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?

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.
^
So we can only care about 1 issue? I mean how can you get your knickers in a twist about dog shit when there are starving children in the world ?

But where do they poo menthol?

I prefer to ride nags who are fine in traffic. But that doesn’t mean they won’t get spooked by a plastic bag in a hedge near traffic. Or that drivers won’t spook them by coming up too fast and too close. It sounds as if the horses in malta are desensitised to being in traffic because they grow up around so much of it. But like police horses have a training programme to make them as bombproof as possible. All horses have the potential to suddenly spook, some are just less flighty than others.

Do people really worry about horse poo on car tyres?

No, but it can be a bit of a drama with motorbikes. If the front wheel slips, you can lowside it and the bike slips from under you, or I'd the rear hits it, slips then grips you highside where you get spat off the bike. Both potentially serious.

But don't take these as comments as horse v bikes because again, it's about being considerate of other road users.

Bearsinmotion

Apologies if you didn’t understand - My post was implying that both you and the OP are —lying— over exaggerating about the size of the shit because looking at my pram, and your average wheelchair, I cannot recall seeing a horse shit so large that it can’t be spanned.

Yes. So lift over.

^

And the wheelchair user who's been on this thread? Should she levitate?

OMG Scabbersley, why didn’t I think of that?!

Next time I come across an obstacle I will hop out of my wheelchair, skip myself over the shit and lift my wheelchair over whatever is in the way!!

Oh no, wait...

Well, it seems I have some learning to do.

Pray tell how does one become middle/upper class? I work in a min wage job and rent my home, also own a horse. Does ownership of the horse give me automatic rights to consider myself middle or upper class?
And I really wish that someone would tell my bank account about my new status so I may reap the benefits. I could put my new found wealth and status to good use and employ a working class moron/idiot (insert derogatory term already used towards horse riders here) to clean up after me couldn't I?

Some people really do have a chip on their shoulder about horse riders don't they? It's obviously beyond the realms of possibility that such a person could be just a normal, working class person who also pushes a pram or walks, or cares about others.

So in that vein, basically, it's legal for me not to pick up my horses shit. So I'm not going to. You ordinary plebs can just deal with it as myself and my steed are so much more important (did I get the tone right there? Any pointers for how to be more entitled? I'm quite excited by this new found status just because I love horses - what an unexpected perk!)

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

It's equivalent to a UK town - traffic jams are common etc. it's much busier than the village I grew up in for instance - I read some statistic about there being more cars on Malta than people!

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

Yes, I get this, and yet they don't in Malta, and I'm trying to figure out why

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

This is a thing - there aren't many parts of Malta where (a sensible driver - of course there are your usual racers) goes much over 50, but there's plenty of narrow bits.

Why don't Maltese horses spook then? It's not like there isn't wind and flapping things (and car horns, and fireworks)? I grew up in the country (not a farmer or a rider though) - so I was used to all the rules around livestock, but then I go other places and they break them entirely, and I'm trying to understand why the difference.

If someone could get out their wheelchair to lift it over then I very much doubt they’d be in a wheelchair in the first place!

As said before I’ve had horses for over 30 years but I don’t think my enjoyment for riding, which is done purely as a leisure activity, trumps (pardon the pun) a wheelchair user.
I choose to ride, I’m pretty sure no one chooses to be in a wheelchair.

Jesus Frilly, you are determined! How am I lying / exaggerating when I am responding to exactly the scenario the OP describes?

Apologies if you didn’t understand - My post was implying that both you and the OP are lying over exaggerating about the size of the shit because looking at my pram, and your average wheelchair, I cannot recall seeing a horse shit so large that it can’t be spanned.

^
I dunno . Horses don't tend to do one tidy poo they do a series of shits (when moving) rarely in a nice straight line. And someone further up said their horse did a shit the size of a dinner plate.

Frying - but see my earlier post - if the horse poo is problematic for a motorcyclist what happens when you hit cattle poo? I’m a car driver and drive at lower than 30mph in windy lanes with horses as I don’t want to hit a horse (or dog or walker). I only drive faster if visibility is clear (ie the road is straight). Driving at that speed it should be relatively easy to avoid a horse poo.

Why don't Maltese horses spook then?

