# How do you deal with disposing of manure if you keep your horses at home?



## Maryland Rider (Jul 2, 2013)

Over a decade ago I purchased a small box drag.
It can be towed behind a tractor, even a lawn/garden tractor.
I deal with 2 dry lots, so we drag the entire area.
This breaks all manure down to nothing.
About once or twice a week with 4 horses.

Smell has never been an issue except?
All the horses favor urinating in one area.
Occasionally I use quick lime there.


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## BugZapper89 (Jun 30, 2014)

The dumpster is the only real way to go. Many states and or towns you need to keep a log of what is done with it. The only "approved " method most times are haul outs by companies insured to do so. Giving it away, can lead to bigger issues if the person you give it to dumps it into a fresh water area, then you can be held liable. I have mine hauled out and I have a lot more land then you are talking about


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

Shavings are always going to be a problem getting living in the desert. You are going to pay a premium because they have to be trucked in from where the trees are harvested and processed. There are alternatives such as shredded newspapers and phonebooks, shredded boxes or corncobs or straw. When you bed your stalls, you will at least triple the amount of waste you produce. Why do you want to keep your horses in a stall? I would have them outside in a simple shed and paddock. They will be healthier, happier and you've addressed two issues you have right off the bat. You are close to $300 ahead a month by eliminating the dumpster and the cost of the shavings not to mention the time to pick the stalls.

First off compost what you can. 3 horses generate about 6 ton of manure a year. If you keep on top of it, it doesn't smell or attract flies. You can give it away or sell it on CL. You might be able to find a local farmer that will pick it up or allow you to dump it on his property. It is a valuable "free" commodity so only toss it on the trash as a last resort.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

I use a smaller dumpster. And it is dumped weekly. A horse will fill a manure bucket each day and with 3 horses and a weekly dump you can get by with a smaller dumpster. I pay 60.00 a month for weekly dumping


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Here I have people standing in line to pick the pasture at certain times of the year. Collect it and offer it on CL or see if there is a community garden that has the space to compost it if you don't. Many will haul it off for you.


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

Call a local greenhouse and see if they want it! They spend a pile of money on fertilizers and loam. You can put it in feed bags for them and they can pick it up easily. The shavings will need some kind of bigger bags - maybe you can buy something and do an exchange with the greenhouse every cycle. (They bring back the empties every time.)

Spread the word and avid gardeners will come for it.

Some towns now have composting along with the recycling bins. Call the town and see if they have any options for pick up. Perhaps a smaller fee than $200/mth and they will take away extra bags. The shavings will be good in their system.


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## NMdressage (Sep 13, 2012)

Thank you all for your responses, they are wonderful ideas!

Unfortunately, one of the problems we are having is that she doesn’t have a tractor, nor is she really wanting to run out and buy one because the only thing it would be used for is loading/ dragging manure as the “arena” (and I use the term loosely) really is too small to need any dragging. I hadn’t thought of smell as a problem! I’m glad you mentioned lime though because it would probably be a good thing to use on occasion. Those of you who have it hauled off, do you have big dumpsters you dump it in and waste management comes and gets it or is it a totally separate company that provides you with a dumpster and removal? 

In terms of shavings, I know the current barn gets them from a man who has a cupboard company and so he brings the shavings that accumulate from the cutting and shaping of the cupboards. I was hoping to find a relationship like that because it’s not cutting down trees just for shavings. Straw is also a good option that we are going to look into. Is anyone aware of more eco-friendly option? Newspapers would be okay but I’m not sure how feasible that would be? By stalls I mean box stalls with runs. Not all of the horses get along and so we will have to rotate turn out so everyone will have to spend time in their stall here or there. 

Composting and greenhouses are a great idea! I would love for it to be used as recycled material as opposed to just being dumped! It would be really cool if this woman would let me find a little space to make a garden and use some of the manure there. Then I could grow carrots for the horses!


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

You don't need a tractor to drag the arena. A quad will work fine. Heck, if my BO is in a hurry and wants to drag the big arena more quickly, she pulls the drag with her minivan.  Normally, she just uses the quad, though.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> You don't need a tractor to drag the arena. A quad will work fine. Heck, if my BO is in a hurry and wants to drag the big arena more quickly, she pulls the drag with her minivan.  Normally, she just uses the quad, though.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 You have to post a video of her doing that. I love the idea of the minivan being 'put to work'.
------

1 horse (1,000 pounds) produces roughly 50# of manure a day, that's 1 cubic yard roughly. Then you have to factor in urine spots in the bedding and you're looking at roughly 58-85 pounds of waste per day per horse, that's 10.5-15.5 tons of waste per horse yearly.

You can compost it as suggested, offer it raw and as compost, many people here charge for compost, but will give 'raw' manure away free. But be careful, if a dog eats horse manure that's got Ivermectin in it, it can make the dog sick or even kill it.

I don't like to drag as it can allow parasites to continue infesting pastures, it takes longer than previously thought to actually kill the parasites and their eggs. I like to pick it up and compost it to actually kill the parasites.

