To have just shouted at a horse rider outside my house

[BigRedBall]

Have namechanged for privacy.

I am so angry right now. We sometimes (twice a year at most) get horses going past our house as we live around the corner from a small private farm. We live in a city, so it's quite a novelty when we hear the sound of "clip clop" outside.

About 20 mins ago we heard the sound of clip clop and I took DS to the front room to look outside. As we watched the horses go by one stopped and kind of turned around and SHITTED RIGHT OUTSIDE MY DRIVEWAY. Not a small bit...a big arse full of horse shit. And the rider laughed at her other horsey friends.

As soon as I saw it I put my shoes on and ran outside and the rider was going on her way again. Her friends had gone up ahead. I ran up to her shouting "excuse me" and she wouldn't stop. I shouted at her if she was going to clear up the horse poo outside my house and she replied "stop shouting at me" without even turning around to see I had a toddler in my arms.

I couldn't go any further because I was holding my DS and had left a sleeping baby inside.

Now I have a pile of horse shit outside my house, and I want to actually KILL this horse rider. Our road is a school route and I don't want children stepping in it but why the fuck should I have to clear it up? I am so pissed off. I want to get into the car and hunt down the fuckers and pull them back by their ears and tell them to clean it.

Horse owners don't have to clear up after their horses. That's just how it is. There is no law that says they should.

Utterly stupid to think they should dismount in the middle of the road and produce a bucket and spade from their inside pockets to shovel it up then attempt to remount.

Just daft.

1. There is no legal requirement for horse riders, farmers or anyone else to clear up horse shit.

1. If a horse has shat on a road where the traffic is going fast enough that a bike hitting the shit could cause a serious accident, then it is not safe for the rider to dismount and attempt to pick up the shit, one-handed, while also holding onto and attempting to control the horse from the ground, one-handed.

1. Some riders do return to clear up shit where it is safe to do so and they are aware the horse has had a shit. Not all do. See point 1.

1. Dog shit and horse shit are not the same. See previous posts. It is a legal requirement that you remove your dog shit from public places. See, yet again, point 1.

Shoanjoy , my worst accident on a horse was caused deliberately by a motorcyclist accelerating & riding straight at me.

Horse bolted, ended up with torn muscles, I ended up with concussion.

Asa car driver as well as a horse owner, I show cyclist's consideration... Unfortunately I didn't receive any in return.

Is it possible to hold onto a horse and shovel shit into a bag at the same time?

God shona you sound bitter

Can't you just enjoy whizzing about on your bike without getting furious with other road users?

It might not be a legal requirement, doesn't mean everyone has to like it though.

And the aggressive way that some of the horse owners are putting their point across is not helping their arguments.

Carry a bin bag

You sound unhinged, seriously

I would not expect my 12 year old to dismount, shovel (what with??) a poo into a bin bag - then what is she supposed to do with it? Somehow mount her pony while carrying a sack of shit? Then where does it go? Clearly doing the ROSPA advanced riding course doesn't teach you common sense because you sound like a lunatic

I think any aggression has been proportionate to the OP.

sparechange I live in Victoria. I don't have a car any more. I walk or take public transport and occasionally I hire cars.

I've no problem with the rollerbladers. Most of them keep up a much better speed in urban traffic than car drivers.

And like I said, they make me smile.

I find the marshals authoritative but friendly. Yes, they do wave stragglers through the lights and try to stop drivers and pedestrians bashing into them. But it's for a good reason - does anyone want to be in a collision?

Apart from the fact that someone might be hurt or killed, you'd have to wait for the police to come. Which is a waste of time. So why not wait?

As a pedestrian I cross against lights all the time. I use my judgement because that's allowed.

But I guess if I was part of a rollerblading pack I'd probably be told off by the marshals for that and probably banned from the group if I persisted because those are the rules too.

But Shonajoy is making a fair point. Loads of posters have insisted upon the fact that horse shit does nobody any harm and she's simply pointing out that, in fact, yes it is harmful to motorcyclists and can make the road as slippery as ice does.

I have never seen a horse poo cover the entire lane of a road, so causing slipping. They are usually piles or splats, which you can see if you aren't rising your motorcycle at a ridiculous speed, and therefore avoid

usualsuspect33

I've never owned a horse.

