# Horse Poop



## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Equinebrium said:


> "If your dog poops, please scoop." You've heard that saying, right? What about for horses? What do you do on the trail, especially on a public trail that is not strictly for equines? Most agree that you don't have to pick it up, just get it off the middle of the main trail. Although sensing when the horse must "go" and just move them aside is best, what if you don't have the chance? How does one do that? I have kicked it to spread it so it is not just one huge pile, but that is not ideal. Is there a small shovel you can pack with you?


I am absolutely not going to get down and move manure during a ride. 

Driving horses that use high traffic city roads will sometimes have a pouch (forget what it is called right now) that is attached behind the horse to collect manure. 

At trailheads/campgrounds, I will place the manure wherever it is appropriate. Some places have manure piles, some just ask that it be removed from the people areas of the campsite. We toss it off to the side, or in the bushes.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I never scoop out on a trail, ever.

I only go on trails marked for equine use though...never crossed my mind to scoop it up. I wouldn't. Lol.


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## Equinebrium (Dec 24, 2019)

AnitaAnne said:


> Driving horses that use high traffic city roads will sometimes have a pouch (forget what it is called right now) that is attached behind the horse to collect manure.


I have seen it. It is basically a horse diaper.
https://www.workinghorsetack.com/Catch-It-Manure-Bag-Horse-Diaper-p/bb2cb.htm


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

And horses used for parades that are one time events -think local clubs riding at Mardi Gras or other parade event have their own personal scoopers that follow with cans for immediate clean up. 



On trails no. If it is a trail open to horses then it is expected. In public areas where people congregate like the campsites then you poop, you scoop...


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

Equinebrium said:


> I have seen it. It is basically a horse diaper.
> https://www.workinghorsetack.com/Catch-It-Manure-Bag-Horse-Diaper-p/bb2cb.htm


Manure bags are what they are called. Never have seen one like that used, way to small for a working horse. The ones used were much larger, and came out more like a hammock


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

I had to giggle a bit as it never even crossed my mind to pick up after my horses while on trail. I couldn't even imagine doing that - how many times you'd have to get off and re-mount. 

But yes, in common staging areas or camping areas I always clean up my campsite. 

When we park on crown land I don't bother cleaning up after them - there is no point as there are wild horses and cattle herds out there who poop everywhere anyway.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

The difference would be that there is very little toxic effects on humans due to exposure to horse manure. On the other hand a single gram of dog poo can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans.

I don't pick up my horses poo when out on the trail. My dogs poo gets picked up and thrown away.


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I will clean a parking lot where my trailer was but I'm not scooping a trail. I did scoop in an indoor ring that I boarded at though, it was in the rules.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

There are signs on the horse trails that we often use, they’re shared with joggers and cyclists so I suppose the thinking behind it is that a jogger could trip up over a pile of poop or a bike wheel could skid or flip over it.
We do try to steer our horses to the side when we know they’re going to poop but we don’t get off to kick one over to the side


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## WildestDandelion (Apr 4, 2019)

We hack out on the streets in our neighborhood a lot. If the horses poop close to home, I go and scoop it. If not, I leave it. I have had neighbors get angry at me for this. Once morning I woke up to someone having scooped the manure into my driveway. It dried up and blew away within a day. 

I don't feel it's the same as dog poo at all and see nothing wrong with leaving it but I know others disagree so I do the best I can. But I am not driving around with a bucket atfter my ride to collect manure that will be gone the next day anyway lol.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

Equinebrium said:


> What do you do on the trail, especially on a public trail that is not strictly for equines? Most agree that you don't have to pick it up, just get it off the middle of the main trail.



If the bears, coyotes, deer, racoons, and other wild animals all scoop their poop off the trail when they go, then I will for my horse too.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I know trails in Santa Barbara are requiring multi-use trails be cleaned after riders go through. I expect there are more and we will see this more frequently. 

It was also standard in Ireland when we rode on multi-use trails. But not on roads.


