Horse riders should pick up their poo!!

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It’s surely a potential hazard leaving horse manure on the road!
Tractors are required to clean up excess mud they leave on the road, dog poo is collected by their owners.
So why can’t horse riders be required to show common decency if they are to use the road.
Apparently an outdated law from when horses were the main mode of transport allows this and prevents action being taken.
With the number of accidents never mind inconveniences caused by this negligence surely this should be amended?

I can’t be bothered to contribute rationally to this thread but ‘horse shitted’ has really made my night feeds funnier

I used to live in an area of London that had lots of horses. So we are talking endless parades of them walking daily down the high street with shops and restaurants on it. This was not in any way a rural area. In those circumstances I think there should be some form of action that horse riders are required to take. It was so anti social encountering it outside shops on a regular basis. In truly rural areas it is a different scenario though.

Tractors absolutely are not required to pick up horse poo sized bits of mud or anything close. Only large mud slicks that are a slip hazard. Horse pop is not a health concern like dog poo. Not sure how you expect them to actually manage said task - apart from anything else any risk from being in the middle of the road is far greater than the non existent slip risk. Funny idea though 😆

Hopefully a few cyclists have skidded on it 😈

@GoodnightGrandma

When I was a kid we had a stables near us. Someone rode on a bike with a bucket and shovel, and picked up any poo. So it’s not a ridiculous idea.

Thats a practical thing to do if you run a trekking/hacking/riding school where you have multi-horse rides going out along the same stretch of road several times a day.

However if its individual riders coming from home or out of a livery yard and going a variety of routes, then thats not remotely practical.

@Coughee

ARE there accidents and inconveniences caused by horse poo?!

I would imagine there would however be accidents if someone stood blocking a road while they shovelled clip clop plops into a —frikkin huge— poop bag

I own a horse. I’m trying to imagine carrying a poo bag big enough to allow me to do this and then carrying it with me for the rest of my ride.

Or maybe I should do what some dog owners do, and bag it then leave it hanging on a tree or hedge to save me having to carry it anywhere.

@StillWalking

@PilesEdgeworth

I wouldn’t worry about it OP. One of the links you posted advised that one of the problems with horse poop is that it contains ivermectin. Just let some of the Covid conspiracy types know and they’ll be licking the roads clean before you know it.

They'll be disappointed with my joists poo. I follow a worm testing programme sohis prostate been ivermectin free for 12 years. Even if I used an ivermectin wormer it would only be in the poo for about 4 days a year.

Don’t you think there is the possibility of more accidents whilst the rider gets off her horse try’s to find somewhere to leave it why they pick it up. I take it your not a horse rider.

Never mind the horses, can someone point me to a service that would put nappies on any local foxes ? Their poo is the stinky gift that just keeps giving 🤢.
But seriously, picking up horse poo ? , catch yourself on

Oh my auto correct went into overdrive there!🤣
Joist = horse
Prostate 🤣🤣🤣🤣 = poo

With the greatest respect, don't be silly!

Some of the anti horse comments here are hilarious.
A startled horse that kicks is aggressive- nope, it's a prey animal responding to a perceived threat.

Horse poo is dangerous- utter bollocks. In fact where I grew up it was a commodity.

All horse owners are rich, don'tcha know. - I'll tell my cousin this, she'll piss herself laughing ( in between her full time and part time job )

Horses have been on roads for as long as there have been roads. Bridalways exist and are used by other traffic ( by my cousins place it's usually mountain bikes, not a problem as long as the cyclists have an ounce of common sense)

Why can't horse riders just train their horses to buy their (the horse's) poo - like most cats do? That would solve the problem although it may mess up the grass verges a bit.

Why has nobody invented some kind of horse nappy yet

Those mentioning horse nappies or bags...are they actually a thing? I'm trying to imagine how it would attach and how you could trot or canter afterwards. Wouldn't it just bang into their back legs and cause a meltdown? When in Prague I noticed the carriage drivers had these fishing nets that caught the poo and then went in a bucket but obviously you're in a better position to do that in you're driving rather than riding.

@liveforsummer

Hopefully a few cyclists have skidded on it 😈

I'm another one who wont bother slowing for horse riderss now, when i do, they rarely acknowledge that you have - they dont pay road tax, have to under go any training or have insurance.

they dont pay road tax, have to under go any training or have insurance

a) no-one pays road tax, it doesn't exist
b) everyone who rides has had training, no-one is born knowing how to ride a horse
c) the vast majority will have insurance because horse veterinary bills can be bloody expensive

@Heshcher

TrashyPanda, I said the horse was aggressive or untrained in response to this: "Unless you want to be kicked, it’s probably wise to continue to give horses a very wide berth!" Kicking is aggressive. I didn't make that up! If an animal is so inherintly dangerous that everyone must always stay out of it's attack range then it's clearly much too dangerous to take out in public. Even if it only becomes dangerous when it's scared, if it's a prey animal and fear is it's automatic response then it is reasonably foreseeable that it might get scared and attack someone. If you know there is a risk that it might get scared and attack and you still choose to take that horse out then it's 100% your fault if it attacks someone who is using the road in the usual manner and minding their own business. Other road users shouldn't need to be telepathic to protect themselves from your pet. Just keep dangerous animals, like bulls, snakes and horses inside appropriate enclousers where they don't endanger the public. Anyway, it sounds like they're so scared that it is cruel to take them out near loud traffic and fast cars anyway.

This is so stupid - of course you should be nowhere near the ‘attack range’ of a horse. It’s probably the first thing anyone is ever taught about horses - avoid the rear end. Just as you’re supposed to give cyclists enough room (1.5m minimum), so too horses. They are living creatures, so you cannot control them 100%. I assume you’re one of those idiots who doesn’t leave a car’s gap in traffic, either.

@alexandra2001 so the horse and rider are fair game to potentially kill or injure because they didn’t smile at you

Well if you do kill someone by speeding past a horse how would you live with that because I couldn’t. Horses can travel 30mph sideways and unpredictably, regardless of whether you think they should be on the road or not is irrelevant if you hit one. They aren’t breaking the law, there’s no law saying they need to give you a cheery wave as you pass them safely, how entitled must you be to think it’s acceptable to behave dangerously because your nose has been put out a few times.

Life’s too short to be a dick.

I'm another one who wont bother slowing for horse riderss now

Why would you choose not to follow road safety and put yourself and the rider at risk?

Are you a towny OP?

Totally with you OP. I live in a town, residential street where owner take pride of the roads and houses. There is a stable a few streets away and regularly, we'll fin massive horse poo, that is then splattered by the cars driving by. It's disgusting, smells and people have to watch it when crossing the road.

I have a dog and am a fervent protestor against dog owners who don't pick up their dog's poo. I find the attitude of horse riders to their horse poo rude and arrogant.

When I was in France, I saw horses with a bag hanging behind their ass that gathered poo. Very easy and can't see why can't this be made a requirement.