Thanx for all the concerned replies...

RoadRaven - geez - I didn't know that - I'll be cautious - usually once the cows get the idea they're following us around when we mow to get the grass and usually it's gone the same day ...

Honestly we're talking about a herd of maybe 20 cows in this field - no big numbers - these people just do not seem to take good care of the livestock - our field has 7 cows in it - no shelter - no fresh water - barely any shade -there is a stream - but it's not a flowing stream and in this heatwave it has to almost dry!! weeks go by with no one coming to check on these girls. Every year it's like this. I was riding on the towpath by the river one time and a calf fell in and couldn't get out again - there is no fence separating their field from the river - luckily someone was out at the nearest house and I talked to him ( as well as I am able - my French is atrocious ) and he had already called the police...

they just don't seem to care - and the fields where you see the cows are many times not the owners fields so the owners live somewhere else - I have no idea who these cows belong to.

I also have no idea about the regulations here in Belgium - I am a guest of this nation (we're American military) so I really have no idea as to how these things work here - if I see a neighbor I will drag them down there to show them - I'm sure they probably know who owns what around here...

Thanx again for letting me air my concerns. Like I've said before... I love this place