Neighbor disputes

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.
-- Mark Twain

The most frequent grounds for serious neighbor disputes -- trees, fences, boundaries, easements and noise -- There will always be something to set someone off with almost any other kind of neighbor problem, starting with friendly negotiation and, if truly necessary, going all the way to court.

We don't have the pleasure of choosing our neighbors -- they simply come with the territory. What a great joy it is to move into a strange city or new area and be warmly welcomed by a courteous and thoughtful person who lives next door. And what a terrible disappointment when instead, the next-door neighbor is thoughtless or given to some activity that is a constant annoyance.

In today's society, the limited space between properties magnifies even a small annoyance. Especially if it occurs every day, what starts out as a bother can turn into a nightmare for a neighbor. And sadly, neighbors (even those who are the cause of the problem) sometimes retaliate when they feel threatened or disturbed, fueling what can escalate into open warfare.

I am frustrated with my neighbors. I have lived in the country most of my life, and for the most part have had nothing but good neighbors. We, who have livestock, can pretty much expect to have them find a way out of your pasture no matter how good, or bad, your fencing is. We also expect to deal with neighbors livestock thinking that there must be better eating in our pasture or yard then what is proved for them in their identical pasture. We have chased pigs, cows, horses, goat and an occasional lama or emu. I have used my horses to herd long horned cattle, not an event my mare and I wanted to repeat frequently.

This is pretty much the price you pay for the joys of being outside the city limits. Most neighbors appreciate, and understand the dilemma of dealing with animals. That being said my frustration has nothing to do with my neighbors having animals that get out and travel to my pasture. It has to do with my mini horses getting into my neighbor’s pasture. It started with my tiny little mini babies walking UNDER the wire into the neighbors, lush, un-grazed pasture. The * lovely* lady blew off and air horn and then resorted to shooting her gun. The poor little things ran and ran until I finally was able to catch them and scoot them back under the fence. The rest of that hot summer day was spent redoing a different part of the pasture and putting all of the mini’s in a much smaller area for their protection.

Later on that same month, my tiny mini stallions got out, and of course, where do you think they went? Next door to the same lush pasture. Again, she shot her gun off repeatedly running the extremely tame minis around and around, until they fled down the road in the fog. Two hours later we finaly found them back in her pasture. She threatened to kill them the next time they “ate her prize flowers”!

Mind you, it's been a LONG hot summer with water rationing.... I didn’t see one blooming flower anywhere!

But this dispute didn’t really start with the miniature horses. The neighbors are gun happy. They shoot at anything. They shot and killed my wolf a few years after we moved here. Can I prove it.. No.

They have shot over the barn while I was working out there, they have shot over my son’s head while he was working on his car at the barn. He was playing his radio at the time, but the polite thing to do would be to ask he to turn it down ( wouldn’t ya think?)

They have shot at the big horses, they have shot through my house, the bullet broke the window in my studio, passed long the top shelf , I have ruined computer programs and books to prove it. The sheriffs came out to take the report, dug out the bullet and that was the last I heard.

Saturday Kelly, my youngest son was cutting firewood behind the barn while I working on redoing stalls in the barn before the artic cold front arrives. We were enjoying the radio tuned to Sounds of the Season when they pulled the lawn mower, tractor, and leaf blower over to the fence dividing our property and ran them so we couldn’t hear the music.Were they mowing... no. Were they blowing leaves.. no. Just running the machines for the noise they could make.

Ignoring them my son turned up the music.

BOOM! The neighbor shoots. The shell rattled down the tin roof of my barn.

Hey at least we weren’t singing out of tune!

On my net search I found this..

*The law offers protection from a neighbor's disturbing activities. Local laws and subdivision rules prohibit almost anything one neighbor can do that would seriously annoy another. And when there isn't a relevant law, a person can sue a neighbor who unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of his property.*

I am thinking about sending them a letter something like this:

"Everyone has a different tolerance and a different concept of noise,"

I am playing music at the barn to recondition my mini horses. They have been unduly upset by your shooting at them. Your constant discharging of a fire arm can be considered criminal recklessness with a weapon.
I intend to show some my miniature horses, and it is necessary to acclimate them to music and noise they will encounter while at shows or in their role as therapy horses for children and the elderly. I would appreciated if you did not trespass on my property again.