Footpath and grazing

[fredpuli47]

Is there now any law requiring the landowner to fence a footpath ? One public right of way on this farm is a footpath that crosses a 10 acre field of grazing with one very old horse in it. There's a proposal to graze more horses there.What fencing, if any is required by law ? Is barbed wire forbidden ? It's not been fenced off in at least 60 years and probably never. Fenced or not, what legal liability is there, potentially, and whose is it, the landowner's or the horse owner's ? I'll check farm insurance anyway but what am I insuring against re grazing land (knowing insurance, I bet it's an extra ) ?

[buildersmate]

Hi Fred
I thought the Rambles Association might provide some detail on this, but it only deals with bulls in fields (where it seems there is some specific legislation)
http://www.ramblers.o...footpathlaw2.htm#bull
See the bit about potential offences under the HSE legislation. I would surmise that the landowner has a duty of care in relationship to what is put in the field and its potential threat to footpath users. No doubt one can (and should) insure for that risk.
Just surmising - have nothing more to go on.

[dzug]

There is no law requiring a fence.

If there is one, and it's barbed wire, I think there would have to be a minimum width - not sure about this though

In my experience horses either avoid you like the plague or are overly friendly - rarely hostile. If one was known to be hostile, then it should not be in that field

[magicmerlin]

I would check with local council. Barbed wire has been replaced by razor wire.

[tamborine]

landowners are obliged to allow public access on footpaths; PFs are used at your own risk. Bulls are kept in reinforced arenas and rarely released into fields; you only see steers (cut males) released into fields.

All using PFs with their own pets are liable for any damage to fields & livestock....keep your dogs on leads & dont damage fences etc.

Tenants of fields are usually responsible for fencing to contain their animals.