Given time, horse manure will just blow away

I want to sympathize a little about Jacqueline Slutske's concerns regarding stumbling across horse poop in roadways ("Riders should clean up after their horses," T.O. Acorn letters, Jan. 4). To her it's not a pretty sight.

Has she figured out the logistics of how these messes could be cleaned up? Perhaps the most reasonable answer would be for her to develop a new attitude toward these road apples. Think green! You can't buy dog or cat poop at the Home Depot. Grazing animals excrete digested grasses, which, when decomposed and used on landscape, help produce wonderful fruits, vegetables and flowers. With the weather we have here, the Santa Ana winds dry the stuff up in a matter of hours, and it's dispersed by the winds back into the environment where it came from.

Just look at Westlake. At one time it was a large cow pasture; now it's one of the most beautifully landscaped cities around. No harm done there. When some of us view this recycled hay, we rejoice that there is a little bit of country left in the cement jungle.

The emissions from Jacqueline's car produce a more hazardous substance for maintaining health in all living things than does horse manure. I find the slaughtered animals run over by cars much more repulsive when tracked into the garage. You know, "poop happens"; if it really bothers a person that much, they also have the option of cleaning it up. Next it will be heads up, watch out for those dirty birds.

Can't you just imagine our ancestors who forged across this country in covered wagons, over rivers, mountains, deserts, whose very lives depended on livestock, amazed at us for today's attitudes about these animals' need to relieve themselves. Then, dung was even valued as a fuel.

It's a new year, so let's look at things in a more positive way.

The horse is the most efficient recycler. Every horse owner knows that it's green gold coming out the other end. The proof is in the price of hay. It's been fun hashing this over, even if we all don't agree. Happy New Year.

May all our problems be this simple.
Marilee Ullmann
Thousand Oaks