Eco-Friendly HORSEKEEPING
SIMPLE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO GREEN UP YOUR HOME HORSE FARM ROUTINES.
you drive a gas-saving vehicle. You bring cloth bags to the grocery store. You turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is something you take seriously, so you’re all about incorporating green practices into your horsekeeping routine.
“A healthy environment from an environmental perspective is also a healthy environment for your horse,” says Clay Nelson, who educates horse owners on environmentally friendly practices and is an equine facilities planning consultant through his Austin, Texas-based Sustainable Stables, LLC. “Sustainability can be good for your horse’s health and the environment, and makes economic sense as well.”
managing manure
Proper manure management is one of the biggest ways you can make horsekeeping greener. (No pun intended!)
“The best thing a person can do for fly control is manure management, because then you get rid of the source of what’s feeding the flies,” says Alayne Blickle, creator/director of Horses for Clean Water, an internationally acclaimed environmental education program for horse owners. She and her husband own Sweet Pepper Ranch, an eco-sensitive guest ranch and horse motel in Nampa, Idaho.
A healthy horse is literally a pooping machine, producing about 50 pounds of manure a day, or about eight tons per year. Piling up that manure in a big mound is neither earth-friendly nor practical. Additionally, runoff from a manure pile can contaminate nearby water sources, as well as leach into the soil and eventually make its way into drinking water.
The best approach to managing manure is to compost it on site or pay a service to have it hauled away regularly to a composting facility.
Nelson recommends asking the manager of your boarding barn to consider composting if this practice isn’t already in use.
For educational advice on composting, as well as any state regulations, check with your county extension office or conservation district.
“Every county has one; just Google the name of your county and ‘conservation district,’” says Blickle, whose own website offers a composting handbook (www.horsesforcleanwater.com).
“Composting is practical even if you have just one horse,” she continues. “It generally takes three to six months from start to finish, and the composting process kills a majority of parasites, pathogens and weed seeds.”
Finished compost can be spread on pastures, yards and gardens to amend the soil.
“It makes plants healthier and more disease-resistant, and helps soil retain moisture longer,” says Blickle. “Research shows that one application has value for up to 10 years.”
Be Water-Wise
Water conservation is about much more than not wasting it, but that’s a great place to start.
Watering your arena? Do so at night or early in the morning when evaporation is at its lowest. Collect rainwater in barrels and use it for cleaning chores and watering plants. (Don’t water horses with rainwater collected off a composite or shake roof because it may contain chemicals from roofing material.)
If you have an outdoor wash rack, situate it so that runoff cannot enter any natural water bodies. Use biodegradable shampoos, and avoid using
chemical products in this area. Take steps to keep wash water from running off directly into the ground by planting a biofiltration strip composed of native grass/plants and soil around it.
Blickle advises installing rain gutters and roof runoff systems on all structures to divert rainwater away from high-traffic areas. This important step reduces mud and helps keep clean rainwater clean.
save the soil
“Protecting soil is just as important as protecting water,” says Nelson, who recommends mud grids in heavily-used areas around gates and water tanks. He’s had great success with Mud Control Grids from HAHN Plastics, made from 100 percent recycled plastic.
These large interlocking pieces hook together, forming a durable, porous surface that keeps soil in place and protects against erosion. (The company also makes sturdy 100 percent recycled plastic “lumber” for fencing and stall partitions, as opposed to pressure-treated wood, which contains chemicals that can leach into the environment.)
Horse hooves are notoriously hard on ground—especially when soil is wet. Both Nelson and Blickle strongly recommend that every horse facility have a paddock or sacrifice area/dry lot where horses can spend time outside but not on pasture. A general size recommendation is to allow at least 400 to 500 square feet per horse.
“A well-designed dry lot enables you to manage your facility sustainably no matter what Mother Nature throws at you,” says Nelson.
The sacrifice area should be on high ground, well away from any wetlands or water bodies, and surrounded by a buffer at least
25 to 30 feet wide of plants or grasses. To avoid mud, footing can be improved with sand, crushed rock or by using mud grids. A slight slope (2 to 5 percent) will allow rain to run off.
If your facility has no pasture, the dry lot gives horses a chance to exercise. If you do have pasture, the dry lot allows you to manage it effectively. As Blickle explains, you use it to keep horses off grass when soil is saturated and vulnerable to compaction and erosion, or during