# Picking up manure on trails???



## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I would ask them if they would like you to do that. 

They may not. Because when they mow over manure it will be broken apart and flung around. That will be good for the soil and ultimately good for the grasses.


----------



## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

We have tried (with pretty good success) to teach our horses to leave the mowed or groomed trails to pee or poop. My horse actually taught my daughters horse how to do this. It makes the trails cleaner and in most cases the horse can just get to the side of the trail and do their business without harm


----------



## Phantomcolt18 (Sep 25, 2007)

I would definitely do as Boots said and ask them if they require that you clean up. If they do, what about one of those fold up camping shovels? 



https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Folding-Shovel/13848635


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

We used to ride on trails shared by bikers where signs instructed horse riders to remove any manure from the trail.

Our horse's are pretty obliging about being ridden to the side of the trail to poop so it was rarely a problem but the few times where we failed or couldn't easily get off the track, one of us dismounted and kicked the pile off the track. Wipe your boot off in the grass or dirt if needed.


----------



## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

I personally wouldn't worry about that unless it was in their front lawn. If you feel you really need to, I'd just kick it off with my foot.


----------



## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

Nice neighbors! I would kick it off to the side where they don't mow and clean my boot off in the grass.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

carshon said:


> We have tried (with pretty good success) to teach our horses to leave the mowed or groomed trails to pee or poop. My horse actually taught my daughters horse how to do this. It makes the trails cleaner and in most cases the horse can just get to the side of the trail and do their business without harm


You're my hero. This is by far the best solution which I will try to implement.


----------



## Woodhaven (Jan 21, 2014)

We have permission from neighbours to ride on their property and if it is an area where they walk I will get off and kick the manure to the side, just have to remember to wear old boots. Further back where people usually aren't around we try to get the horse to move to the side.
We are lucky to have these trails available to us and don't want to abuse the privilege, if it is in their driveway or close to the house I will drive back later and remove the poop. 
I guess as others say, ask the folks how they feel about it and go from there.


----------



## Txshecat0423 (May 27, 2020)

Acadianartist said:


> You're my hero. This is by far the best solution which I will try to implement.


When I rode Mounted Patrol, it was for a pretty high end suburb of Houston and the elite residents didn’t want to see horse poop…the horror!!! We basically potty-trained our horses to only go in select wooded areas which were hidden from public view. That was about ten years ago and Skip STILL remembers that and will go to a less public place to go. If I tap him right above his tail, he knows we’re not in a spot he can go and to wait until we get to one. Pretty funny that he still remembers it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Kalraii (Jul 28, 2015)

Man.. this is so considerate. I have been on a few rides recently, on a friends horse though, where we've been forced onto sidewalks coz of insane traffic and drivers (like barely a meter across coz old part of city) and the horses have had the squits right there. In front of peoples walkways. It's not even shovable or kickable even if we did get off. So god bless you. We quickly trotted our escape and pray no one recognises me from the neighbourhood 😭 😅 The ladies I go with with decades under their belt gave me this advice: "tell em you had to dodge a nutty driver the horse [email protected] itself with fear, _literally_!" I reckon the fact they are nice enough to let you means they are well aware of the risk. I can't imagine how the odd poo here and there would affect them that much. Not as if you're riding a string over it! I look forward to fancy new trail pictures  I think I'll try train Katie as well but she's a good girl usually and quite private.


----------



## pasomountain (Dec 19, 2018)

It's pretty impractical/impossible to remove poop on a trail for those of us who might need a mounting block. If I got off to kick poop every time my horse went potty then I'd have to just walk and lead him around on all the trails and that sort of defeats the whole purpose of a trail ride. I would hope the owners of any horse trails would understand things like that--you know, that horses poo and we can't always do much about it.


----------



## SteadyOn (Mar 5, 2017)

My horse rarely poops during rides because she always poops in the aisle when I tack her up, at least once if not twice, and then again when I untack her. Soooo considerate of her.


----------



## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

pasomountain said:


> It's pretty impractical/impossible to remove poop on a trail for those of us who might need a mounting block. If I got off to kick poop every time my horse went potty then I'd have to just walk and lead him around on all the trails and that sort of defeats the whole purpose of a trail ride. I would hope the owners of any horse trails would understand things like that--you know, that horses poo and we can't always do much about it.


Well, they're not horse trails per se, just trails the neighbors mow so his wife and dog can go on walks. They are absolutely amazing neighbors, and will go all out to help out others. They would not likely ever complain about anything. Which is why I want to be extra considerate. It's a privilege I don't want to take for granted. So I will work on getting Rusty to move over when he needs to go, and in the meantime, I figure getting on and off him once during a ride won't kill me. I want to do longer and longer rides, and make a day of it, so while I want to keep our setup lightweight, I would like to be able to bring a lunch, stop and let him graze, etc. Getting off him and finding a stump to climb back on him will be good training for both of us.


----------



## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Txshecat0423 said:


> When I rode Mounted Patrol, it was for a pretty high end suburb of Houston and the elite residents didn’t want to see horse poop…the horror!!! We basically potty-trained our horses to only go in select wooded areas which were hidden from public view. That was about ten years ago and Skip STILL remembers that and will go to a less public place to go. If I tap him right above his tail, he knows we’re not in a spot he can go and to wait until we get to one. Pretty funny that he still remembers it.


Excuse me for butting in, but this is hilarious... and of course, as we all know, the elite don't personally have bowel movements, and all they ever pee is rosewater...😋


----------

