• WashedOver@lemmy.caOP
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        11 months ago

        On local shared hiking trails they make dog owners scoop up after them with plastic bags so it can be flung into trees further down the trail, but with the horses they can just do their business where ever they want on trail. Some sections get pretty covered in it.

        • QuinceDaPence@kbin.social
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          11 months ago

          There’s a few reasons for that. One is obviously the having to get off the horse to deal with it but also dog poop smells way worse and doesn’t degrade the same as horses does. It really doesn’t take that long for horse poop to turn to pretty much dirt.

          -someone who’s shoveled or mowed over my fair share of both

        • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          On the multi use trails we have locally there are people who ride horses, but I have never seen horse shit on the trail while biking. though I have seen the dog poop bags on the side of the trail. on the hiking trails I see dog poop bags everywhere, would be happy if they threw it into the woods (without the bags, because even if they are designed to breakdown, that only in specific industrial compost heaps)

          • WashedOver@lemmy.caOP
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            11 months ago

            I wish this was the case at my local park. It is surrounded by horse stables and owners. There’s a lot of horse traffic being one of the local rural areas with horses. The local roads have flashing signs to warn of horses on the road and to slow down. There’s even a pub further up with a small paddock out front for owners to tie up their horses while they go in for a pint.

            I would think just flicking the dog poop off the trail would be better for the environment than plastic bags left everywhere but in the times above when car first came around, our cites were covered in horsesh!t and in some cases bloated horse carcasses waiting to be disposed of. In many respects we’ve come a long ways since.

            • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              It depends on how much poop is in a specific area. There is a gradient. Like a little bit isn’t bad, but one you start getting piles it can be pretty bad for the area if they aren’t allowed to breakdown or aren’t removed.

          • EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website
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            11 months ago

            What’s the point of bagging to carry it and then drop it. You already did the awful part of bending down, staring at and smelling the shit, feeling its warmth and consistency with your fingers…

            Then you drop it when it’s at its least annoying

            • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              I’ve had dog owners say they don’t want to carry the poop with them on the hike and they will grab it on the way out. Which at best is a 50/50 shot. I let them know of a product called a dumppouch when I see them do something like that. I carry one for garbage I find on trails as humans make a mess pretty much every where.