but he has
assured me that I am top of the waiting list as the
owner prefers to deal with less people if possible.
It really is a stunning yard, so now I've just got
to hope another person leaves, 'cos then there'll be 3
spaces for my lot.
