"Pick your droppings up from the road" Anyone else think xper

Pedantic said:
Yea well not everyone is as entitled and as well off as you to go swanning off to find huge swathes of countryside after work at the drop of a hat, the rest of us who live in the real world have to get on with what we have, not everyone has transport either, no wonder there is such a divide in the equestrian circles of "happy" hackers looked down upon and "hunting fraternity" classed as toffs etc, the horsey communities lack of togetherness over issues will be it's downfall.
Of course then there is the jealousy factor creeps in so much in the horsey game, because one's horse can't even ride off the yard without crapping itself at a plastic bag, never mind even go near traffic, so then anyone that does is ohhhhhhhhh such a bad rider person blah blah.
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My goodness, you do seem to have a chip on your shoulder don't you? And your logic isn't the clearest either; surely it would be the "entitled" and landed types that would fearlessly scatter their crap about the peasants' hovels, rather than spread goodwill by leaving other people's environments as they are found?
 
Pedantic said:
Yea well not everyone is as entitled and as well off as you to go swanning off to find huge swathes of countryside after work at the drop of a hat, the rest of us who live in the real world have to get on with what we have, not everyone has transport either, no wonder there is such a divide in the equestrian circles of "happy" hackers looked down upon and "hunting fraternity" classed as toffs etc, the horsey communities lack of togetherness over issues will be it's downfall.
Of course then there is the jealousy factor creeps in so much in the horsey game, because one's horse can't even ride off the yard without crapping itself at a plastic bag, never mind even go near traffic, so then anyone that does is ohhhhhhhhh such a bad rider person blah blah.
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Honestly you need to get over yourself. If picking a bit of horse muck up to keep the locals happy is beyond you, well that says more about you than it does me.

I ride in the same places as every other local yard does around here, whether they are hunters, eventers or "happy hackers" we are all lucky enough to live in a rural area and enjoy the hacking. No - I wouldn't hack out on very busy roads, that is my choice and your criticism of that just highlights the hypocrisy of your post, suggesting we all pull together on issues.

It is nothing to do with where we come from, what horse boxes we drive or how well off we are and everything to do with attitude.

I love where I live, and I really like the people who live here. I understand that horse muck is not everyone's bag and I don't have an issue with picking it up. I don't have to, I'm not required to, but it is just a nice thing to do.
 
We do a route through the village and back that we call our "anti laminitis walk" (ALW) which is basically a mile and a half with a turnround at the far end. It's also great if the horses are unsettled, we're short of time, the evenings are getting too dark to wander far etc.

We use our ALW as a bit of village PR, chatting to people along the way, and have a number of children who rush out to come and stroke the horses. On one recent occasion, someone outside the local pub dashed home and fetched seaside rock to feed them on their way back through the village. We've heard about people's long gone horses or retired ones that live in the back garden, we've introduced horses to terrified dogs, explained why ours are snorting and side-stepping at roadworks etc etc.

We had one new child on Friday night who was very excited and was brought out by grandma. While we were doing the usual nose stroking and telling him their names, my friend's horse did a huge poo (on the road) which led to such hysterical laughter from small boy that his mother came dashing out to see what the noise was, obviously imagining he'd had his hand bitten off. He found it so hilarious that he had to dash inside to get granddad who patently wasn't at all amused....The poo had disappeared when I drove past on the way home.

My horse is one of those who does tend to go in the same place every time, usually not at anyone's drive end fortunately! (Although there was someone in the village we didn't like and for a while he dumped outside their house every time - I must have been transmitting sub-consciously as he hasn't done it since they moved!) The village is full of horses and, therefore, the road is pretty well littered with muck. My usual solution is to drive through it on the way home to flatten it. It's very rural and no-one has complained but I do sometimes feel conscious of the sheer volume we all leave.

But I would not be happy at trying to get off, clear up and remount, as there are one or two people in the village who don't feel the speed limit has anything to do with them and we do have to keep a careful eye on the traffic. They will all happily go to the veg man (who veg are grown in best horse poo delivered by his neighbour and, occasionally, our yard) but don't make the link between the "joys" of village life and the realities of it.
 
I do get where Pedantic is coming from about this. I too live in an area that has been hugely built up/over in the time I lived here and also feel that consideration is given to everyone BUT horse riders - little used, very expensive cycle lanes that narrow the road hugely but we aren't allowed on. Lots of extra traffic on the roads while bridleways are effectively blocked by being rerouted down the edge of industrial estates and other unsuitable areas. Being forced to 'share' routes with cyclists, off roaders and pedestrians - we never seem to get priority anywhere! Losing grazing to building and what is left being treated as a public park by new residents, mind you some of the complaints are hilarious...

