AS a dog lover and horse rider I feel compelled to write in and ask what does Tony Blair and MAFF expect us to do during the foot and mouth crisis?
We are told we can ride on tarmac roads but I have been told that car drivers are (verbally) abusing riders as young as eight years old and making people feel like criminals!
We understand the farmers' plight and are very respectful ensuring we do not go on the moor, but unridden horses become very boisterous when kept under such restrictions and we cannot keep them in for ever! Not to mention the tourism issue and the predicament riding schools are in!
Also, can the council please tell us why they put up new 'notices' and leave up the old ones thus confusing everyone?
I was told about a walker going on a footpath (re-opened) at one end, only to get to the other end to see a notice saying it was closed!
We understand that in the main all such paths are out of bounds on Dartmoor, but the Government have 'relaxed' a bit on certain footpath restrictions elsewhere. Double standards don't help anyone! Notices should be crystal clear!
May I take this opportunity to say how sorry I am that farmers' lives are in such turmoil and let's hope this nightmare will soon be over for them.
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