It's the ramblers' fault
or, specifically, the fault of the Ramblers Association, who are a bunch of extremists with a local busybody mentality who really need to get a fucking life.

I used to work in a racehorse training establishment. There was a footpath right through the middle of the stable complex. So ramblers would come along in groups of 20-30, and walk through the middle of the yard, stopping to pat the horses. Sometimes they would bring bits of carrot and apple to give the horses a treat. Nice of them and I've no problem with ordinary people enjoying their day out.

The trouble is we were petrified that some unwitting daytripper or little kid would stuff, say, a bit of chocolate into a horse's mouth in an attempt to be friendly. Chocolate contains substances like caffeine that are banned for competition horses and there would have been serious problems if a post-race drug test had come back positive.

So, obviously, we asked to divert the footpath so it went around, rather than through, the main yard. And the fucking Ramblers Association objected. Why? Because it is their stupid, iron-headed policy to object to any application to divert a footpath, irrespective of the circumstances.

And so we glared and yelled at these poor harmless anorak-clad wombles like the worst kind of 'Get orrff moi laaand' stereotype. They probably thought we were all cunts. Totally avoidable scenario.
(slowly play it cool, Trig, Wed 1 May 2013, 23:05, Reply)