I have had people come out and have a go about riding down a residential road - apparently 9am on a weekend morning is too early to walk down there as they want a lie in and the sound of hooves wakes them up. The second time it happened I suggested earplugs. They also complain about poo to the extent of trying to start a campaign to ban horses from that estate. What they forget is that the only other exit from the yard is onto a dual carriageway where we would have to go 2 miles to a busy roundabout to change direction as the there are barriers in the middle of the road...and that estate is only 5 years old. These residents complain about everything, cows mooing, cars and machinery going to the yard and on one never to be forgotten day, a horse being shot in the field after a catastrophic accident - reporting the gunshot to the police was one thing but coming down to shout their mouth off about how 'unacceptable it was to upset them like that' and had to be told to leave by the police. These people are not unique by any means just particularly vociferous.

So yes, I do understand why riders and owners lose all patience and start to dig their heels in because it appears that we are the only ones making any compromise or concession and there is only so many times you can do that before you are pushed out completely. I used to be happy to try and work with people to avoid upset but sod that for a game of soldiers when nobody is prepared to work with me.
 
Pedantic said:
Yea well not everyone is as entitled and as well off as you to go swanning off to find huge swathes of countryside after work at the drop of a hat, the rest of us who live in the real world have to get on with what we have, not everyone has transport either, no wonder there is such a divide in the equestrian circles of "happy" hackers looked down upon and "hunting fraternity" classed as toffs etc, the horsey communities lack of togetherness over issues will be it's downfall.
Of course then there is the jealousy factor creeps in so much in the horsey game, because one's horse can't even ride off the yard without crapping itself at a plastic bag, never mind even go near traffic, so then anyone that does is ohhhhhhhhh such a bad rider person blah blah.
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Sorry Pedantic but I'm with RTE on this one too. A lot of our local riders infuriate me with their crap attitude when riding on the road, if they infuriate me as a fellow horse owner how much do they infuriate the non-horsey types? Good manners cost nothing.
 
RunToEarth said:
That attitude is why so many people think horsey people are a bunch of entitled snobs.

Why would you not pick horse muck up, if you know it is going to cause bad feeling in your local community? We all live here and love the place, just because you have a right for your horse to crap everywhere doesn't mean you should exercise that right.
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Just because someone lives near to me, does not mean that I am in the same community as them. It is like the difference between friends you can choose and relatives you cannot.
 
RunToEarth said:
I love where I live, and I really like the people who live here. I understand that horse muck is not everyone's bag and I don't have an issue with picking it up. I don't have to, I'm not required to, but it is just a nice thing to do.
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yep. Used to keep my horse at an RS in a village, we would go round and pick up any after riding. I think because we did this there was never any hassle about doing it immediately.Just like being courteous to dog walkers, nordic walkers, local farmers, car drivers and talking to enquiring, feral children its not done because I am a toff or because I feel I should or have to (and I am very much a happy hacker). Its just good manners and a bit of positive PR hurts noone.
 
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cbmcts said:
I do get where Pedantic is coming from about this. I too live in an area that has been hugely built up/over in the time I lived here and also feel that consideration is given to everyone BUT horse riders - little used, very expensive cycle lanes that narrow the road hugely but we aren't allowed on. Lots of extra traffic on the roads while bridleways are effectively blocked by being rerouted down the edge of industrial estates and other unsuitable areas. Being forced to 'share' routes with cyclists, off roaders and pedestrians - we never seem to get priority anywhere! Losing grazing to building and what is left being treated as a public park by new residents, mind you some of the complaints are hilarious...

I have had people come out and have a go about riding down a residential road - apparently 9am on a weekend morning is too early to walk down there as they want a lie in and the sound of hooves wakes them up. The second time it happened I suggested earplugs. They also complain about poo to the extent of trying to start a campaign to ban horses from that estate. What they forget is that the only other exit from the yard is onto a dual carriageway where we would have to go 2 miles to a busy roundabout to change direction as the there are barriers in the middle of the road...and that estate is only 5 years old. These residents complain about everything, cows mooing, cars and machinery going to the yard and on one never to be forgotten day, a horse being shot in the field after a catastrophic accident - reporting the gunshot to the police was one thing but coming down to shout their mouth off about how 'unacceptable it was to upset them like that' and had to be told to leave by the police. These people are not unique by any means just particularly vociferous.

So yes, I do understand why riders and owners lose all patience and start to dig their heels in because it appears that we are the only ones making any compromise or concession and there is only so many times you can do that before you are pushed out completely. I used to be happy to try and work with people to avoid upset but sod that for a game of soldiers when nobody is prepared to work with me.
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Not just me then.