They probably spook as often as UK horses, which is fairly rarely in ratio to traffic but when they do, it often causes accidents.

If you look at the UK in terms of H&S legislation and general attitudes to risk adversity compared with somewhere such as Malta, I think it’s down to different attitudes. Italian driving for instance...

If you live in a rural area, you are also likely to be confronted with cow pats, shep poo, poo from grass feeders is not normally considered to contain harmful pathogens. its not realistic, when i rode I could only get on and off with a mounting block, as did a lot of people. It doesnt smell particularly bad, and you can take it home for the garden. I have 2 dogs, walking towards the beach yesterday, on the path, woman in front of me, her dogs went onto the grass verge big dog big poo, I just stood there, she wasnt going to bother, then saw me watching. Dog poo can be harmful if dogs not wormed, cat poo even more so. Then theres fox,mice,rat,bird, some of it has washed away, but the bugs are still there.

Frying - but see my earlier post - if the horse poo is problematic for a motorcyclist what happens when you hit cattle poo? I’m a car driver and drive at lower than 30mph in windy lanes with horses as I don’t want to hit a horse (or dog or walker). I only drive faster if visibility is clear (ie the road is straight). Driving at that speed it should be relatively easy to avoid a horse poo.

^ how often do you see cow poo on road??

Ooh we haven't had one of these for a while. Always entertaining.

Menthol stationery or slow moving heavy trafiic is less spooky than a car/bike/cycle appearing out of nowhere or from behind.

Maltese horses will spook you just won’t have happened to see them do it.

We are rural and have a lot of horses here and I barely see any poo on the roads ect. As a pp said I've certainly never seen one wide enough to make a path impassable for someone else? It's just not offensive like dog poo which I do see a lot of Near my work place there are roads where farmers move their cows over between fields regularly....horse poo is the least of anyone's worries and there are no pavements there at all. This is the countryside hosing your buggy wheels down when you get home is just daily routine

I'm quite surprised to see posters suggesting that if a rider can't dismount and remount easily then perhaps they shouldn't be riding. We have a centre here that specialises in riding for the disabled (two actually). I'd hate to think that people should stop taking part in such a lovely activity over the horses poo. Which is very biodegradable, water soluble and quickly gone anyway.

I see cow poo as much as I see horse poo. On the same lanes.

The horse poo is spread out along the lanes. The cow poo is in fixed places in sheets where they are moved daily for milking.

If you look at the UK in terms of H&S legislation and general attitudes to risk adversity compared with somewhere such as Malta, I think it’s down to different attitudes. Italian driving for instance...

yes, perhaps that's it - perhaps it's a bit self-fulfilling - protecting the horses so much (because yes, if something bad happens it's terrible), that they become more 'spookable', vs. Malta where it's a day to day thing for many people to use the horses on the road.

I found this:

www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150120/local/first-meeting-held-on-legal-notice-to-regulate-horses-on-the-roads.552703

In October 2013 Transport Malta official Audrey Testaferrata de Noto said on TimesTalk that TM was evaluating the impact of horses and heavy vehicles on rush-hour traffic.

She was questioned on what measures were being considered to reduce traffic jams and whether heavy vehicles and horses could be taken off the roads in peak times.

Which certainly demonstrates a very different attitude to horses on the road!

I’m away out to do the ponies in a couple of hours, want me to take photos of various poos?
There is a great variety of sizes, from dainty little malteaser sized ones up to things the size oranges, with varying consistencies dependant on diet and digestion, their is no generic horse poo!

Ooh cross post with aloamora...the answer to that question would be...constantly...(see above).

Frying - but see my earlier post - if the horse poo is problematic for a motorcyclist what happens when you hit cattle poo? I’m a car driver and drive at lower than 30mph in windy lanes with horses as I don’t want to hit a horse (or dog or walker). I only drive faster if visibility is clear (ie the road is straight). Driving at that speed it should be relatively easy to avoid a horse poo.

Same thing. Along with mud off tractors, diesel spills and dead rabbits. I've never been undone by any of those things (a wet manhole cover outside Harrods got me though!). All I'm saying is that it can cause a problem especially when it's in the middle of a road, halfway round a bend. Even at 30mph, you might still come off.