I really enjoyed walking with Tessa on that trail last weekend. The 4 mile walk was through interesting terrain, Tessa was well behaved, and aside from one empty candy wrapper, one empty beer can, and the dozen or so piles of horse poop, all we saw was flora and fauna native to the area.
Horses have crapped without being cleaned up after for as long as people have been riding them.
I'll admit my experience with horses is pretty limited. I've seen them at state and county fairs and been a spectator at an English style riding competition or two. It is quite possible that the places I've been don't do things the normal and customary way, but every time I've seen horses in an area shared with folks who are walking, I've also seen a wheelbarrow and a pretty impressive looking shovel. Whenever a horse poops in an area that people will walk through, that amazingly wide shovel is used to clean up the mess right away.
When I made the first post in this thread I wasn't real sure how I felt about the "road apples" on the path. But after spending waaaay too much time reading and writing in this thread, I'm feeling more and more strongly that horse poop on a trail that is shared with folks on foot and on bicycles is litter and should be cleaned up.
Also, comparing pop cans to horse manure? Seriously? Do you not see the difference?
Of course I see the difference between horse manure and empty pop cans.
- Horse poop is fecal matter. Pop cans are not.
- If I step on a pop can I'll hear a clattering sound as the can skitters across the trail. If I step on a "road apple" I'll have a crappy mess on my shoe. I may also slip and fall.
- If "road apples" are left on a public trail long enough, rain will eventually come along and wash away the residue. When it rains on a pop can, all that happens is the pop can gets wet.
- If I'm walking down a path and see an empty pop can, I can pick it up and carry it to the nearest trash can. If I'm walking down a path and see a pile of horse poop I can.... well... I can walk around it and hope no one else will be unfortunate enough to step in it or ride their bicycle through it.
Dogs are not banned from trails because some people don't pick up after them, they're banned when people start complaining.
That almost sounds like "if you see someone who isn't cleaning up after their dog, don't complain because something bad might happen to the folks who are leaving the mess." I suspect the real concern, as someone mentioned earlier in the thread, might be "if you see horse poop on a trail shared by walkers, joggers, bicycle riders, and horses, don't complain because the horses might be banned from the trail."
So please accept the fact that I now feel very strongly that horse poop on a shared trail is litter. That belief isn't going to be changed because "everyone does it," "we've always done it that way," "when the horse I'm riding poops on a shared trail it is part of nature," or "the pile of poop will decompose and get washed away in a week or two."
I am not at all interested in having horses banned from the trails. So what suggestions do you have to get that litter taken care of, without running the risk of getting horses banned from the trails in the process?
Oh... seeding clouds so it rains every day and washes the trails clean is out of the question. As is having me continuously run up and down the 4 mile trail and asking anyone I see astride a horse to be sure to clean up any mess their horse makes on a shared use trail.
Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions.
Rob