Sounds all too familiar, I have just driven past the McDonalds and Restaurant and MAHOOSIVE new industrial building and seeing another going up, all over where we "used" to ride away from anyone, yesterday we rode a regular route which is away from roads etc, but their is a lane with a gate to the water works at one point, and what do we see, a pile of McDonalds crap dumped, no one seems to bothered how offensive that is to me or how many weeks that will take to rot away, but oh a bit of minced grass on the road and it's bloody horse riders, the riding fraternity need to wake up to whats happening, but I fear with the complacent attitude it's already too late, as I said previous, I am glad my riding days are nearer there end rather than just beginning.

When I did endurance riding, it would be interesting to know how I would be expected to keep my horse fit, lets look at an ordinary day, up at 6.30am, go to yard, sort horse, go home second breakfast, got to work for 8 hours, takes me to 5.00pm, have tea, go to farm bring in, groom tack up, maybe 6.00/6.30pm, how does anyone suggest I keep my horse fit to ride say 15 miles at the weekend, I haven't got time to start hitching trailers water hay drive what at least an hour to swan off to the "swathes" of countryside, ride for 1.5 hours drive back say an hour unhitch sort net park trailer wash horse turn out and go home, totally unpractical, going to be at least 9.30pm by the time I have finished, pootling around a menage for 2 hours in circles boring the crap out of both me and my horse isn't an option, when they build a massive housing estate or whatever near a yard that has been there since forever, it ain't gonna cut it when some whiney individual comes out moaning about a bit of minced up grass.

Amazes me how this country ever won two world wars, Oh I know, we abused millions of horse's on both side's to our ends, I bet a bit of horse poo wasn't a problem then.

Some junky chavs no job getting benefits get their syringes lager cans fag ends and all the rest of their dross and crap picked up by the local authority, I have worked for at least 46 years, I expect any horse poo problems "IF" it is a problem to be sorted by the same Dept I fund on a regular basis.
 
Before I moved to France, I organised sponsored rides with monies going to WHW and BHS. One year we had all sorts of hassle with the local police as riders had to ride half a mile along a quiet road to the forest ride. The police wrote to me telling me I would be held personally responsible in the event of an 'accident' on said road. Two people came to my help the local WHW officer who was ex-Strathclyde mounted police and the Chair of BHS Scotland, who was a Sheriff.

BHS Chair had been involved in a sponsored ride some years before, where riders were told that droppings had to be cleared off the road. Needless to say that never happened. She was outraged that riders would either have to dismount or their families would now have to walk along the middle of the road picking up poo. There was no obligation for horse riders to do this and secondly a potential H&S nightmare. I suspect the risks to the poo pickers far exceeded the risk of e-coli being spread around on the tyres of cars.
 
If I ever dare to ride on the roads near my yard, there are occasions where i will go on the pavement to avoid part of the busy roads, my horse always does a poo on the pavement but I always do drive back round after and pick it up but don't if on the road.
 
I totally understand Pedantic's point of view. Our hacking is very limited and it's impossible to avoid going through a housing estate. Riding through the estate, it's like going back in time - it's a busy road but there are small children literally playing in the middle of the road. Then there's the litter from all the takeaways, overflowing bins (the council won't empty them if they're "too full" - hence there is a serious rat problem). So the odd bit of horse poo on the road is certainly not a priority. The children are at far more risk from the cars than they would ever be from horse poo.
We are always ultra-polite to everyone and let the children stroke the horses (although my heart was in my mouth recently when a bunch of tiny kids in flip flops ran into the road and stood right next to the gees). But I draw the line at going out afterwards and picking up poo. Apart from the fact that going down that road in the car would mean me running the risk of knocking down the hoards of small children, I've got to say that time is very precious to me and I there are times when I need to go to work after riding. If I had to factor in the time to drive around and pick up poo I would literally never hack out.

Not only that, there are lots of other riders in the area and I'm not sure I'd be able to remember which poo belonged to my horses.
 
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Quote Nancykitt
"Not only that, there are lots of other riders in the area and I'm not sure I'd be able to remember which poo belonged to my horses."

Yea I find that funny LOL :-), because if someone asks me if that horse poo is mine, I reply with I don't know, I haven't had it DNA tested, and then also say if it it hasn't got a little flag in it with POLO written on it, then it's not mine ;-)
 
I have never been in an area where picking poo off the road was either done, or thought it should be done. The whole concept is completely alien to me, as is having time to drive round after it later which seems an odd way to save the planet unless you really don't ride far at all. The only road users it really affects is motorcyclists, but they don't usually ride in the gutter where we leave it so not an issue.
 
