Horse riders fight animal waste rules

June Casagrande

Horse enthusiasts say their trails got a little less happy two weeks

ago when signs appeared warning riders that they must clean up after

their horses or suffer penalties of up to $100.

“We’d like those signs to come down immediately,” said Jayne

Jones, a member of the Back Bay Equestrians, a group of local horse

enthusiasts. “They’re just so unfriendly.”

Members of Jones’ group have been lobbying city officials to find

some middle ground on water-quality rules. Newport Beach has an

ordinance, written in 1996 and tailored in part to adhere to county

water guidelines, that says that people must pick up animal waste

left on anyone’s property but their own. When the equestrian

community of East Santa Ana Heights was annexed to Newport Beach this

year, the rules automatically extended to the new area of the city.

But horse people say that the same rules shouldn’t apply.

“We’re hoping this will be an opportunity to work with the city

and educate them on the benefits to horse manure,” said Jones, who

pointed to studies that suggest that horse manure doesn’t pose the

same risk of causing human illness as do other animal droppings.

And there are more environmental benefits to the manure, too,

Jones said, attributing the difference to the fact that horses,

unlike dogs, are herbivores and thus leave more eco-friendly

droppings.

But that may not matter, Assistant City Manager Dave Kiff said.

“There’s lots of bacteria in horse manure, there’s lots of

nutrients, there’s lots of sediment, and all of these things are

things that the bay has problems with,” Kiff said.

Water quality is measured in part by examining the presence of

what are called “indicator bacteria.” These are not the bacteria that

usually get people sick, but these microbes are usually a telltale

sign that other viruses and bacteria are present. Indicators are used

because it’s too costly to test for the viruses themselves.

So even though horse manure is likely not associated with

illness-causing microbes such as e coli, it’s full of the microbes

that, while possibly harmless, are nonetheless the ones that are most

strictly regulated.

“If they contain indicator bacteria, that’s a concern,” Kiff said.

City officials say they will meet with residents over the next few

weeks to try to find a solution. Kiff said that trash cans with

shovels have already been placed along the trail and that one

solution is for riders to scoop as they go. For those who can’t mount

and dismount with ease, they could come back when they’re through

riding to clean up after the horses. Another option, he said, is for

the equestrian group to increase its once-a-week trail scoopings to a

daily routine.

“My hope is that we can reach some type of agreement that the

equestrian community can keep the trails clean,” Kiff said.