If you get shavings from furniture makers, make sure it's only pine. 

If she will have the dumpster (how many cubic feet is it and how many horses would be boarding with her?) then she could spread the cost of monthly removal out amongst all of the boarders.


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

You don't "need" a tractor to drag your arena or pastures. You have horses. Put them to work. If you have a truck, that can do the work too. Hard to get into the corners of the arena but you can do that by hand. You do need something to groom the surface or the footing gets pretty lumpy and thin in areas.

Manure is about 70% moisture by weight. It dries in about a day in the desert. Bedding will easily double the volume and weight as well as severely slowing down the composting process.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Check out https://www.freecycle.org/ It's like Craigslist for people that like to recycle and keep stuff out of the dump. We've had a number of people come with wheelbarrows/trucks and pick up manure right out of the pasture.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Riding lawn mower and an old metal boxspring with some weight attached to one end works fine. A length of chainlink fence with a lock strapped to the far end works too.


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## NMdressage (Sep 13, 2012)

Ha! I would like to see the minivan put to work as well! I guess I'm going to have to get creative about how to get things done:shock: Freecycle seems like a great site, thank you PaintHorseMares!


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

My husband scrapes the paddocks with a skidsteer and piles the manure into a big heap. In the spring, that manure pile is no longer manure, it's a rich, black soil and he spreads it out on the pastures. As for the pastures, he just uses a dragchain, breaks it up just fine.


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

in NM we use my old 65 ford pickup and take it to the dump once a week. the pastures and arena get drug with a heavy board on top of a roll of chainlink fence behind our 4 wheeler lol

texas property we have a hook up with a neighbor farm to give them all our manure.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

you can purchase bagged shavings or the pellets for the one that urinates in them.
Some people like the manure for gardens or worm beds. 
I used to just load the back of the pick up truck and take it to recycle or the dump, as it does at organic matter into the tons of non organics. 
Bug zapper .. where are you from ? thats the oddest thing I have heard about having horse poo removed.


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## STT GUY (Apr 23, 2014)

DraftyAiresMum said:


> You don't need a tractor to drag the arena. A quad will work fine. Heck, if my BO is in a hurry and wants to drag the big arena more quickly, she pulls the drag with her minivan.  Normally, she just uses the quad, though.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


We use a harrow we bought from Northern Tool and tow it behind a 450cc Can-Am. It does a great job. 

Now with the barn and arena behind the house, we will use a dumpster.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

I still want to know what States or towns need you to keep a log or whatever to record what manure is removed. I sure don't want to move there ! 
I have never heard of a company being insured to haul out manure. 
I am curious. !!


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## Kimmy1985 (Jun 8, 2014)

I have 2 horses on a small acreage in a subdivision. We have to follow 'manure management' rules. So I go around with the tractor and pick up the manure at least once a week and at it to the compost piles. 
Our friends will take some for their gardens and we use some.
That being said, we just got the tractor and I used to go around with the wheelbarrow...haha! Good exercise! But works well-the paddocks are nice and clean, no smell. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

I saw a commercial horse manure composter in action some years back and it was pretty impressive. It was also quite expensive at the time $1800 plus putting in a concrete pad and needing a water & electrical source. It was about 4'x4'x4' and very, very quickly composted manure for up to 15 horses. No smell at all and extremely nice compost. It had paddle inside that was run on switch to turn the compost.

You could build your own:
How to Build a Compost Bin for Horse Manure | eHow
A compost bin handled correctly will not smell at all or draw flies and since so many people are getting into organic and backyard farming you could possibly even bag it and sell it to recoup the cost!


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## SummerShy (Aug 3, 2014)

We just toss it out the stall window and spread it as fertilizer.
Voila!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mammakatja (Nov 3, 2009)

Had to share. LOL My van is not exactly a minivan, but it is my mama mobile. I have 6 kids and 5 horses. We bale our own hay so this van has to multitask for me. This is me raking our hay field in it. When my kids were smaller, they would be in the van watching cartoons while I was raking hay. :lol: As a mom, you make it work!


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## Nickers2002 (Nov 25, 2009)

I pile it in the back of the property and have a gentleman that comes and takes it away every 8-12 months as needed. It's about $250 at a time for him to pick it up. You could see if maybe someone near you offers that service or if a plant nursery/someone who sells fertilizer may want it.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

I've also got one of these:








and one of these:








While both are not big enough to compost the manure produced by 3 horses they do make for some great compost for the vegetable garden. For my ornamental plants I'm less fussy about aging the manure.

It's hard to give it away here because everybody and their brother keeps an herbivore or a few chickens. To give it away you have to make it easy for people. I even had one guy just drop his truck off and expect me to load it all for him. He didn't even ask...I barely knew his name. Just dumped the truck in front of my gate. Irked me a bit....I loaded the truck to the roof line. Funny watching him drive off.

I save a few feed sacks towards the end of winter and fill those and put them out by the road for people to grab in the spring. 
Sometimes a nearby organic farm comes and gets some. I love it when that happens because they show up in veggie oil powered rack body truck; a bunch of 20 yr olds hop out of the back with rakes and shovels and poof! No manure.

