AIBU - Horse riders pick up poo?

[kaz2810]

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?

Can they not buy some sort of bag to attach to its bum that collects the poo?

No.

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

Sorry I didn't mean to imply I did. I rarely do as I don't drive on roads used by the riding school. I sometimes drive to the beach where there is a road (created for cars by national trust) that goes from main road to a car park for easier access to beach. First part is tarmac then dirt road. Horses use it as short cut and I don't mind it on my car tyres there as it's normally off before I'm home.

I was indignant about horses on concrete paths used by wheelchairs and buggies and anyone else really - I can step around it but a partially sighted person won't and who wants to arrive at Tesco stinking like horse shit?

Bridle ways obviously fine. Fields fine. Roads - would be considerate for riding schools to clean up after themselves if there is an excessive use and in residential area because it smells but understand it is not necessary or practical on most roads. Footpaths or pavements (though this shouldn't happen on pavements ) where your horse has done a massive turd covering most of paths? Not fine and your a twat to shrug it off as your precious animal deserves to shit where it likes.

ohfortuna yes objection noted

aloamora horses are not allowed on designated footpaths it’s illegal.
I personally wouldn’t ride my horse down a narrow paved path where pedestrians walk as horses buggies trycicles etc are not usually compatible and I very much much doubt in most it would be a legal.
I’ve ridden all my life but would be the first to admit that many riders take the piss and ride their horses where they are not allowed including footpaths.

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

Logistically no, it shouldn’t be. I would never support it being a requirement because I feel it’s completely unnecessary!

I own six horses and I have never in my 20+ years of owning and competing horses come across a horse shit too wide for your average wheelchair to span, so again, it’s a non issue.

I agree OP- in some parts of the world, horse riders are obliged to put a sling under the horse which catches the poop. It is disgusting, we live in a rural area and sometimes the entire sidewalk is covered in it.

who wants to arrive at Tesco stinking like horse shit?

I do on a daily basis I couldn't care less.

Yeah because the M62 is just like a lane with lots of horse poo on it.

If horse poo is a problem in the lanes then you’re going too fast. Cattle poo tends to be far more slippery and you get sheets of it because farmers tend to move their catttles in large herds across the same bits of Lane

Here's something I don't understand.

In the UK, we're taught to be careful around horses, to slow down and drive past them carefully, so as not to spook them.

I have also lived in Malta, where most days I'd see horses/pony and traps on the roads. Horses being exercised by being led behind a pickup truck, trotting along narrow roads with a buggy behind them, squeezing past cars, or waiting in normal Maltese traffic etc. ie. requiring no special treatment at all - not even blinkers.

What is different about UK horses that they need this, when clearly, some horses are completely fine on the roads in other countries? I'm guessing that it's just what the animals grow up used to?

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

Can we please remember that OP was also engaged in a leisure activity?

Because we don’t want to be prejudiced, do we?

^

Well if the op was leaving a mess behind her on her leisure activity you might have a point. But otherwise ? No.

Most horses are fine on the roads. Mine are brilliant in heavy traffic. Some aren't.

Do people really worry about horse poo on car tyres?

aloamora horses are not allowed on designated footpaths it’s illegal

^

Sorry, I was using footpath as catch all phrase. I was referring to paths like footpaths as well as things like canal paths the op was using

I wouldn't knowingly ride my horse along a narrow walk way that buggies could go on as I'd hate be stuck behind a mother with a buggy so wide it couldn't manoeuvre around a bit of horse poo.

frilly I totally agree, I will go pretty far to make sure I’m not mounting from the ground, for non horsey folk it puts a huge strain on the horses back and is bad for your saddle, however I teach all the young horses that they can stand for me to get on anywhere.
If I wasn’t able to get off and on unaided from the ground then I wouldn’t feel safe to hack out alone, what if I fell off, horse got trapped in a hidden hazard, needed to move something off the path, endless reasons really! So if I needed to hack with someone else then surely they could be on poo kicking duty.

Oh this takes me back to when I was a community worker. We had one man at the monthly meetings who always put horse poo on the agenda and then on matters arising on the next. He had an absolute obsession with it and it was so hard not to laugh. He lived near a riding school that had a disabled riders class that was very popular.

Can still picture him now, the humourless so and so. No easy answers here because there isn't one is there. No resolution for Mr Grumpy, guess he just kept shouting at the horse riders.

Well, I'm a horse lover but I have to say I totally see OP's point. If responsible dog owners pick up their dogs' poo then really shouldn't horse owners do the same? I suppose though if you're walking along a bridle path you're kind of asking for it....but still, not an unreasonable question to ask in my view.

What is different about UK
The sheer volume of traffic on the road compared to Malta?

The fact that it is in everyone’s interest to slow down for an unpredictable animal?

Because (and trust me I know) when you hit a horse at 40mph EVERYONE gets hurt.

MentholBreeze Horses spook at all kinds of things, most often not a car going past them but something blowing behind a hedge etc could make the spook towards a car.

Do people really worry about horse poo on car tyres?

^

No I'm sorry if I gave that impression, but when I used to live nearer a riding school some roads stank to walk down and I pitied the residents for it. I was thinking from that perspective but hopefully I made myself clear that I don't expect roads to be spotless. Just some consideration to reduce impact where possible.

I have never in my 20+ years of owning and competing horses come across a horse shit too wide for your average wheelchair to span, so again, it’s a non issue.

May I refer you to the OP?

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.

That is the scenario we are discussing, no?

Our county is positively heaving in horses, I walk my dogs on footpaths bridleways byways etc everyday but I rarely see horse shit. What I do see everywhere is inconsiderate dog owners not picking up their shit. If you want to get your knickers in a twist get your knickers in a twist about that.

Yes. So lift over.

Yes dog owners who don't pick up their shit are really fucking rude. It's so easy to do. And dog shit is toxic.