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## Equinebrium (Dec 24, 2019)

boots said:


> I know trails in Santa Barbara are requiring multi-use trails be cleaned after riders go through. I expect there are more and we will see this more frequently.
> 
> It was also standard in Ireland when we rode on multi-use trails. But not on roads.


I don't think it is "required" or "standard" on multi-use trails here, but it is an unwritten etiquette type thing, that's why I asked.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

LoriF said:


> The difference would be that there is very little toxic effects on humans due to exposure to horse manure. On the other hand a single gram of dog poo can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness, and serious kidney disorders in humans.
> 
> I don't pick up my horses poo when out on the trail. My dogs poo gets picked up and thrown away.


Horse poop is also good fertilizer. LOL MAN does our grass grow thick and green where someone left us a gift.

As to the OP question: Absolutely NOT going to clean horse poop on the trail That's ridiculous... and as far as moving off the trail? A lot of places we ride, there is no moving off the trail. Brush and undergrowth is far too thick, footing could be treacherous but dang it all if I can see it for the downed tree limbs and years of blackberry vines or briers or prairie grass covering the ground. Not going to risk stepping in a deep hole.... or on a snek.

Not to mention, none of our three that are saddle broke (Supes, Trigger, Gina) will tell us when they need to poop. You don't know till someone either makes a To Go deposit on the trail, or stops and cuts loose right there in the middle of it all.

Back at camp, depends on where I am. Coffee Mill has no policy on poop, but they don't have pens, just hi-lines and tie racks, so I carry a leaf rake and a manure rake in my trailer. Coffee Mill, I rake it to either spread it or toss it into the tree and brush line. Platter Flats requires it taken to a bin, so that's what I do. Pat Mayes requires a bin... but they have new, very deep sand in the pens, so 90% of any poop in there gets tilled under and broken up so you can't find it if you did try to rake it out. I get what I can, do my best to leave it looking nice and clean, and I take Trigger's poop home with in a 5 gal bucket, dump it when we get home.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Equinebrium said:


> I don't think it is "required" or "standard" on multi-use trails here, but it is an unwritten etiquette type thing, that's why I asked.


It is required according to a gentleman I know who rents horses to the public in Santa Barbara.

A call to the city offices would probably be useful. Though in my experience in Palm Springs, on other issues, asking more than one clerk is sometimes necessary.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

boots said:


> I know trails in Santa Barbara are requiring multi-use trails be cleaned after riders go through. I expect there are more and we will see this more frequently.
> 
> It was also standard in Ireland when we rode on multi-use trails. But not on roads.



I'm so grateful that our multi use trails where we ride do not see any bikers... hikers never complain about poop on trails, but I stumbled into a forum at Reddit about mountain bikers and most were from California and man did they HATE HORSE PEOPLE. They delighted in rushing a horse and spooking it, they called anyone with a horse 'rich d-bags' and worse... and chief among their complaints was poop on the trail.


Okay, I can get that... if you're on a bike racing breakneck through the terrain, hitting a steaming pile would be unpleasant.... but MAN. You'd think they were literal landmines these guys were kvetching about. I wisely kept my fingers still and backed out of that forum very quietly. They were vicious and hateful.... but also arrogant.... everything they accused horsemen of, they were.



I just kinda boggle at picking up poop on trails through. What a PITA to be required to do it. So so glad we ride in fairly wild areas that are inhospitable to casual mountain bikers and hikers... and there's no hard core bikers... or hikers... in our areas, at least not that I've ever seen.


I do suppose though if you're in a more cosmopolitan or suburban area, it would be expected of you, both due to smell and flies/insects it would draw, etc.


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## Equinebrium (Dec 24, 2019)

AtokaGhosthorse said:


> I do suppose though if you're in a more cosmopolitan or suburban area, it would be expected of you, both due to smell and flies/insects it would draw, etc.


Yep. To get into "real" horse country around here, it is a good three-hour drive, one way. I live in a more suburban area. The parks around here with horse trails are all multi.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Equinebrium said:


> Yep. To get into "real" horse country around here, it is a good three-hour drive, one way. I live in a more suburban area. The parks around here with horse trails are all multi.



