Question for First Responders and Land Owners

[Teacher Mom]

Does anyone know if a horse van can be labelled an emergency vehicle for rescue purposes by First Responders if no people have been hurt? I guess what I am asking is where in my county or state laws can I find the answer to this question? I am not questioning that first responders need emergency access for human emergencies but what is the rule for stable owners who want to load or unload their horses on your land? Horse in question fell five miles down the road and was walked FIVE MILES into my yard. If my husband had not been home, stable van would have been driven over several pipes in our yard (horse van could not turn) and would have cause extensive damage which we would have had to pay (because if we were not home, we would not have know who caused the damage). We were not asked or told by First Responders what was going on and, if fact, First Responder sent horse van in first so  we didn't even know an emergency vehicle was with them when we tried to question what was happening.

 

I should add that neither horse or rider was injured. The horse did fall but was not lame. Stable owner and riders have VERY WEALTHY connections and were extremely rude when we questioned the why of their presence, as was the first responder.

 

Any help or comments on similar problems would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

 

 

[goldberry]

What an odd situation.  I don't know the answer to your question though.  In our area, we have a lot of people very touchy about people coming on their land.  I work at the fire station, and we needed to access a certain plot of land to get to the location of a suspected fire.   The landowner would not allow us on the land and the firefighters had to get the sheriff to force access.

 

I would not think they have the right to access your land under those circumstances. Do you have no trespassing signs?  

 

ETA is there a reason they did not load the horse in the road?

 

(also, because "get to the location of a suspected fire" is so much better than "get to where a suspected fire was".  :glare: )

Edited September 9, 2016 by goldberry

[KungFuPanda]

I'd call the local non emergency police line and ask.

[Teacher Mom]

I did not have no trespass signs up because when we moved here people asked if they could ride on the sides of our property. We were fine with that until they started using our driveway to haul horses and hay and starting riding across our yard to terrorize our dog (who is in a fenced area 4 acres from the back of our property line). The above situation was the last straw.

 

KungFu Panda, I have called Country Prosecutor and 2 civil attorneys. All either gave very flip answers or said they wanted to stay out of it. As I mentioned, the horse people here are very wealthy.

 

Again, had we been asked or told what was going on, we would have helped. To put this in perspective, a friend was walking her leashed dog down side of the river road. A group of English riders with foxhounds tried to wave her off the side of the road onto the grass because they were riding through. When she didn't move, she was ordered, yes ORDERED, to yield the right of way to them. When I have confronted people on my land, they have said that they have the owner's permission and they did not have to speak to the "help".

 

It makes me sad because not all the horse people are like this. But we are closing our land to everyone and spending $5,000 on video equipment and a security system to monitor it.

 

Edited to say that what we use as our backyard is the fenced area that the dog plays in when she is outside. It is 4 acres from the our back property line. Sorry if that was unclear.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Teacher Mom

[goldberry]

Wow, sounds like people taking a lot of advantage of your kindness.  I don't blame you for closing your borders.

 

Is there anyway you can let the original people you gave permission to know that the permission is being revoked?

[FaithManor]

First responders would be folllowing orders from dispatch. They would not have made this decision on their own. So you need to take it up with your sheriff. Unfortunately the sheriff is an elected position so if he/she is corrupted by campaign dollars and appeasing the money holders in order to keep the job, you may not get anywhere.

 

Get a lawyer so you know your rights and have him or her write a letter tp the sheriff. Put up fence and gate with a call box. You should not have to go to this expense, but sometimes it is the only way to not end up with even bigger expenses. You will likely need no tresspassing signs.

Edited September 9, 2016 by FaithManor

[Teacher Mom]

We sent certified letters to all the people we gave orally permission, revoking privileges. We put up trespassing and video signs postings.

 

The thing that really bothers me is that the First Responder sent the horse van in first. It was waiting for him at the end of our driveway. I saw this because I was washing dishes and looking out the kitchen window.  Another friend, with contacts at the agency in question, said the call came in for a hurt human. Why would you send a horse van in first then? The First Responder never attempted to give first aid to anyone. He did nothing beside hold down my driveway and yell at me for my questions. My husband stepped between us. I thought for a second he was going to hit me. He was so mad I was questioning the legality of his actions, his fists were clenched.

 

This Responder was not with the sheriff's office. There was no ambulance sent for a human (no human or horse was injured). I now know I could have called the Sheriff's dept. but the First Responder was in an official vehicle with lights and I never would have questioned his authority if he had said why he was here. I just never thought to question his authority until things got stranger and stranger.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Teacher Mom