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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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AIBU - Horse riders pick up poo?

894 replies

kaz2810 · 28/12/2017 00:20

First time asking on here so here it goes!

I'm bloody fuming, we live in a fairly large town but are lucky enough to live by a lovely canal. First 1/4 mile or so is a concrete path wide enough for 2 people to walk side by side. I'm walking along this afternoon and in the distance there are some horses & a women with a buggy feeding ducks. One of the horses poo's and as normal keeps going leaving a steaming pile all over the path meaning that anyone with a pram, wheelchair etc cannot get past unless they lift over or roll straight through it. ( bushes one side & water the other side of path) this is a daily occurance and I'm totally fed up of dodging it. Surely when on a concrete pathway the riders could show some consideration to others?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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Pinkponiesrock · 28/12/2017 09:25

If you can’t get on from the ground then you walk in hand until you find a gate, banking, large rock which you can climb up, and mount from.

BellBookandCandle · 28/12/2017 09:25

RestingGrinchFace how does one get the horse to the bridleway without using roads/paths - teleportation? Or are you assuming that all horse owners have a 4x4 and a horse box handy for those days when they fancy a little hack round the countryside?

If horses are to only use bridleways then there will need to be a infrastructure to enable them to get to the bridle way, a strategy to keep dog walkers etc off them and a requirement for them to be preserved when green belt is sold off for development.

It saddens me to read the hate filled comments on this thread aimed at horse and riders. Such vitriol from posters who probably believe they are the "salt of the earth" types not some toffee nosed snob on a horse. I've been round horses and horsey folk all my life, they are some of the most down to earth fun people who don't stand on ceremony and welcome newcomers regardless of social background. But like any part of society there are always one or two bad apples who spoil it for others.

Whatsforu · 28/12/2017 09:25

OP how narrow is this path if the horse manure covers the whole walkway? Are you honestly saying you are unable to avoid it?Well said sparechange.

froshiechipandbrickie · 28/12/2017 09:25

As I said. I'm glad I'm not this unreasonable. Life must be bloody stressful!

Not really Wink

I’m not even inconvenienced by horse poo. But I understand that others might be...

Scabbersley · 28/12/2017 09:25

I have to lead my horses along a narrow no through road bordered by cottages when I take them back to their fields. If they poo there I DO come back with a poo scraper and pick it up. The lady in the pink house likes it for her compost heap!

Devilishpyjamas · 28/12/2017 09:27

I’ve never seen horse poo on a pavement. The only park I have seen horses in is Hyde Park. I can’t imagine any rider choosing to ride on a pavement unless they really had no other choice (I would not be happy riding a horse on a pavement). I see lots of horse poo in the lanes - and expect it there. If I was on a bridleway or somewhere people regularly ride horses that was narrow enough for horse poo to be a pain i’d have had my baby in a rucksack anyway. It really is a non- issue.

Flyingflipflop · 28/12/2017 09:28

Um, that's wrong. Bikes and horses have a right to be there. Lorries and tractors (and cars) are tolerated under licence

What a load of horseshit. Motor vehicles aren't tolerated, they have as much right to be there as horses and bikes. Those in charge of them also have to have a legally mandated level of skill, and they have to pay a bucket load of tax for the privilege.

froshiechipandbrickie · 28/12/2017 09:28

alaomora
Genuine (honestly non-goady) question:

Why do you have to drive through horse poo this often?

JacquesHammer · 28/12/2017 09:28

As my nan used to say "Horse riding's for tories...."

Was she spectacularly judgemental or just a bit thick?

aloamora · 28/12/2017 09:29

And can we please remember that horse riding is a leisure activity for probably 90%+ ?

You don't need a pet horse anymore than I need a pet dog or cow. Your right to a hobby does not trump a buggy user / elderly persons right to walk down a path.

happygardening · 28/12/2017 09:29

Pinkponies I agree to a point I’m currently training my youngster to accept that a rider can get on and off anywhere and mount off anything but I also ride occasionally with an elderly lady who has to use a high mounting block she cannot mount without one.

Frillyhorseyknickers · 28/12/2017 09:29

I will say that the amount of people on this thread not being able to mount their horses from the ground is scary, I say that as an rider and owner of multiple horses.

That is so dangerous - what happens if you fall off, or need to get off? I think it’s a basic requirement to get on your horse from the ground when required.

froshiechipandbrickie · 28/12/2017 09:29

aloamora

ohfortuna · 28/12/2017 09:30

I think the underlying problem is that dog walkers runners cyclists walkers horse riders all feel that they are entitled to use these pathways but each is in many ways incompatible with the others

Who should get priority and why?
One could argue that the Walker is the least problematic user of the pathway, perhaps everyone should defer to her?

Scabbersley · 28/12/2017 09:31

Yes I agree this is a non issue. Tbh if I really really genuinely did come across an obstacle like an imaginary enormous poo that stretched the whole width of a path, and I couldn't bear to push a buggy through it, I would lift it up and over.

Most of this thread is a lot of frothing over absolutely nothing.

Devilishpyjamas · 28/12/2017 09:32

Alaomora - I know more than I would like about wheelchairs. It’s never been an issue because geverally horses and wheelchairs are not in the same shared narrow space ime (can be steered around in a lane and the bridleways I know of are inaccessible to wheelchairs - I certainly wouldn’t be expecting someone in a wheelchair to manage them). The only place I can think of that wheelchairs and horses come into contact in a narrow space is a nearby purposebuilt sensory walk that has been made wheelchair accessible. But it’s on the moors and the ponies in there are wild ponies so hardly going to have poo pick ups going on.

Bearsinmotion · 28/12/2017 09:32

I think it’s a basic requirement to get on your horse from the ground when required

In which case, dismounting to kick your horseshit off a shared path shouldn’t be a problem Grin

Scabbersley · 28/12/2017 09:32

Walkers drop litter. Litter droppers deserve the death penalty as far as I'm concerned. I'm joking of course but only just

Lalliella · 28/12/2017 09:33

Can they not buy some sort of bag to attach to its bum that collects the poo? Totally U to leave poo where pushchairs or wheelchairs using the same path would have to go through it. YANBU OP.

Thedriftofstars · 28/12/2017 09:33

Hahahaha at cars being tolerated and roads actually being made for bikes and horses. Do you realise how fucking stupid you sound?! 😂
Next time I'm driving down the M62 I'll remember your comment and laugh... as far as I'm aware, it's illegal to ride your bike or horse down the motorway. But cars are just tolerated. Hmm

ohfortuna · 28/12/2017 09:35

Yes some Walkers drop litter but litter dropping is not intrinsic to walking so sorry @Scabbers I don't think I can allow that objection to Walkers😉

FrancisCrawford · 28/12/2017 09:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Devilishpyjamas · 28/12/2017 09:35

oh FFS at ‘horse riding is for tories’. I’ve ridden for four decades (never owned a horse, but always ridden) and never voted Tory in my life. What a load of chip on shoulder crap.

The horse community (along with surfers) were one of the most welcoming to my severely disabled son (& he isn’t posh disabled, just regular disabled).

InspMorse · 28/12/2017 09:35

We have ponies. Are as working class and as hard up as anyone else.

Grin Why did this make me laugh so much?!

Ollivander84 · 28/12/2017 09:35

Frilly - I can at a stretch but I try not to even if I just use a step/wall/fence because of the pressure on her back and also on mine. I have residual numbness so can't feel my right foot and part of my leg which can make me a little off balance! Only had my op in May so I'm getting used to the new way of riding
TBH I've never been in a situation where there hasn't been a park bench or wall etc to get back on from