Yeah, in which case I can understand the requirement. I think I'd buy one of those bags that hang back there, like the carriage horses have, tbh. That sort of trail and the sort of trails I ride are not the same things at all... and what I ride and what some others here ride (HOLY MOLY, that's some advanced trail riding stuff!) are not the same thing.


Just a side: Funny how a lot of things Horse can mean one thing to one person, and something else entirely to someone else. I camp with my horses... for me, that's using a hi line or a pen for the ponies, sleeping in my trailer with electricity and ac and a heater, a tv and a porta potty... the trailer and camp is 'home base', it doesn't move. For other people camping with horses means packing in, staying the night on the trail, and heading out deeper into the trails the next day.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

boots said:


> I know trails in Santa Barbara are requiring multi-use trails be cleaned after riders go through. I expect there are more and we will see this more frequently.
> 
> It was also standard in Ireland when we rode on multi-use trails. But not on roads.


I know a couple of people who live in Santa Barbara. Super nice people, but, they are so far removed from their food source they don't even go to the market to get it. No clue about environment, eco systems, plants and animals. No thought to how things are so linked. Just sit down and eat. 

I can sure think of a lot of things way worse to step on than horse poop.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

LoriF said:


> I know a couple of people who live in Santa Barbara. Super
> 
> nice people, but, they are so far removed from their food source they don't even go to the market to get it. No clue about environment, eco systems, plants and animals. No thought to how things are so linked. Just sit down and eat.
> 
> I can sure think of a lot of things way worse to step on than horse poopl


TOTAL THREAD DRIFT but I CANNAE RESIST.

T, my trail riding camping barrel racing friend... LOL her sister lives in California on the coast. I can't remember where but dear lord, I wanna say Santa Barbara.T's nephew comes to stay with T about 20 years ago. He was 14 at the time. She had a milk cow at the time (Also pigs, chickens, goats, beef cattle, the whole farm). T is milking the cow... Nephew is confused. So. very. confused. Leans down to look... Friend squirts him with milk... Nephew freaks out... 

OMG GROSS WHAT IS THAT! Nearly starts crying. 

Friend: Uh. That's milk.

NO IT ISN'T! WHAT IS THIS! IT'S WARM!

Milk.

NO! MILK DOESN'T COME FROM COWS!!!! It can't be milk!

So, T is just... astounded. Inquires further: Uhm. Where do you think milk comes from?

Kid replies: The store. 

He thought it was a lab formula or something, like Pepsi.

Kid got an education that summer... then last summer T's sister wanted chickens to have eggs, but her HOA won't let you have roos... understandably.

She calls T. WhaddIdo? 

T: Whaddya mean? Get some hens. You don't need a roo.

Sister: Buuutttt.... How will I get any eggs without a Roo?


Another education was had. Her sister is in her early 50s.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

AtokaGhosthorse said:


> TOTAL THREAD DRIFT but I CANNAE RESIST.
> 
> T, my trail riding camping barrel racing friend... LOL her sister lives in California on the coast. I can't remember where but dear lord, I wanna say Santa Barbara.T's nephew comes to stay with T about 20 years ago. He was 14 at the time. She had a milk cow at the time (Also pigs, chickens, goats, beef cattle, the whole farm). T is milking the cow... Nephew is confused. So. very. confused. Leans down to look... Friend squirts him with milk... Nephew freaks out...
> 
> ...



Not a drift at all because, this, is how it all starts with matters like we are talking about.

I work with the public and go around mentally shaking my head a lot.
It's not like I think that I'm all of that and a bag of chips in the intelligence department, and I don't want to be mean because you don't know what you don't know. But geeze louise, don't ?'s rocket off and make one investigate? It's not like it's all that hard to find stuff out these days.

I honestly don't even think that it has to do with intelligence anyway, something else is missing.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

@AtokaGhosthorse - that is really sad! I can understand chuckling at it, but it's really sad!

Horse people are a minority. I think it's very important to get along with other recreationists without getting pushed around, and pushed out of access to parks. 

The guy I know in SB says one reason he does it in a difficult, albeit beautiful, location is the satisfaction he gets giving urbanites exposure to horses. His operation may be the only personal contact they have to a horse. 

