BONNYVILLE – The MD of Bonnyville approved a request for a bylaw exception, for the owners of a Moose Lake property to keep three horses on their 3.04-acre property, which is one more than what is currently allowed on properties between three and 10 acres.
Kristy Poirier, Development Authority Officer, presented the request to council during a regular council meeting on Jan. 28. Administration's recommendation was to refuse the request.
Poirier explained that a complaint had been received from an adjacent landowner regarding the horses. At the time, the property had four horses on it, and the adjacent landowner claimed the corral, which they assumed to be around one acre, was both unsightly and caused a strong odor.
It was administration's recommendation to refuse the request.
The adjacent landowners claimed they had operated a “mixed farm operation” for many years and understood the general rule for keeping horses was to have one-and-a-half to two acres of land per horse.
The British Horse Society recommends a general guide of one to one-and-a-half acres per horse, though factors such as the size of the horse, can have an impact.
Coun. Josh Crick inquired about the actual size of the paddocks, though administration was not aware of those measurements.
According to the National Farm Animal Care Council (FACC) “The risk of injury increases when horses are overcrowded in pastures or yards or when there is competition for any resource.” The FACC explained manure must be managed to prevent health risks to the horses, and potential contamination of groundwater.
The request to keep an additional horse outlined the owner's management plans.
“The horses are in a fenced paddock on their lot in the winter and moved to paddocks on the adjacent lots in the summer as needed. There is a 10’x16’ shelter and evergreen trees for shelter for the horses . . . Manure and old feed is collected and transported to a local farmer’s field for spreading,” explained Poirier.
Coun. Don Slipchuk commented that he did not see a problem with the additional horse and made a motion to approve the request.
“I don't see an issue with this - looking at one extra horse. We have got a lot of little acreages around the community that have horses,” he added.
Coun. Dana Swigart felt the bylaw infraction of four horses - and the request for three - was too many animals for the size of the lot, especially with the negative impact on adjacent landowners.
“We have that bylaw for a reason though. If the residents directly adjacent are having concerns, I think it's an issue. It's not really fair to them. Otherwise, why do we have the bylaws? . . . They’ve got two horses already, you're going to put a third one in and they had four there for a while, but I just think maybe it's too many for a small lot,” said Swigart.
Deputy Reeve Darcy Skarsen agreed with Slipchuk, saying the area was surrounded by agricultural land, and that there have been horses in that area for a long time.
The motion to approve the request to keep a third horse was approved 4 – 1.
