# Broken glass in pasture



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I got a little sick to my stomach last night when I went out to drag the pasture and noticed pieces of broken bottles and ceramics EVERYWHERE. I check my pastures regularly. The horses have been turned out for about a week on this section. (First time ever using this section.) When I checked it prior to their turnout the grass was tall and I didn't notice anything. Now that they have eaten it down, and a few heavy rains have washed it out some, the soil looks straight up like an old dumping ground. My husband and I filled up 3- 5 gallon buckets last night of old broken bottles. 

I checked the horses over really good after my discovery. Nothing seems out of the ordinary with them. But it still freaks me out thinking, "what if." 

So...is there ANY way to work around this? I realize if there is it will most likely take a lot of work. Or should I just scrap this area all together and use it to expand my "yard?"


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Chances are you're right & stuff will keep coming up. If you want to keep it pasture you could have that area dug up & refilled with good dirt. I don't know of any other way.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

I think you will need to screen it if you want to use it. If you are in an area with frost heave (and I would imagine Indiana is), pieces have most likely migrated to different soil layers, so you may want to screen a few consecutive years.


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

Yup, try raking it up, then have it dug out and replaced with 'clean' soil in the contaminated area.

I've been dealing with glass of all kinds for years and it just keeps coming, so I took to digging up certain areas and sifting through the dirt. Doing it by hand is far too time consuming for a pasture, so you'd need to hire an excavator.


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## Palomine (Oct 30, 2010)

Have seen horses badly cut by glass like you are finding, either get it up, or block it off.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

They were probably deeper to start with but frost action brings them up. I too had done a bunch of fencing and had carefully walked the new area. All clear. The next spring rusted flattened tin can started showing up. When I stepped back and really looked a small building had stood there once. Bo't a metal detector and was able to clean up the ones still hidden but just below the surface. It's checked annually. Fortunately the grass grows poorly there so the horses aren't attracted to the spot. Years ago people just picked a spot and that's where all their garbage went, on top of the ground. No plastic packaging then and all the paper stuff was saved for the wood stove.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

^^^ The old joke is that the buried pile of beer cans and bottles can be found at the furthest point you can throw one from your porch.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

Palomine said:


> Have seen horses badly cut by glass like you are finding, either get it up, or block it off.


The horses are no longer on it. And they won't be until we come up with a solution.


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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

PaintHorseMares said:


> ^^^ The old joke is that the buried pile of beer cans and bottles can be found at the furthest point you can throw one from your porch.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I think this is true...the area is about 20-30 feet from our back door


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Do you have enough pasture to be able to fence this area from the horses?

You could clean, dig up, and screen that section forever and not get all the glass. It only takes one shard to get up into a hoof and cause permanent damage. That would I've a freak accident but not worth the chance, if you have enough space otherwise:-(

I have a great grove of trees below the barn that would have been a wonderful place for my horses to hang out and stay cool.

Every time I would clean out a new section, then get in there with with mower, the mower blades would find barbed wire in places I thought I had gone carefully over with a rake:shock:

I fenced it off, it is now the dog and cat pet cemetery.


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## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

walkinthewalk said:


> Do you have enough pasture to be able to fence this area from the horses?


Yes, we do have enough space without it. And I've decided I'm not going to use it. It would be way too much work and frankly, I'm not going to worry about 1/2 an acre.


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