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?

Ps on the actual topic of horses if it’s not a bridal path then they shouldn’t be ok it pooing!!!

yeah people, go back in time and take photos of things that happened days, weeks and months ago. If you can’t then you’re all just big liars.

As someone on page 1 said - dog and cat shit is awful stuff that can cause nasty health problems. Horse poo is just slimy straw. Nobody ever got sick from the stuff.

Take a pic next time it happens DUH!!!!!!!!!!

That won't happen though, because it never happens.

You do realise that horses kick, right...?

Unless the horse is an ancient, bombproof, riding-school dobbin, how exactly does one attach a giant nappy/bucket/receptacle to your horse's arse without getting kicked in the face? It will result in an antsy, hyped-up horse jogging its way around the paths, spooking at everything, potentially ditching its rider or injuring a passer-by. Quite a lot of bother for a problem that could be resolved by stepping over the pile and carrying on with your day!

Oh, and how are riders supposed to control where and when their horse shits? Just an afterthought!

People just GOT to have something to whine and moan about though

😂😂😂 couldn’t think of a better person to say this!

Take a pic next time it happens DUH!!!!!!!!!!

That won't happen though, because it never happens.

^

Actually if you google horse manure on footpath a fair few pictures come up and a survey done by horse and hound saying 97% of people in uk think horse riders should cleanup after themselves

If this tow path only allows 2 people to walk next to each other then it obviously isn't suitable for hulking great horses to use

Except that many bridlepaths in my area are also too narrow for two adults to walk abreast. Granted, the governmental requirements are 2m for a bridleway (wider if on a field edge), but the nature of the land is such that they are considerably narrower. Horse riders really don't have a lot of options in some areas...

Why should I have to put my wheelchair in my car then use it in my house with wheels covered in shit "slimy grass"?

Depends... where did you drive through the horse shit, @Valerrie?

Not on a bridle path.

Can you not hose the wheels off if you are going somewhere muddy? #

Why is horse poo not dangerous but cat and dog poos are ? My cat in an indoor one so she doesn't poo all over other people's property and my dog's poos are always picked up on walks but it's ok for horse riders to not pick up poo ? I get its biodegradable but not instantly so i get where the OP is coming from someone could easily slip in it and fall or track it into their home or work etc and surely the solution is to not let horses on pavements or paths ? I used to ride horses and only rode them in fields or back lanes never in public so not sure why that would be a problem for other riders

Because horses are herbivores and dogs and cats eat meat.

Horse poo is lovely stuff and wonderfully fragrant. You cannot compare it to dog poo.
People get more upset about horse shit, IME, because they perceive the rider as rich and uncaring.
However as many others have pointed out, shovelling up their horses poo would be a logistic nightnmare

Valerrie, let me recap for you:

• it never happens because no one has any pictures
• you can lift the wheelchair over it
• you could just wash it off
• you could take a different route
• it doesn’t matter anyway because it isn’t a health hazard
• if you disagree with any of the above you are either entitled, lying or have a chip on your shoulder, or you have mental health problems

Regardless it is still a health hazard in the respect you can slip on it or track it into an indoor area its still bacteria filled even if it is just grass and hay and it smells vile i got used to the smell and don't really smell it anymore but too non horsey people the smell is unreal either avoid public walkways or pick it up.

Valerrie

Did the horses and riders have the right to be there?

The BHS strongly encourages riders and carriage-drivers to be aware of their horses dunging on paths and the potential impact on other users. While some horses indicate that they are about to dung by their behaviour, many will not even slow down and a rider may be unaware of dung being passed.
(It is often suggested that riders or carriage-drivers should dismount if a horse has dunged to pick up and remove or at least kick aside any dung from the trodden path. This is rarely practical, even if a rider is aware that dunging has occurred, because it may not be safe or possible to dismount and remount.

Many riders may not even realise that their horse has just dunged.
And even if they did, getting off and on may be a spectacularly stupid idea for various reasons.

Oh wow a poo thread! These are almost as good as smoking threads!

Has anyone solved the problem in a way where absolutely everyone on the planet is 100% happy yet?

Non horse riders will find giant dollops of shit on public footpaths/similarly very public places annoying. Wheelchair/pram users etc have a legit complaint here.

Horse riders will explain how horse shit is an invaluable commodity and everyone should be grateful for its presence absolutely everywhere and how dog shit is far worse and cat shit makes your head fall off if you're within 400 miles of it when pregnant etc etc...

It's not easy to resolve as valid points are always made on both sides of the argument. I live in the sticks, and although I don't ride any more several of my friends do. In the nearest town there's a pedestrian underpass between Morrisons and the town centre (doesn't go anywhere else other than council offices) and it's often carpet bombed with horse shit. This annoys people, and I think that's fair enough.

Horses unloading on rural paths etc - not a problem for anyone I know. But this is a time when a lot of people just don't (or don't want to) care about how things used to be. Not many people chase the nags arse with a shovel so they can out-rose the neighbours any more. More's the pity.

I think in towns, on concrete footpaths etc it shouldn't be too much to ask for riders to at least attempt to mitigate the problem. It certainly isn't impossible to dismount and deal with it by one means or another. Horse shit doesn't bother me but it's not difficult to see how it could bother others in certain situations/environments.

My best mates wife keeps her horses (2) on my land and to get them out she has to ride/walk them along a lane (only a dirt track really) which I use to get to the back of my property. In the early days she used to boot the turds to one side in case I wanted to drive up the back way - I told her not to be so daft and leave the shit alone (literally) but then again that's not a public right of way. Point being some horse riders are considerate, others just look like Mr Bean driving a Range Rover.

I share your opinion OP. Logistically not convenient for them to clean up as they go, doesn't mean they shouldn't.

"dunged"

snurk

Logistically not possible, not inconvenient