Re: manure at rides et al.

["Duncan Fletcher" <dfletche@gte.net>]

A couple of comments.

Toxic is a potential issue and one that  we must face, but science is on our
side. We have been hammered on the possibility (possibility based on
ignorance), that horses may significantly contribute to cryptosporidium and
giardisis. Studies to date (at UC Davis) indicate otherwise. We need not
surrender on that issue.

Perception is certainly part of what we face, but we have science with
regard to toxicity.  Asethetics is a different issue than perception and one
that is more difficult unless we are willing to change old habits - there is
no science to asethetics. Folks don't like to see it anymore than they want
to see a pile of table scraps.

Garbage - banana peels, brocoli stumps, etc. (virtually everything you
scrape off your plate after dinner) is biodegradable. But that doesn't mean
you throw out your window (or throw it out on the street or even haul to a
trail head to be dumped). Biodegradable does not state what the time frame
is for the degrade. If it takes 2 weeks and it is unlikely no one will be
there in 2 weeks, then fine, leave it. But trailheads and campsites are used
virtually every weekend. And it is rare area that you could leave everything
and return the next weekend and find nothing - if you think that is the
case, then try it: come back the following Friday and take a look. If you
can't come back the following Friday, assume the worst.

Duncan Fletcher
dfletche@gte.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Marv Walker" <Marv@MarvWalker.com>

> I don't think it is a matter of what actually happens to
> the manure that is the concern, I believe it is the PERCEPTION
> of manure that offends the untutored.  All over this country
> manure is viewed as toxic waste by government agencies and
> environmentalists.
>
> They outnumber us by a LONG SHOT and we can resist their efforts
> all day long and it will not change their perceptions or their
> beliefs.  In the end, they ***WILL*** impose all kinds of oppressive
> regulations on us as horse owners and don't think for one moment
> they can't force you to comply.
>
> To delay the inevitable for as long as possible, we as horse owners
> ***MUST*** do EVERYTHING in our power to leave as few signs we were
> there as possible.  That means cleaning up our hay, packing out the
> manure (or otherwise rendering it invisible), creating or using
> blowouts or doing other things that cause other environmental users
> to complain.
>
> The utter importance of this issue and our indifference to it
> as horse people came home to me when I saw the mess that was
> left in the streets and in the staging areas when I unthinkingly
> organized a parade of horse people in support of our successful
> 1996 Olympic Equestrian Venue.  My business partner (bless her
> heart) and I spent an entire day cleaning up trash and loading
> a large dually nearly over-flowing with manure, hay, straw,
> shavings and trailer sweepings.
>
> When I called the culprits I could remember to task for leaving
> such a mess, to a person they all dismissed their thoughtlessness
> with "it's all bio-degradeable."
>
> It's the times when a non-horser sees the stuff before nature
> reuses it that causes the problems.
>