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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that riders should have to clean up horse mess?

263 replies

CarriesBucketOfBlood · 15/09/2015 12:54

You can get a £120 fine or whatever it is if you don't pick up after your dog. As a dog owner, I think this is absolutely right. Dog mess is antisocial and poses a health risk. I think it can cause blindness if ingested (?)

So why don't riders have to do the same? At the end of the road (suburban, we are a couple of miles from the nearest stables but they do occasionally make it this far across some farm land) there is a trail of horse mess that stretches about two metres across pavement and road.

It's rained multiple times and not been washed away, we don't have street cleaners that will come and clean it up. Why should the rider be able to leave it? It's just as disgusting and anti-social as a dog.

I mentioned to Dsis about it (she use to ride) and she semi agreed. Just made the point that they would need big bags to pick it up.

AIBU to think that riders should be forced to pick up after their horses?

OP posts:
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TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 15/09/2015 13:24

If the occasional bit of horse poo is a problem we can't cope with, what are we going to do about all those birds who poo all over the outside? I propose a cull.

Original poster
CarriesBucketOfBlood · 15/09/2015 13:27

Op. It's a near unanimous YABU but your still banging on Yes, welcome to AIBU, where we defend ridiculous opinions like our lives depend on it.

OP posts:
TheWitTank · 15/09/2015 13:27

Oh fgs. Let's just ban everything shall we? Because there is not a huge amount left that someone won't piss and moan about. Cars are FAR worse for the environment than horses will ever be. I would rather see horse shit in the road than an a rainbow oil leak or sit in the traffic inhaling exhaust gases.

OurBlanche · 15/09/2015 13:27

Don't forget rats, mice, cats, penguins, giraffes and that giant pooing fecker, the blue bleeding whale. It all builds up you know!

Before you know it we will be up to our necks in it!

Oh! Wait... erm...

GarthAlgar · 15/09/2015 13:28

YABmassivelyU. There would be no way on this earth I'd be able to get off my young horse, pick up her shit, dispose of it in some way (?) then get back on without causing at best, a hold up in traffic and at worst, an accident.

Original poster
CarriesBucketOfBlood · 15/09/2015 13:29

Owllady The upsetting thing is that I don't even live in the country. I live in a lovely east London borough.

OP posts:
SirChenjin · 15/09/2015 13:29

Depends where it is. We are within a mile of the nearest stables, and occasionally the riders come onto the paved pedestrian routes to school to cross over to the nearest field or trail. If they leave a stinking pile in the middle of one of those routes then it's pretty rank trailing prams and so on through that - and given that the people who keep their horses up there are local then it would be nice if they went back after their ride and swept or shovelled it up.

In a field/on a woodland trail/on the road - I couldn't care less.

GarthAlgar · 15/09/2015 13:31

After a couple of days of rain it's turned to slimy grey goo

I've spent a lot of time around horse shit (I lead an exciting life) and I can honestly, hand on heart say I've never seen it turn grey and slimy Hmm

LyndaNotLinda · 15/09/2015 13:31

I really like the smell of horse poo too. My dog's pop, not so much!

cocobean2805 · 15/09/2015 13:37

YABU. This thread has made me snort with laughter. Dsis is a horse rider and when met with snippy "your horse has pood" will say "would you like it for your roses?" With a benine pleasant smile.

ConfusedInBath · 15/09/2015 13:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Twatters · 15/09/2015 13:38

a couple of sainsburys bags

Grin yes I'll get off my horse and wave a plastic bag around, then I'll hold on for dear life as jumps into the middle of the road probably infront off or onto a car before he leggings it down the road.

It reminds if of the people who bought a house right next to a riding school and right where the horses had to walk passed to go in the fields (that they no doubt bought the house for the views). But complained bitterly about the smell and horse poo on the road outside there house

specialsubject · 15/09/2015 13:43

it vanishes like magic round here - not sure if it is the stable or the gardeners that grab it. Anyway it is always on the road so you can see it, and doesn't smell. Clever, that.

horses don't go on footpaths.

rat-on-a-string excrement is disgusting, so I'm all for dog owners picking it up. Don't like it? Don't have a dog.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 15/09/2015 13:53

I don't ride, have nothing to do with horses, and even I can see that YABVU.

