Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This is a fairly common problem with easements......whether the underlying owner can put a gate across your easement. Obviously, he can't install a gate and lock it and not give you keys, but when the effect of the gate is not to exclude you, but merely to make your use of the easement more difficult, the answer is less clear-cut.

Courts that are presented with this problem will usually rule in favor of, or against, the underlying owner who has installed the gate on the basis of overall rreasonableness. When the owner needs a fence to keep cattle in because he raises cattle, or to keep cattle out because he raises vegetables, the owner will usually win, because the judge will see the necessity of the fence and gate to protect the owner's legitimate economic interests.

If the purpose of a gate, with or without lock, is to exclude trespassers, the judge would consider whether exclusion was a major problem, as it might be at a day-care facility, or a minor issue, as at a suburban residence in a low-crime area.

In your situation, without actually seeing the properties and hearing both sides of the story, I cannot predict how a court might rule. For example, what alternatives did this guy have? Could he have arranged his fence differently so the horses would have pasture without blocking the roadway with a fence and gate? You might win if you sued him for interference with an easement, but that's just a guess.