The Kintyre Forum

Who is going to clean up the mess they leave? It is law that dog owners clean up after they're animals but I've never seen horse riders get off with a carrier bag.

Agree. I followed two horses down the 'cuttin' a couple of weeks ago and it would have taken some amount of dogs to leave the mess they did right in the middle of the path, had to lift the wee one over it. The horses kept on going down Kilkerran Road....

Great stuff for the garden.

to be fair, horse's don't tend to leave their presents in the center of town, unlike dog's (and their idiot owners who don't clean up after them).

i agree a horse's poo is nothing minor- but you don't encounter it on a day to day basis...dog poo on the other hand.

(and just to be devil's advocate- what about sheep poo........)

Anyone know how to "get off with a carrier bag"?Please advise.

As a dog owner, me and my family always have a plastic bag handy to clean up after our dog. Re the horses manure, for some reason i don't find it offensive. I've heard of people buying it for thier garden. And as someone else said what about sheep, cows and rabbits?

Reading up on this, apparently a full grown horse produces 8-9 tons of this stuff in a year. A valuable resource if used as a fertiliser.

It used to be more common on the streets of Campbeltown. There was Davy Black delivering milk with a horse and cart, Neily McFadyen delivering coal, and there was the slaughterhouse horse and cart that transported the meat to the butchers shops around the town. No doubt there were more in earlier years, but these are the ones I can remember. That must have been approx 27 tons of it landing on the streets of Campbeltown every year. As far as I know it's not a health hazard like dog waste can be, and as horses are herbivorous, it contains a lot of undigested plant matter and is not particularly offensive, (unless of course you accidentally fall into it)

The flies love it!

Hope nobody's eating their dinner while reading this.

dustybin wrote:Who is going to clean up the mess they leave? It is law that dog owners clean up after they're animals but I've never seen horse riders get off with a carrier bag.

No need to clean up as horse poo is not like dog poo as it is mainly made up of grass and you probably walk on grass everyday so whats the problem ?
Horse poo is biodegradeable and breaks up easily ,the slightest bit of rain ( and we are not short of that ) it will wash away.

The beach is a big place so if you encounter it then there would be no need for you to go anywhere near it. Just like if you were at Southend beach and you came across a cow poo , the farmers dont pick them up !

Its not as if the whole town and beach are going to be covered in the stuff ( unlike dog poo ) and horses are not allowed on pavements so no worries there. And it must have beed a Humungus poo the horse did down the cutting if a child had to be lifted over it , as was mentioned in one of the other posts

Also the beach is possibly full of Human poo as well as have seen tissues and poo together and I dont think dogs wipe their bottoms So yet again why dont the humans responsible pick up that.

Please just help us horsey folk get access to the beach so we can enjoy our hobby , riding on our beatifull beaches and dont worry about the poo

What i was actually trying to get at is, when i'm walking along the beach i dont really want to be dodging loads of horse poo whither it is hazardous or not it is still waste. As for cows and sheep!! i cant say i'v seen any wondering round westport beach recently they are all in fenced fields.

dustybin wrote:What i was actually trying to get at is, when i'm walking along the beach i dont really want to be dodging loads of horse poo whither it is hazardous or not it is still waste. As for cows and sheep!! i cant say i'v seen any wondering round westport beach recently they are all in fenced fields.

Why would you be dodging loads of horse poo ? They sometimes dont even have one on a ride out and honestly the size of Westport beach is huge and its unlikely that a horse poo would take up the whole of the beach.

Its not going to be a herd of horses that are going to be on the beach so you will probably have to go looking for a horse poo rather than dodge them.

What harm is it going to do to you anyway its not sloppy like cow poo so if you did stand in one it probably wouldnt even stick to your shoe ( unlike dog poo )

I guess you dont know much about horses and their toilet habits but I can talk all day about it

You would have more a chance of standing in a wee dog or human poo as they are harder to see .

I also said that the cows were at Southend beach not Westport

LANDROVER ROGER wrote:Anyone know how to "get off with a carrier bag"?Please advise.

I am amazed at some of the responses to this post!

Firstly the "dog pooh" issue: The problem with dog faeces, or pooh if that is what you prefer to call it, is that it may contain eggs from "Toxacara canis" - a round worm that is prevalent in dogs. If ingested by humans this can cause clinical disease such as eye problems - particularly for children. This is why the Council's Environmental Health department take an interest in "dog pooh" and how it is disposed of.

As far as I know, horse pooh, along with cow pooh and sheep pooh, (all these species are herbivores), although these may be aesthetically unpleasant to those who do not live in the country, do not cause any human health problems. Therefore I cannot see any reason why we cannot live and let live and agree to have some tolerance towards low key and non-invasive recreational users of the beach including horse riders. As previously stated, a horse out on a ride may not pooh at all - and if it does, this will have a very small impact on the environment - in fact it is good news for wildlife as the insects that break it down form part of the food chain for other insects and birds. The reduction in numbers of some bird species is known to be due to the lack of insects which in turn is due to the lack of herbivore pooh. Those who wish to enjoy the countryside should be tolerant of the natural processes upon which the wild life of the countryside depends including herbivore pooh!

mary wrote:I am amazed at some of the responses to this post!

Firstly the "dog pooh" issue: The problem with dog faeces, or pooh if that is what you prefer to call it, is that it may contain eggs from "Toxacara canis" - a round worm that is prevalent in dogs. If ingested by humans this can cause clinical disease such as eye problems - particularly for children. This is why the Council's Environmental Health department take an interest in "dog pooh" and how it is disposed of.

As far as I know, horse pooh, along with cow pooh and sheep pooh, (all these species are herbivores), although these may be aesthetically unpleasant to those who do not live in the country, do not cause any human health problems. Therefore I cannot see any reason why we cannot live and let live and agree to have some tolerance towards low key and non-invasive recreational users of the beach including horse riders. As previously stated, a horse out on a ride may not pooh at all - and if it does, this will have a very small impact on the environment - in fact it is good news for wildlife as the insects that break it down form part of the food chain for other insects and birds. The reduction in numbers of some bird species is known to be due to the lack of insects which in turn is due to the lack of herbivore pooh. Those who wish to enjoy the countryside should be tolerant of the natural processes upon which the wild life of the countryside depends including herbivore pooh!

Brilliant post Mary

Thanks for that

And on a lighter note, when I die I want to come back as a horse. Why?. because they have a licence too sh-it in the street.
Sorry, but this thread was screaming out for someone to say this, and yes it had to be RabMcD or me, but I beat him too it, mind you, I think he's in hiding after stepping on Enid's toes earlier, ho ho Rab, BIG mistake.

horses have worms also that can be passed in droppings.