AM writing in reply to the letter sent in by Diane Ananda-Bodhi on the matter of horses "messing" on the beach.

Firstly, horse manure is not in anyway harmful to humans or animals, I know this to be fact from having spent my entire life around them, a majority of that time is spent handling it.

I am qualified in both equine science and animal science so I can look at the argument from both sides, and the horses win my vote.

Horse muck is basically roughage, maybe some concentrate (maize, oats etc) and a small amount of water, all recycled. It is highly bio-degradable and great as an organic fertiliser, how many people have you heard of spreading dog droppings on their garden?

Not many I hope, as dog muck is highly toxic and would probably kill the garden. It can and will cause blindness in humans, and I for one, would rather see kids on the beach playing near horse muck than dog muck, as after a tide, the horse muck would be completely dissolved and cause no health problems, and the dog muck would be floating around and being detrimental to everyone's health.

If Diane wants to crusade, she should leave the harmless minority (how many horses do you see on the roads and beaches nowadays?) and work on all those dog owners who let their animals mess everywhere and pretend they didn't see it or blatantly ignore it.

Can you imagine seeing riders carrying around a shovel and skip as well as wearing all the gear we have to wear to be safe? That's just it, it wouldn't be safe, nor would dismounting to pick it up and expecting a rider to be in control with a shovel-full! Are all the other equine road, beach and grass users also expected to stop and pick it up? eg horse drawn carriages?

I can't believe it should be an issue as, in most people's opinion horse muck never has been and never will be a problem, at least not on the same scale of dogs! Thanks for reading, I feel much better for getting that off my chest!

R Medich Yealand Ave

Heysham