If you care for horses on your own property, then you have no doubt wondered what to do with that huge mound of manure and stall waste generated by your horse.  One horse can create a serious pile in no time--about 50 pounds of manure per day, which comes out to over eight tons per year!  Add to that the wheelbarrow or more of bedding you use each day, and in no time at all you will have a virtual manure mountain. 

There are other concerns for traditional manure piles behind the barn, aside from the amount of space it eats up.  Horses allowed to graze near their own manure are quickly re-infested by larva that hatch from worm eggs.  Runoff from soggy manure piles can cause serious surface and ground water contamination problems. Then there are the associated odor and fly problems, which--if you live close to others--may concern your neighbors as well.

There are a number of great options for managing manure, many of which conventional farmers used to use.  All manure management options start with two important components:

1)      Cleaning stalls and picking up the manure in paddocks, pens, and turnout areas on a regular basis, at least every 3 days.  This helps break the parasite re-infestation cycle and gets the manure into your management program and out of the threat of becoming an environmental problem. 

2)      Covering your manure pile or bin.  This can be done with a tarp, plastic sheet, or a roof.  The cover controls moisture–it keeps your piles from becoming a soggy mess in the winter and too dry in the summer.  Covering also prevents the valuable nutrients you're saving for the pasture from being washed out into the surface water and causing problems.

Begin with those two components and then choose one (or more) of the management options below. 

Store Manure and Apply it to Pastures

Advantages: Manure is a great fertilizer. Applying manure back to pastures creates a natural nutrient cycle that will save you money. One horse produces about $300 in fertilizer value each year.  If you have enough pasture and don’t want to go through the composting process, you’ll be able to dispose of all your manure this way.  This method is also fairly easy and labor-efficient to accomplish.  

Disadvantages: You’ll need to have a good deworming program in place, and if you have too much bedding in your manure, you may have to add a source of nitrogen to your pile.  Also, if you don’t have enough pasture, you may not have enough room to spread all of it.  Storage space can be an issue, depending on how frequently you spread and how many horses you have.  Composting can be a great solution to these problems.

Costs: All you need with this option is a way to spread the manure. (TIP: Check around in your area. You may be able to hire someone locally to come in and do this for you).

Compost Manure and Apply it to Pastures, Gardens, Flowerbeds, etc.

Advantages: Composting reduces the amount of manure you have by about 50 percent, kills worm eggs, pathogens, fly larvae, and weed seeds while providing a valuable soil amendment.  Environmentally, it’s an extremely useful option because the composting process changes nitrogen in the manure from a form that’s highly water soluble (i.e., washes off easily in rain) to one that’s less water soluble and readily used by plants. Compost is like black gold for pastures, adding back valuable nutrients, microbial life, and organic material, all of which improve the productivity and moisture-carrying capacity of your land. (See previous composting articles at www.nwhorsesource.com or visit the Horses for Clean Water site at www.horsesforcleanwater.com.)

Disadvantages: Composting takes more time, labor, and money than stockpiling.  And, while it’s not difficult, it will require a certain amount of education on the process.

Costs: If you prefer to compost in bins (versus in piles) you will need to build bins. Costs vary substantially depending on the material choices and size.  You will also need equipment to spread the finished compost on your pastures.  (TIP: As above, you may be able to hire someone locally to spread compost for you). You can see the HCW website for more compost information and bin designs), see past articles on the NWHS website, or visit your local conservation district office for free technical assistance and advice on bin designs.

Next month, we finish with 3 more options for horse manure management.

Until then, happy holidays and good horsekeeping to you!