I don't ride trails, but support groups who provide education, and public relations information, on pleasure riding. I would hate to see access reduced.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

boots said:


> @*AtokaGhosthorse* - that is really sad! I can understand chuckling at it, but it's really sad!
> 
> Horse people are a minority. I think it's very important to get along with other recreationists without getting pushed around, and pushed out of access to parks.
> 
> ...



I know a guy in Houston... he's the guy that a video of him on his palomino stallion riding into a WalMart that went viral. Woody Fields. He takes his horse... a stallion no less... into inner city areas and dismounts... and lets the kids come to him. He said that's sometimes the only opportunity the kids get to see or touch a horse. He has one of those ridden daily stallions that's a good citizen. He's also working on promoting African American trail riding groups and African American Cowboy heritage groups as a way to get kids into a different type of life style, into different types of hobbies to give them hope for a better way of living and I support that 100%. He's like me - believes you can change a life by putting a horse in that life.


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## Horsef (May 1, 2014)

AtokaGhosthorse said:


> I'm so grateful that our multi use trails where we ride do not see any bikers... hikers never complain about poop on trails, but I stumbled into a forum at Reddit about mountain bikers and most were from California and man did they HATE HORSE PEOPLE. They delighted in rushing a horse and spooking it, they called anyone with a horse 'rich d-bags' and worse... and chief among their complaints was poop on the trail.
> 
> 
> Okay, I can get that... if you're on a bike racing breakneck through the terrain, hitting a steaming pile would be unpleasant.... but MAN. You'd think they were literal landmines these guys were kvetching about. I wisely kept my fingers still and backed out of that forum very quietly. They were vicious and hateful.... but also arrogant.... everything they accused horsemen of, they were.
> ...


I’ve seen a few threads on Reddit in which they had an absolute apoplexy about manure: “I went out into the nature to enjoy it, not step into sh..t” - mind boggling, at least to me. I mean, it’s nature - there is no mummy to sanitize it. Reddit skews urban, young and male so I guess that sort of makes sense.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

LoriF said:


> Not a drift at all because, this, is how it all starts with matters like we are talking about.
> 
> I work with the public and go around mentally shaking my head a lot.
> It's not like I think that I'm all of that and a bag of chips in the intelligence department, and I don't want to be mean because you don't know what you don't know. But geeze louise, don't ?'s rocket off and make one investigate? It's not like it's all that hard to find stuff out these days.
> ...



What's that saying? We have a device that fits in our pockets that can answer all the known questions in the universe... and we use them to look at funny videos of cats?


I mean... GOOGLE STUFF. Waste time on Youtube chasing Recommended Videos! You will learn so much! But... you have to know that you don't know... And I'm finding Willful Ignorance to be a trendy thing, especially lately. 20 years ago, a kid could be forgiven for not digging around online for answers, but when did we stop teaching the food chain to kids in school? or in TV shows? But then, I guess it's possible to be that ignorant... and it really IS sad. And worse, a lot of folks like that think 'us country folk' are the ignorant ones.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

AtokaGhosthorse said:


> I know a guy in Houston... he's the guy that a video of him on his palomino stallion riding into a WalMart that went viral. Woody Fields. He takes his horse... a stallion no less... into inner city areas and dismounts... and lets the kids come to him. He said that's sometimes the only opportunity the kids get to see or touch a horse. He has one of those ridden daily stallions that's a good citizen. He's also working on promoting African American trail riding groups and African American Cowboy heritage groups as a way to get kids into a different type of life style, into different types of hobbies to give them hope for a better way of living and I support that 100%. He's like me - believes you can change a life by putting a horse in that life.


I'm all down for this sort of stuff and making the world a better place for everyone. Now this kind of stuff is something. 

Horse poop on the dirt trails of the Santa Barbara hills is pretty much at the bottom of my priority list of world worries.

By the way, what did he do about the horse poop in the isles of Walmart?