I will go back and pick up if on the little estate, or on the school road in my village, but on the main roads it would be too dangerous. Anyway how would you carry it home. I do carry a plastic bag and glove in case he poos somewhere awkward, but can imagine the fun I would have carrying a plastic bag of poo home on my pony. Lol.
 
ester said:
I have never been in an area where picking poo off the road was either done, or thought it should be done. The whole concept is completely alien to me, as is having time to drive round after it later which seems an odd way to save the planet unless you really don't ride far at all. The only road users it really affects is motorcyclists, but they don't usually ride in the gutter where we leave it so not an issue.
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i feel the same really. I've never known anyone to go back and pick up their poo where they've left it. Maybe because where we ride we ride on country lanes so not really through any houses. There's the odd farm house and a row of houses on one road but no kids would be playing out on those narrow roads. I can kind of understand both sides. I know that to some people horse poo is disgusting and shouldn't be left on the roads, they think of it the same way as dog poo. I would much rather step in a load of horse poo then dog poo that's for sure :D But I don't see why we should have to go round and pick up after our horses. I would not have the time to drive round where I hack and remove horse poo - and considering the roads it could be down right dangerous to pull over and become a hazard yourself!

If my horse pooed in a very very inconvenient location, right outside someones door, on a pavement (if i had to go on the pavement for any reason), then I may jump off and move it to the side or something but I don't think I will be picking it up otherwise!
 
If my horse pooed on a pavement then I would go back and pick it up. Otherwise I leave it, although most of our hacking routes are rural. I do see that some people might find it disgusting, but equally we live in the countryside so a bit of horse poo should be the least of their worries.
 
I haven't needed to hack anywhere that has pavements for about 10 years!

One of mine never poops with a rider on, the other one poops as he walks and you barely notice. I would never ever consider going back and clearing it up. It's just a countryside thing imo.
 
I don't think anyone has said all poos should be picked up? Selective thread reading going on here, I think.
If my horse shat on a pavement, or right outside someones house in the village I would clear it up. I don't think anyone heads off to the open road to find anything their horse may have left behind. The people who leave human **** in our gateways, now I wish they would clear that up.
 
The thread did say droppings on the road though? Not the pavement or have I missed your point?
I don't think I have ever been on a pavement for my horse to shat on, have mostly done village riding but have also been round the housing estates of the local town riding for other people and it has never come up as an issue for residents.
 
ester said:
The thread did say droppings on the road though? Not the pavement or have I missed your point?
I don't think I have ever been on a pavement for my horse to shat on, have mostly done village riding but have also been round the housing estates of the local town riding for other people and it has never come up as an issue for residents.
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Fair enough. I also said I would pick it up if it was right by someones front door/gate, but on the road.
 
Pedantic said:
Second class citizens, don't ride on the roads don't ride in traffic at works time school time fun run sponsored walk time cycle event you name it don't ride it anytime, don't ride on the path don't use cycle track don't use bus lane don't get in anyone's way on a bridleway particularly cyclist and joggers and pushchairs don't forget to grovel wave and smile when a car actually slows down going past you don't upset dog owners basically just don't do anything with your horse, thank God I am nearer the end of my riding days than the younger ones on here, as with wimpy lack of backbone attitude evident in the horse fraternity it's obvious there won't be an equestrian activity outside a field if you can find one that hasn't got a housing site commercial park or McDonalds built on it, maybe everyone should sell their horse's and buy a farty papa nicole piece of crap or Toyota Anus to run around in for fun, at least you won't have to muck it out and the deadly fumes are out of sight out of mind for the drones, plus you can illegally park all over grass verges and paths and no one cares.
If you buy a house near stables expect horse poo, if you don't like the church bell don't live near a church, if you don't like farm smells don't live near one, not complicated.
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This.

I'm sick of the way horse riders are expected to act all grateful for being allowed to go about their legal business, and tolerate verbal carp from people to boot. Other sports are not persecuted in the same way.

Farmers are supposed to clear their mud off the road because it's a hazard, I've yet to meet one who does. Cats are allowed to roam free and carp in anyone's garden, public park or path. I don't see cat owners being persecuted for the mess they make, even by those who hate cat carp and that's potentially toxic to humans. Half those people using the paths would think nothing of throwing a drinks can, bag of dog poo or crisp wrapper away in the hedge, walking their dog/letting it poo in someone's private field etc. They're not saints of people who deserve special treatment or protecting from the "horror" of horse poo, they're normal people some of whom will be quite nasty in general.