InimitableJeeves · 15/09/2015 13:53

I wonder why people think it is any answer to say that other animals poo so anything goes? It simply doesn't come anywhere close to being a valid argument.

DawnOfTheDoggers · 15/09/2015 13:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsRossPoldark · 15/09/2015 13:57

AIBU to out myself?

I love the smell of horse manure! Smells of hay, summer days, rose gardens, etc

Now, dog shit on the other hand...

lardyscouse · 15/09/2015 14:00

[dogs are carnivores ] No, they are omnivores. Mine eats mainly veggies... but I still pick up his poo. Also, if dogs are wormed regularly then toxicara is not a problem.

dodobookends · 15/09/2015 14:07

Reminds me of a Two Ronnies news report sketch describing a big parade...

"The massed band of the Household Cavalry..."

"Followed closely by the massed buckets of the Rhubarb Growers' Association!"

TheWitTank · 15/09/2015 14:19

On a serious note, if you do have horse riders using footpaths then you can complain to the council who will put signs up -there were a few riders round my way would were using a very narrow footpath to some fields as a short cut churning it all up and blocking it for walkers. Council came out, put up a simple sign and blocked the footpath entrance with a big boulder which walkers can go around. Or did you mean pavements?
Trust me, most riders detest road riding and would much prefer to be in a field or on a track or bridepath. It's boring as fuck on the road and much more dangerous. Trouble is most bridepaths are accessed by a road at some point. I have to use roads here to get to any kind of field or path (albeit country lanes and local roads). You can't just hop into random fields where ever you like. This is getting worse and worse too -when I rode my ponies as a child I could stay mainly off the road, but now a lot of my old routes have new estates/roads built on or near them.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 15/09/2015 14:20

The poo at the end of the road is actually half on the pavement, half on the road. God knows how the horse did it rotating pooing

Probably shat himself in fright at something while moving about. Not at all unusual.

I get why you are irritated but it's impractical and rather dangerous for a rider to do anything about it, and it's not actually a health hazard [unless you are a cyclist/motorcyclist which I hadn't considered] so you'll just have to pray for rain, get out a sweeping brush or hope the local council are having a good day.

I get loads of police and military horses riding in convoy on our road [suburban London]. It's not swept up here either Grin

Coffeethrowtrampbitch · 15/09/2015 14:20

Op, owning a horse is very expensive. Extremely.

The sort of people who pay hundreds of pounds a month to stable their expensive animals are not the sort to deal with them shitting in the streets- as you've seen, the peasants should enjoy it for their roses, not go about demanding that you deal with the leftover waste of the animal you own.

There is no way to stop your horse shitting, but if it does so on or near a residential area you should return after your ride and deal with the mess.

Not doing so is every bit as bad as leaving dog poo. People can slip or have an accident due to dog poo on pavements, cars could skid on horse poo in roads.

Lurkedforever1 · 15/09/2015 14:22

Yabvvvvu. Personally I think if a horse shits on the pavement, where it shouldn't actually be in the first place, then the rider should dismount and kick it back in the road. However, 9/10 if a horse ends up jumping up on the pavement, it's generally down to some knob rot driver nearly taking them out, and the horse sensibly moving. And depending on the horse/ rider, dismounting to move shit may not be safe. The selfish and generally nervous novice type rider who makes a habit of riding on pavements and doesn't move any shit is a tiny minority. And vastly outnumbered by the amount of people that drive like dickheads. Or indeed park on pavements.

Costacoffeeplease · 15/09/2015 14:23

Ha ha ha to infinity, well done op, given me a right laugh this afternoon. Please post another AIBU soon

Helpmeoutofthemaze · 15/09/2015 14:25

Dog poo is a hundred times worse, dangerous, disgusting and I think there should be a dog DNA database so people's dogs can be rehomed if they refuse to pick up shit. Dog poo utterly ruins lots of parks and walks for everyone.

Horse poo is not harmful, however I do think some horse riders are extremely rude in choosing the places they ride and therefore let their horses shit. One street away from here, I saw an elderly man cleaning up after someone's horse. We don't live rurally, it was not an appropriate place to ride/shit.