The old farm where I live has been owned by my husband's family for over 250 years. Back in the 1970's the state was going to put a watershed dam on the river that would have flooded a good portion of this land and many of the neighbors. The old Auntie that lived here didn't think the people would win the battle and started selling off the farm loam. The people fought the dam and won but it left the areas adjacent to the house with many areas where the top soil was gone. I spread the manure in these areas. I doubt I'll live long enough to run out of sandy spots but if I do I also have a couple holes where they were mining gravel too.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Does anyone have a riding mower? Invest in a bagger. First, using an old box spring pulled by the mower or atv, drag the area to break up the manure. Leave it to dry for a few days, then go over it with the mower running to pickup the now dry manure which will be blown into the baggers. It will be almost like dust. Why deal with heavy wet manure when there's a much easier way?


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## BarrelracingArabian (Mar 31, 2010)

My dad likes to spread it out over the grass as we have a huge back yard, he then mows at the end of the week and it is broken down into the grass. I don't particularly like it as it keeps the flies around however before my dad wanted me to do this I was just using a trashcan, cart and dumping it into our dumpster. Of course I only have one horse and this wasn't a big deal. 

My trainer has 6 and we would use the black trashcans you can get from home depot or walmart, fill those and then do dump runs every 2 weeks or so.


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Even a push mulching mower works on the dry stuff. I love it when the mulcher picks up a dry clump. Spreads it nice, fine and even and you'd hardly know it was there.




Saddlebag said:


> Does anyone have a riding mower? Invest in a bagger. First, using an old box spring pulled by the mower or atv, drag the area to break up the manure. Leave it to dry for a few days, then go over it with the mower running to pickup the now dry manure which will be blown into the baggers. It will be almost like dust. Why deal with heavy wet manure when there's a much easier way?


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

mammakatja said:


> Had to share. LOL My van is not exactly a minivan, but it is my mama mobile. I have 6 kids and 5 horses. We bale our own hay so this van has to multitask for me. This is me raking our hay field in it. When my kids were smaller, they would be in the van watching cartoons while I was raking hay. :lol: As a mom, you make it work!
> 
> View attachment 510018


 
I love the mama mobile! For some reason I picture the kids singing 'Old McDonald had a farm' LOL.


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## karliejaye (Nov 19, 2011)

What I personally do is compost it, and use the finished compost in raised beds. We bought our property 2 years ago and with 2 horses are still filling raised beds as we build them (currently have 10 beds, with about 5 more being added next year). I also have been using some to make a "berm" around my arena. Kind of ******* right now, but soon I will be adding a layer of soil and planting into it so one day it will look nice.
I don't have a tractor or a riding mower or an ATV, so it is all done by hand. Composting by hand is not too hard as long as you set it up well to begin with. We make a few long, fairly narrow rows, about 5 feet between the rows. When it is turning time, we flip one row into the gap, and the next row into the next gap and so on. Like a windrow, sans expensive machinery.

A word of caution if using or selling or giving away manure or compost. Know what your hay was sprayed with! Clopyralids and Aminopyralids (such as Milestone) do NOT break down in manure and compost from them kills plants such as beans, peppers and tomatoes. By law, you are supposed to notify people if they are in your product.

I live in a community that has a limb dump to help reduce fire fuels. They also take loads of manure for composting and sale to support the Lion's Club. Check around for something similar in your area. Other contacts that may have localized suggestions are University Extension Service and Soil and Water Conservation Service for your county.


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## BadWolf (Oct 12, 2012)

We compost our manure and we get our bedding free from the local sawmill.
It's free if we load it or $15 to have one of their big machines scoop us a pickup load.


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## They Call Me Pete (Oct 27, 2009)

Manure is loaded into dump cart and then dumped in the chicken area. They do one heck of a job of spreading it out looking for bugs :wink:


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

We hot compost the old fashioned way, building compost piles of around a cubic metre (around the size required to get reliable heat production from microbial activity). We do lasagne layering: 10cm manure, 10cm of grass clippings / straw / kitchen waste, 10 cm manure, etc, finishing with the grass clippings. Must be kept moist and have aeration holes. A compost frame helps. After the thermophiles are done and the pile cools down, we encourage compost worms to colonise before using the compost on the garden

Works so much better than all those expensive compost drums etc. The heat quite reliably kills grass seeds etc. If you can get a little fresh cow manure, it makes a great starter / accelerator (because of the ruminant gut bacteria etc).


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Oh heck I'm cheap. Mine were both free. I see them a lot on Craigslist. Mostly from people who expected some instant miracle or wouldn't recognize a miracle if they saw it. That black compost is a small miracle.

I've already had a frost so the garden is done. I can pretty much dump the manure on the garden now until the snow gets too deep. By spring mother nature has done her thing.

Plus I several big holes were husbands ancestors were mining gravel out back. I'll never run out of places to put it in my life time.


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