Saintlyjimjams you've never ridden a motorbike obviously. There's some debate about size of horse poo- it's too big to be lifted and moved with a bin bag, and it's too small to cause an accident. Pony club members go through a huge ordeal which is supremely difficult (apart from missing out the poo causes accidents bit).
I have indeed had a friend who came off after hitting horse shit, which looks completely different to cow shit, or muck. You can't ride through it unless its dry, or you'll skid. If its on a corner you can't brake and you'll come off.
It seems hugely apparent here that since horses are leisure animals, that they are somehow elevated to the position of giving signals to other road users (which I follow) while randomly leaving trails of shit everywhere they go with impunity.
I'm a member of ROSPA advanced riders club, and am aware of all these signals which I follow to the letter. The horse community seems very unwilling to accept that they could maybe show some consideration for other users, it's this sort of stuff that does cause bad feeling. It's an issue of a lot of motorbike forums. And as for if you come off you're speeding- if you come off on ice are you also speeding? Well horse shit feels exactly the same way. I NEVER speed on country roads, main reason being you could turn a corner and find a tractor doing 5mph because its the country. But I do reserve my right to ride legally on public roads.
Interesting though, horses classed as leisure but quads aren't allowed on roads because they are leisure vehicles. I take great care of my bike, it cost a lot of money and its my hobby. It's also one of very few left, as it is a special edition.
I wonder if horsey folk would feel if bikers drove (quietly and respectfully as I do) in front of them, and then started dropping poo bags full of dog shit randomly, or even un bagged- slidy stuff that.
To surmise- horses are leisure animals. They can control traffic with arm movements, whilst dropping shits the size of dinner plates randomly, if there are people behind them slowing down and not able to overtake to avoid them until the horse rider deems it appropriate. I'm not sure a pony club course really qualifies as similar to a motorcycle test which basically teaches you the Highway Code, and the most important thing of all- ride like everyone is trying to kill you, and use avoidance as much as possible, unless you're behind a group of horses spewing shit on the road , randomly, in front of you. Just get off your high horses and clean it up, if farmers have to, why don't you?