Beachgoers obliged to clear messes

In response to “Causeway horses leaving too big a mess” (Letters, July 8.).

We at CPonies Beach Horseback Rides completely agree that horse owners need to pick up after themselves. But it’s also the everyday beachgoers who also need to pick up after themselves.

Every morning, before we can even unload our horses, we spend a half hour picking up what other horse owners/companies left behind, i.e. hay, manure and all the trash left by the beachgoers — beer bottles, cans, bags, and even filleted fish carcasses — that are laying on the beach.

We bring muck buckets with us everyday and pick up after our own horses throughout the day. We then bring the full muck buckets home in order to dump them. We also rake up as much hay that we can that gets dropped on the ground. We pride ourselves in leaving only our hoofprints along the beach, as we are supposed to do.

We completely agree that people bringing their personal horses to the beach need to do the same thing. But we also believe that the two-legged beachgoers need only leave their footprints as well.

We should all work together to keep our beaches beautiful for everyone to enjoy. We as horse owners are privileged to have such an amazing place to ride our horses. Let’s all pitch in to keep it beautiful.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Beachgoers obliged to clear messes."