Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeViewsReaders' ViewsKeep roads for cars not horses

Keep roads for cars not horses

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I am writing to express my opinion about the increasing problem (as I see it) of riders and their horses dominating our local roads.

Not only are they around every bend (what’s wrong with riding over the fields, in the time-honoured tradition – who on earth wants to plod along country roads at 0.5 mph anyway?), making one slow down to a snail’s pace every couple of hundred yards, but it seems to be OK for huge piles of their faeces to despoil our roads, spraying up under my wheel arches.

On one occasion it was weeks before I could detach the last remnants and my car smelt like a farmyard dung heap for ages. 

In the light of the stringent regulations regarding the disposal of canine excreta, why are horse riders not required to clean up their animal’s mess after them?

We all know that horse dung is good for the roses, and apparently not as objectionable as dog mess because it’s a vegetarian product and hence full of straw and soft summer grass and doesn’t presumably transmit any nasty diseases to small children and other more vulnerable members of the community, but I for one object to driving through piles of it every time I want to leave the village. 

At the rate the number of equestrian commuters seems to be multiplying and clogging up the route, I might as well ride a horse to Morrisons myself on a Saturday – it would probably be just as quick as trying to drive there by car in my normal way!

A disgruntled road tax payer
Alvechurch