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?

Irrelevant. They were built for horses pulling canal boats, not horses being ridden for leisure.

It's not irrelevant at all. Those historic rights are the reason that the public have access in the first place, otherwise the land where the paths are would be private property with no public access.

A lot of rights of way law has its roots in historic rights that were granted for a specific purpose.

So which were the disabalist comments? Saying that wheelchair users shouldn't expect not to encounter poo on footpaths over fields?

Get.
A.
Grip.

Getoutof Just put "playing on the muck heap" into you tube. You'll find lots of videos of people and children jumping in horse poo.

WARNING!
MAY CONTAIN IMAGES OF KIDS HAVING FUN AND GETTING THEIR CLOTHES DIRTY!

I can't imagine wanting to ride on a canal towpath tbh

Haven’t read all but agree with some over cat poo!!!! Train your cats to go in a litter tray!!!!!!!

@greymorning, one track in particular which is a old disused railway track is probably 2 miles long (maybe a bit less not sure of exact length) there are a number of trails off this track which lead down into the fields/country lanes. The riders are leaving this trail to go down onto the canal path. One end of this track leads to houses, shops etc and the other end leads down onto a country lane which goes to an old farmhouse and then out into the countryside where there is nothing but open fields, trails etc. I have only ever walked as far as the farm so not sure what is beyond it.

@Scabbers That's a pretty poor show.

There are a couple of bridges where bridleways cross busy main roads round my way.It's not like our highways department to put themselves out for the benefit of the general public, so I thought that was the norm.

No, Scabbersley, it was your post that suggested posters 'must have MH issues'. That wasn't on at all. I reported your post. There was no need to be insulting like that.

Your actual point about horse shit was perfectly valid.

Oh okay. Fair enough if you took offence.

Open fields are lovely but you can't just ride onto someone else's land without it being a right of way or having permission.

The ignorance on this thread is absolutely staggering. I'm off to ride!

@confusedbeetle - I have asked my dad and he has told me that it is an old towpath rather than a bridleway (my bad) that ran along the entire length of the canal. 20 years ago this area was all open fields and farm lane. Unfortunately over the years it has been heavily built on so I guess these days a lot more people use this route to the houses, schools, shops etc that are now there. I just don't understand why a horse rider would want to ride that way to begin with.

Saying that wheelchair users shouldn't expect not to encounter poo on footpaths over fields?

No one disputed that Scabbersley, that was just an anecdote afrom a PP to show how entitled wheelchair users are...

Oh okay. Fair enough if you took offence.

The offence was given, not taken.

Kaz, if we're talking Warwickshire I think I might know where you mean.

Your description sounds very like a section a few miles from where my friend lives. Can't recall if the canal is the Worcester & Birmingham or the Stratford on Avon now.

Impractical and dangerous suggestion OP.
Are you really motivated by a different motive, for instance do you believe riders to be elitist snobs?

My dcs both spent their toddlerhoods playing in horse shit. Still do now. They both used to ride back from the muckheap in the shitty wheelbarrow. We have had 1 tummy bug in this house in the last 13 years. Horseshit isn't a problem. Not unless it's piled up really high and gets too warm and combusts!

This thread really is bonkers.

There is literally nowhere to ride near us now. We did have access for about 60 years I think to some council fields to ride around but they put those gates on to stop the off road bikes.

We did have access to a woods but again blocked off for bikes.

Another long ride we used to do was blocked off. And the local farm land is also blocked off to stop off roader vehicles and bikes.

The roads are horrendously busy now. The massive shopping centre 2 miles away has people cutting through the village to get to it.

Our village used to be quite horsey with 2 busy riding schools and a few livery yards. Now it's 1 struggling riding school and 1 livery yard.

The locals that used to moan about horse shit on the road now moan about the traffic and congestion and the fact that the council fields are still accessible to off roader bikes as they lift them over but now notability scooters can't get on. And that one the livery yards sold their land to a developer who is building 30 houses on it.

Horse shit was the least of the problems really 😂😂

Why do my dogs love to eat horse poop as quick as they can get it down their necks before I spot them... boak!

@greenicicle - I'm not sure what it was that I have suggested that is dangerous. No I do not believe riders are "elitist snobs" the few riders I know are very nice people but as with all walks of life you get the good & the bad. No where in any of my posts have I insinuated that horse riders are snobs.

@GetOutOfMYGarden

Sure, why not. I used to do that. Even tried to ‘help’ mucking stables when I was too small to actually use a shovel (which is why I simply picked it up within my hands) and later shared my food (apples, carrots, bananas etc) with ‘my pony’. And no, the good creature didn’t just get the last bite 😂😂🙈

I do understand that horse shirt might inconvenience some people. And I do believe that we’d all be happier if we practiced a bit of tolerance and understanding for other people’s needs. But I simply don’t get the ‘it’s dirty’ argument.
(‘I could have lifted or maneuvered my pram but I didn’t and now there’s horse shirt stuck on the wheel. How unhygienic!’)

*horse shit

I just don't understand why a horse rider would want to ride that way to begin with.

Perhaps it's a safer route for riding than other routes, OP. Not sure what you mean by "farm lanes", but if you mean small roads that lead to farms, and are used by road traffic, ime they're the worst to ride on. They're generally narrow and boy racers tend to drive bloody fast round them.

And if you mean farmers' tracks, they'll be privately owned and horses don't have a right of way on them.