As someone brought up on a farm, and as a guide who spends a lot of time in the hills, I see plenty of gates. They are just part of farm life, and hill walking life, and serve a very useful purpose, usually. A very handy life skill is the ability to climb a gate in a couple of swift moves, (at the hinge end!) without making a big deal of it. This is one way to tell who was brought up in the countryside - gate climbing is something rural dwellers do without even thinking about