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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 neighbors nearby, you will want to avoid any con-
troversy 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 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 potas-
sium. These nutrients can be returned to the soil and
made available to pasture, lawns, landscaping, crops,
and gardens.
The Importance of Manure Management
Stalls and paddocks need manure removed regularly
to prevent surface water contamination and to assist
with parasite control and fly breeding. Stable flies com-
monly 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 manure, 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. Parasites are one of the
most significant threats to the health of a horse kept in
small acreage areas and can cause irreparable internal
damage. Manure management is an important part of
controlling parasites.
So What Are Your Options for Managing Manure?
Essentially, your choices are to use it on-site, give it
away, or haul it off-site.
If you don’t plan to use the manure yourself, you
should develop a plan so that other people can make
use of it. You may be able to make arrangements with
6 • Walking On
landscapers, nursery or garden centers, parks and
neighbors to either buy your unprocessed or compost-
ed manure or take it off your hands for free. You may
need to deliver the manure yourself.
Manure Collection
Typical management of horse manure consists of
removing daily and stockpiling for later use or spread-
ing on cropland.
Manure that is spread daily should be thinly dis-
tributed and chain harrowed (dragged) to breakup
larger manure piles and to expose parasite eggs to the
elements, and to encourage rapid drying. Don’t spread
on pastureland that will be grazed by horses during the
current year.
Alternatively, manure may be stockpiled and al-
lowed to accumulate until it can be disposed, or com-
posted for later use. A large storage area will allow for
better flexibility in timing of manure use.
A 144 square foot enclosed space will contain the
manure from one horse for a year. Over time, manure
shrinks from decomposition and may accumulate to
3-to-5 feet in deep. Your storage area should be easily
accessible for loading and unloading.
The location for the storage area is important in
order to safeguard against surface and groundwater
contamination. The storage area should be at least 150
feet away from surface water (creeks and ponds) and