If you go outside your front door you have to expect to find "outside" things such as litter and animal poo, it's life, it happens. Lots of people have children and I can't stand the sound of them screeching in temper or whilst playing, but I don't expect them all to be told to shut up just because that's what would suit me. There's no way I'd ever get off my horse to kick the poo to the side of the path or whatever, it's unreasonable for others to expect it.
 
Hmmm...
I have never picked up a poo, however in Cumbria, its very rural. It would not be unheard of for a tractor to go through Carlisle city centre in rush hour. If you don't like rural, dont live in Cumbria.

Like another poster said there are too many people on we are losing our countryside too.
100 years ago everyone, urban or rural woukd of be used to poo, and there were probably less complaints.
I find it out how people get more upset about a horse poo than a used needle etc. I know which i would be more worried about!
 
Sugar_and_Spice said:
Cats are allowed to roam free and carp in anyone's garden, public park or path. I don't see cat owners being persecuted for the mess they make, even by those who hate cat carp and that's potentially toxic to humans.
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I'm not sure cat owners could be prosecuted unless a successful argument was made that the pooing was damaging the property or causing a public health hazard. The odd carp in the flower beds or undergrowth won't lead to the **** hitting the fan, so to speak.
 
I would always move onto the grass verge if my horse wanted to do one, mainly because having ridden a motorbike for a few years and coming from a very motorbike-keen family I know how extremely slippy it would be especially if it was on a corner where a motorcyclist didnt have time to see it. Otherwise, what on earth are you supposed to do - I would have asked him!
 
The droppings were on the road not the path, verge or private land.

MagicMelon said:
Otherwise, what on earth are you supposed to do - I would have asked him!
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I actually didn't even reply at all. Not as intentional rudeness: I honestly didn't know how to respond! I did have a bit of a giggle to myself further up the road though when I started to think of the possibilities. Did he think I had a shovel up my jumper or what?

ester said:
I have never been in an area where picking poo off the road was either done, or thought it should be done. The whole concept is completely alien to me, as is having time to drive round after it later which seems an odd way to save the planet unless you really don't ride far at all. The only road users it really affects is motorcyclists, but they don't usually ride in the gutter where we leave it so not an issue.
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This. I am really surprised that people do this. It has never crossed my mind. I was genuinely surprised by this man's expectations!

Just to test if this opinion was solely that of a horsey mind, I told work (non-horsey) colleagues this story. They all thought it was hilarious. "Eee. Did he honestly expect you to get off your horse in the middle of the road and pick it up? How dangerous! What with? A shovel or a giant poo bag?" was one response from a completely non-country, non-horsey person so I'm fairly sure that most (sensible) people are capable of understanding the situation.
 
cauda equina said:
Actually, I do, if my horse does droppings in the village.
Horse muck is inoffensive to us, but some people find it gross
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I have too but only when my mare pooed next to the local park where kids were playing, I wouldn't dream of picking it up anywhere else! People need to get a grip, we live in a rural area, cows often stop traffic and poo all over the road - no one moans about that!
 
merlin100 said:
As a cyclist, I'd rather have horse dung on my tyres than dog crap! 99 times out of a 100, it ends up latter rather than the former. :(
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I once came across a layer of very fluid cow muck right across the road when I was cycling down a hill. The best thing you can do is close your mouth!

As for the irate houseowners, I wonder if they would tackle a member of the mounted police if one of those horses did the deed? Somehow I rather doubt it.
 
fatpiggy said:
As for the irate houseowners, I wonder if they would tackle a member of the mounted police if one of those horses did the deed? Somehow I rather doubt it.
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*SNORTS* You have got to be kidding! As a retired (2014) mountie, I can tell you that we were sick to death of people asking us to pick up after the horses. We had to explain how horses were different to dogs...

Of course, when working City Centre for a football match or demo, it was worse as we may be on pedestrian precincts and too busy (as in under fire, or "escorting" fans here, there and everywhere) to do anything about it.

On a precinct we would try to find the local council street sweeper, or just apologise. If it were somewhere awful, such as outside a cafe, we would go back later. In a crowd it would not be safe to dismount.

It also makes me laugh when people wear the "Polite" kit, We had several instances where people deliberately swerved at us, knowing we were mounted Police, so why anyone would put that particular target on themselves when out riding their horses I do not know!

"Polite" kit does get mistaken for Police kit, especially with the blue and white chequer band. Our Inspector had to sort out complaints of a Police horse and rider doing XYZ in an inappropriate manner, in X location..... Nope not us, none of us anywhere near.
 
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