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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on January 16, 2009 at 9:13am

Ooops...I go almost everywhere in my riding clothes, although I haven't actually gone to a big supermarket in them!

I hope you don't mind, Chris, I'm posting the story in the other discussion too!


Woman horse rider kicked out of Tesco store because she was 'too smelly'

By Dan Newling

Time was when the ripe smell of horses and livestock was an ordinary part of day to day living.

In modern Britain, however, the 'smell of the countryside' - like so many other harmless aspects of life - has been branded a health and safety menace.

Amateur horse rider Krys Gunton fell foul of the edict when she walked into her local supermarket in her jodhpurs and riding boots, having just finished an early morning ride.

She was astounded when, as she gathered her groceries, a security guard tapped her on the shoulder and told her: 'You're smelling too much'.
Krys Gunton

Horse rider Krys Gunton was shopping at her local Tesco store when a security guard asked her to leave because she was 'too smelly'

Miss Gunton, 29, said: 'At first I didn't understand him, but then it became clear that someone else in the shop had complained about the smell to him.

'He kept on repeating "you're smelling too much". I asked him what he thought I should do about it. He suggested that I should change my clothes.

'I just told him that I didn't have any spare clothes - and there was nowhere to change anyway. The whole situation was completely ridiculous as I didn't have any horse muck on me - just a but of mud.

'I was totally humiliated in front of a shop full of people and felt forced to dump my shopping and simply walk out of there.'

Miss Gunton, who works as university administrator in east London, said that she had spent an hour riding her horse, Monty, an eight year old gray Irish draught cross thoroughbred that morning.

As the horse is liveried at a nearby riding school, she had not mucked out the animal at all. Indeed, she claimed that the only mess on her clothes would have been some dried mud on her riding boots.

Miss Gunton said: 'Before I went in I made sure that I wasn't trailing mess everywhere. Anyway, it was not like I was covered in horse muck - it was just "eau de horse"!'

The incident happened on January 2nd at a branch of Tesco Metro in Romford, Essex. The store is located near rolling fields and is near a number of riding schools.

Miss Gunton claimed that other horse riders regularly use the shop, although she said this is the first time that she has heard of anyone being punished for it.

A Tesco spokesman said: ' The customer was asked politely to leave the store as she had manure on her riding boots which is of course not acceptable in a store which sells food."

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Permalink Reply by Lallanslover on January 16, 2009 at 10:35am

My mate who lives in London got asked to leave a Tesco metro last year, when she popped in on her way home from the stables. She was utterly mortified, poor lass...

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Permalink Reply by Dorothy McDonall on January 16, 2009 at 10:58am

I went into a hair salon yesterday, on my way home from the barn, to buy some hair product and was quite conscious of my "eau d'equus," but the girls in the salon only looked at me strangely -- they didn't say anything. Surely the smell can't be any worse than some of the other awful things one might be subjected to while shopping in a supermarket. I hold my nose every time I walk past the fish counter!!! and I've encountered body odour far worse than anything I've smelled around the barn. I guess it's all in what you're used to. Having said that ... I will wash my barn jacket this weekend. ;-) D

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Permalink Reply by Bernd on January 16, 2009 at 1:40pm

well, we're living in the age of technology and people are afraid of animals. Its those people who will demonstrate for animal rights, complain about the poor chicken that are killed so early in their lives bla bla bla and imediately afterwords go to McDonalds to enjoy their Big Mac in a fur coat - or some more expensive version.
- I'm not going to tell you the psychologist jokes about those type of people, as I'm always very polite,-))) ehm

Just forget them! They are unhappy enough with their own life.

And next time you may congratulate Tesco if that's the only problem they have.

Ciao
Bernd

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