Walking On Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2017 | Page 18

Back to Basics
Horse Manure Management -
What Are Your Options?
By Randall Holman
You need a strategy for using or
disposing of your horse’s manure.
The proper management of manure
is important to the health of your
horse and your family. Needless
to say, it may also be important in
order to comply with state or county
regulations. And if you have neigh-
bors nearby, you will want to avoid
any controversy with them.
An average 1,000-pound horse
can produce 9 tons of manure waste
each year. This is roughly 50 pounds
per day. If you’re going to store it,
this translates to about 2-cubic feet
18 • Walking On
per day or 730-cubic feet per year--
just from one horse.
How the manure is stored and
treated will have an impact on its
value. A composition of manure
and bedding is rich in nitrogen,
phosphorous, and potassium. These
nutrients can be returned to the
soil and made available to pasture,
lawns, landscaping, crops, and gar-
dens.
The Importance of Manure Man-
agement
Stalls and paddocks need manure
removed regularly to prevent surface
water contamination and to assist
with parasite control and fly breed-
ing. Stable flies commonly breed
in the moist horse manure. So it
makes sense if you want to keep the
fly population down, manage your
horse’s manure.
The lifecycle of horse parasites
also begins with eggs in the ma-
nure, which develop into infective
larvae that later exist in your horse’s
pasture. Consuming grass, feed, or
water contaminated with infective
larvae will infect your horse. Para-
sites are one of the most significant