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Horsef said:


> I’ve seen a few threads on Reddit in which they had an absolute apoplexy about manure: “I went out into the nature to enjoy it, not step into sh..t” - mind boggling, at least to me. I mean, it’s nature - there is no mummy to sanitize it. Reddit skews urban, young and male so I guess that sort of makes sense.


What bothered me the most was the pride they took in scaring horses with their bikes and making them buck or rear. That's a good way to get yourself and/or the person on the horse, or even the horse, killed.

I watched the only two mountain bikers I've ever seen at Coffee Mill get their bikes down off the rack of their SUV (They were there camping and it had rained like the dickens and the trails were sloppy clay and slick black dirt mud that weekend) and in their snazzy Columbia and North Face stuff... they pedaled right off down the trail we wanted to take that morning.

I looked at T and chuckled a little and said: Good luck to them. That crap's hock deep in places...

They weren't gone 20 minutes that they came slogging back... on foot... pushing their bikes and caked in mud. They spend the rest of the weekend in their bumper pull camper running the generator and the AC nonstop.

We rode.


And I was SO relieved we didn't have to deal with any bikers on the trails. I have to admit having a bad taste in my mouth, between the reddit tools and the youtube vids I've seen where people try to provoke a horse from their bike, and these folks may have been the nicest people on the planet, but so relieved didn't have to worry about them out there, possibly racing down the trail behind us or popping up off a 'ramp' of dirt into a creek bed. 

The ONE hiker we've ever encountered was on a big trail ride with 30 other people. That kid was waiting on us beside the trail and watched with wide eyed wonder as we rode by like a parade of trail riders in the mountains. He was just delighted to see us. Everyone tipped their hat and wished him a good day and a safe journey out.


As far as poop goes though - I'd 100xs rather step in or smell horse poop than anything else. Dog poop, cat poop (THE WORST and it's so bad THEY hide it!), cow poop are all far worse in terms of smell and texture. Horse poop, at least ours, just dries out and turns to apples of half-digested hay, grass and a little grain... and that's what it smells like too.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

LoriF said:


> I'm all down for this sort of stuff and making the world a better place for everyone. Now this kind of stuff is something.
> 
> Horse poop on the dirt trails of the Santa Barbara hills is pretty much at the bottom of my priority list of world worries.
> 
> By the way, what did he do about the horse poop in the isles of Walmart?



Horse didn't poop in walmart. Honestly. I mean, the first time I saw that video, I was like, WHAT a moron! And then I read his comments and about his horse... and then I looked him up on FB and thought, what the heck.... and I sent him a friend request. Talk to him fairly often these days, he sends videos that borderline on documentaries that he does on how horses can change lives... and he's quite the guy. SOMEDAY I hope to get to Houston and sample his smoke wagon food - he runs a smoker trailer/food shack and caters as well. Would love to shake his hand and show some respect for what he's doing in his spare time.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Great thread. People are morons (I mean, not horse people of course, but everybody else...almost). 

Poop on multi-use trails is what keeps riders off trails in my part of the world. There used to be a few that would ride to the nearby drive-through coffee place, but then people complained about the poop (the coffee they were serving was worse, but that's just my opinion I guess) and the riders got banned. 

What do they put on the Queen's horses? They must wear those manure catching thingys. Not that the Queen herself would care, being a true horsewoman, but it wouldn't be proper I suppose.


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## AnitaAnne (Oct 31, 2010)

we have multi use trails here in the Talladega Forest, but the cyclists, and two hikers I met were actually quite nice and considerate. 

On bike rider actually gave Chivas some treats (my treat, lol) at my request. They have always dismounted from the bikes and been very considerate. 


The hiker we talked to for a good 15 minutes. They were so interesting. 


So my experiences have all been good. Maybe because I live in a small town, folks are just more considerate.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

One place where I mostly ride is a 2200 acre preserve that is very well taken care of by the county and it offers hiking, biking and equestrian trails. There are some trails where horses are not allowed but mostly because there are places where it is unsafe for horses. Example would be a very long walking bridge that can get quite slippery for the hooves. No one here has any issues with each other, horse poop, or people carelessly zooming by on cycles.


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