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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Horses in residential streets

186 replies

DrScholl · 28/10/2016 17:49

Why do horse riders think it is ok to go onto residential srreets ( not a through road to a field or anything) and let their horses shit all over the pavements and roads?

OP posts:
WLF46 · 30/10/2016 12:43

No, you are perfectly right to feel like that. Shit is shit, horse or dogs (or human), it's all disgusting and should be cleaned up by the person in charge of the animal.

SpunkyMummy · 30/10/2016 12:44

minesril don't drive too close behind it (if it spooks and kicks...)

Maybe slow down a bit and drive around the horse (but yet again, don't drive by too closely)

TheDivineMrsCampbellBlack · 30/10/2016 12:45

We've never had anyone be other than kind and considerate to us when we are riding. But we live in a fairly horsey area so I think that helps.

TheDivineMrsCampbellBlack · 30/10/2016 12:45

And we try to stick to bridleways but it's not always possible

devilinmyshoes · 30/10/2016 13:36

I don't really see how it's annoying? It's just part of life as a rural road user, you meet pedestrians (maybe with dogs or children) and cyclists and enormous slow moving tractors taking up the whole road and painfully slow elderly drivers meandering about and unpredictable learner drivers and motorcyclists, lots to be careful of.

FlyAwayFar · 30/10/2016 13:46

I also hate seeing horses on roads. Horse riders get so worked up about how you must crawl past their high-strung creature because you might spook it: yes, that's why they shouldn't be on the road

YABU and an arse

Horses are legally required to travel on the road. Although with people like you around, resenting having to drive like a considerate human being, no wonder riders go on the pavement.

ItWentInMyEye · 30/10/2016 13:57

It annoys me when it's on the pavement. Get Shit on the pushchair wheels or walk into the road Confused

SpunkyMummy · 30/10/2016 14:21

itwent

Maybe that wouldn't happen if drivers were considerate? It's petty easy. Don't speed passed the horse, don't honk, don't throw stuff at the horse and don't drive close to the horse... section 215 Highway Code!

There's a reason why riders sometimes ride on the pavement.

LisaSimpsonsbff · 30/10/2016 14:23

Horses are legally required to travel on the road.

But no one is legally required to own a horse at all.

I would, however, like to make it very clear that I do always slow down and give horses a very wide berth when passing. I might sometimes mutter a few words under my breath about their owners as I pass (for example when they're riding two abreast on roads with a lot of blind corners, or - as happened quite recently - when it's 8.15am, an obviously stupid time to take an animal on a busy road), but I would absolutely never try and scare or punish any animal at all, even if I wish they weren't there.

SpunkyMummy · 30/10/2016 14:24

JFC

My iPad was on the French language setting. Oh well, I hope my comment still makes sense...

Me2017 · 30/10/2016 15:18

I think it's fine. In fact my mother was delighted - straight out there with a shovel, nothing better for the compost heap!

It sounds like some people on MN don't grow things.

TheNaze73 · 30/10/2016 16:11

Horse shit, cat shit can all fuck off. YANBU

NellysKnickers · 30/10/2016 17:20

I'd rather horse shit than dog shit on the pavement, easier to avoid!

Pardonwhat · 30/10/2016 18:19

Jinglebellsandv0dka -
I'm willing to bet that the inside horse was new to road work and the outside horse was it's 'guard'. Horses can only learn to be on the roads by being there. Whenever I have a young horse I always start riding it out tucked in by another horse. Helps keep the situation calm and safe for everyone involved.
That's probably also why the owner got irate when someone was a twat and sped past.

Think it's really sad how little respect some people on here have for others. You don't like horses on roads? Fine. I don't like cyclists - I probably pass 20/30 a day where I live. But I'd never be an arse about it and say that they shouldn't be allowed because I respect their right to enjoyment at the small cost of invonveniencing me for a few seconds each.

FlyAwayFar · 30/10/2016 18:30

But no one is legally required to own a horse at all

Well, aren't you lovely.

No-one's legally required to own a car for that matter.

As a pedestrian, cyclist & sometime equestrian, I wish people wouldn't decide to take on heavy lethal bits of machinery which they can't control, resulting in around 5 deaths per day in the UK, not including the illnesses coming from the pollution, the reliance on a non-renewable, precious energy source to fuel them, and swallowing up another VERY precious non-renewable resource - our country - in acres and acres of roads, motorways, and car parks.

Dawndonnaagain · 30/10/2016 18:42

Do keep going you lot who say it shouldn't be there. This thread has been entertaining me for 24 hours now!

sulee · 30/10/2016 19:26

You are BU. Move to a big city. You will have lungs full of poo, just invisible poo

PinkSwimGoggles · 30/10/2016 20:12

Move to a big city
hahaha. we live in central(ish) london and have plenty of horses and their shit around

instantly · 30/10/2016 20:44

. I was behind a tail back caused between two riders walking a breast

You mean two abreast as is recommended by the Highway Code?

At least educate yourself so you don't sound like an eejit.

DiseasesOfTheSheep · 30/10/2016 21:49

Recreational cyclists hold me up far more on roads than horses do. They have every right to be there though, just like horses.

Neither should be on the pavement, but sadly, in all walks of life there are utter cocks who are thoughtless and arrogant. Just like car drivers who think their right to get to their destination at top speed, regardless of the potential hazards they may face. Most riders though - like most car drivers - are considerate and sensible people.

I do sympathise with those complaining of horse muck on the pavement - that's unacceptable, as horses shouldn't be there in the first place. On the roads, however, it's fair game and people who are bothered by it really need to find something more interesting and significant to worry about.

Dawndonnaagain · 30/10/2016 22:29

You know all those vegetables and that fruit that you get, all freshly washed and nicely presented, they've all been covered in horse shit, bird shit, fox shit...

Jinglebellsandv0dka · 01/11/2016 11:06

dawn yes, and then they get washed and peeled.

I still don't want to go out a pick horse shit up, why should I?

MonsterMaskettiBall · 01/11/2016 11:11

My DDs love horses walking down the middle of our road. Shit or no shit it's a real highlight for them. YABU

Dawndonnaagain · 01/11/2016 13:27

Jingles you don't have to, one of the local gardeners or allotment keepers will, we're aware of its worth, and its benefits.
I honestly think you all need to grow up a bit, horses shit, on occasion it's on a pavement. It's not dirty, it's a bit smelly. It's harmless. None of you clean up dog shit that isn't from your own dog, none of you clean up fox shit. You're all making a bloody fuss about nothing. When I was a kid there would be a queue behind the milkman's horse, and the brewer's dray; gardeners hoping for better veg and roses. Oh, and I was dragged up in South London.

SporkLife · 01/11/2016 21:06

horses shit, on occasion it's on a pavement. It's not dirty, it's a bit smelly. It's harmless.

It's not harmless on the pavement as it either means Having to do a detour or get shit on your wheelchair wheels or pram. don't care what happens on the road, but it's not harmless on the pavement for those who have wheelchairs or pushchairs, the horses aren't allowed on the pavement so their shit shouldn't be their either.

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