I've just rented one by the hour.

What's your view on that?

merrymouse I have officially declared that you have to clear up after falabella horses, because they are the same size as a German Shepherd dog, so you can hold on to them while scooping.

Not sure anyone was listening, though.

I don't really care about you renting a horse as long as it doesn't shit outside my house you can do what you like with it

Fullerlonger when you get all angry and have a tantrum it detracts from the debate. Name calling is also a sign of anger and losing control. I do hope you don't ride a horse because you do sound rather aggressive and please do not call me a lunatic and unhinged. Also, I do hope you don't pass on your bad attitude to your 12 year old- you should always have consideration for others.

Idiot, unhinged, and lunatic, you're just reinforcing a lot of the general publics perception of horse riders with your abuse. I do hope you have public liability insurance- maybe anger management might also be of worth.

And if your 12 year old can't handle a horse, dare I say they shou,d not be riding on the road.

I've got a mental image of a MN horse brigade flash mob outside your and the OP's houses now, usual

I'm not sure a pony club course really qualifies as similar to a motorcycle test which basically teaches you the Highway Code

I wasn't in the Pony Club but I remember being clearly taught hand signals on the roads and correct road safety etiquette when riding when about 7 or 8 years old. Obviously I was too young to take a motorcycle test then, but I was astonished at the driver who didn't recognise the hand signal to slow down from the Highway Code, and who interpreted it instead as random hand movements or arrogance.

Shonajoy you are just being silly. There always seems to be a certain element of posters on here who think they can dictate non-legal requirements, such as carrying a bin bag while horseriding to put horse poo into. Do you try this in real life? In non-horse poor related areas? How do you find that works? Are you a ranter too? One of those tedious people who starts randomly shouting at someone doing a perfectly legal activity, their face tripping them with schadenfreude like glee at the opportunity to disperse their misery in public?

Apologies if indeed you are not and you keep it to yourself at all times.

"And if your 12 year old can't handle a horse, dare I say they shou,d not be riding on the road."

I don't think it was the handling the horse - it was more the ability to get off the horse (prob fairly easy) shovelling shit into a bag while holding a horse (how?) and getting back onto a horse safely and in a controlled manner while holding a bag of shit that was being questioned.

Attempt to do this at kingston gate of Richmond park at any time of day and you will quickly get a queue of irate drivers wondering why you don't just leave the f'ing shit alone.

But Shonajoy is making a fair point. Loads of posters have insisted upon the fact that horse shit does nobody any harm and she's simply pointing out that, in fact, yes it is harmful to motorcyclists and can make the road as slippery as ice does.

Adeleh Have you studied the qualities of shit from different species and its effects on the roads - urban or rural?

I have and now realise I could publish a definitive study, perhaps gaining a PhD in Shit Studies with a side order in shitty ideas about class.

Adeleh thankyou for your post- that takes some of the sting out of being called an unhinged,lunatic idiot.

My worry is always being behind a group of riders, shit happens, and skidding into them, even at 15mph with no revs (that's what seems to spook horses the most) a bike can travel some way if its down, worst case scenario hurt biker, horse rider and broken horse leg which would be awful.

I've been riding nine years, and if I do encounter a group of horses I want to slowly go to the front to avoid these sorts of issues. I will wait until its completely safe to do so and go right over the other side of the road so as not to scare them. Where I live there are a lot of riding schools and farms and after passing I frequently get a thumbs up which is nice.

Limitedperiodonly that's just embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for you.

What about the deer poo at Richmond Park? That's a far bigger problem! I haven't noticed teams of park workers or volunteers out clearing it on a regular basis. So why the fuss over horse poo?

UsusalSuspect the smell from the fertiliser spread on the field probably wasn't horse poo but muck from cattle sheds. They just put clean straw on top of the poo and then when the cattle go out for the summer, scoop it all up and spread it on the fields. Its a very distinct, pungent smell. Not saying horse poo doesn't smell, but its not quite so pungent usually.

Merry mouse the debate was on my side anyway, about country roads. Once hours shit is compacted its a lot less dangerous. And why can't you hold the reins while picking up shit, don't horses reverse?

On the other hand I have seen horsey types with wheel barrows and shovels scooping up shit, which is probably what happened here.