Smart Horse Keeping

Determining Space Requirements for Manure Storage

Alayne — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:24:00 GMT

If you are just building your horse property or thinking about relocating your manure storage, here are some factors that you may want to consider when figuring out how much space you will need for your manure or compost pile:

You'll want to calculate how much manure your horses will produce when building a compost bin or storage area.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

• How many horses do you have?
• What type of bedding and how much of it do you use?
• Will you be actively composting your manure? Composting can reduce a manure pile down to about 50% of its original size.
• How long will you be storing it—i.e., how much and how often do you expect to be spreading it on your pastures, giving it away, or having it hauled away?
• How healthy are your pastures? Healthy pastures with a good stand of grass (4 to 8 inches tall) will be able to use the nutrients in manure more effectively than overgrazed, weedy, or bare soils.
• What type of equipment will you be using? A large backhoe and dump truck will require more space than a small garden tractor with a manure spreader.

Here are some general space requirement guidelines that, after considering the factors above, should help you arrive at an estimate of how much space you will need:
• For six months of uncomposted manure with minimal bedding waste from one horse you’ll need an approximately 10’x10’x10’ space.
• For a backyard composting system with one to five horses, without the use of a tractor or heavy equipment, use two to three 8’x8’x4’ foot bins.
• If you are going to use a tractor to turn your compost piles, plan on two to three 8’x8’x4’ piles for one to five horses.
• When using a tractor it helps to place the piles on a cement pad. This makes it easier for the bucket to scrape the surface and keeps the tractor tires from tearing up the ground.
• A 30’x30’ foot area will house three piles.
• For larger composting systems (commercial boarding facilities with greater then five horses) where heavy equipment will be used you may want to consider two three-sided cement bins approximately 16’x16’x4’ or 35’x 35’x8’.

Alayne

Rain Gardens on Horse Properties

Alayne — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:21:00 GMT

Rain gardens are a bright new idea for dealing with an age-old nemesis on horse properties - too much water and MUD! And they are a fun way to deal with April showers.

Rain gardens can do many things, such as:
• Reduce flooding;
• Reduce mud and erosion;
• Filter polluted runoff;
• Recharge groundwater;
• Provide wildlife habitat; and
• Provide an attractive, low-cost landscaping feature.

In this photo we are doing a tour of a horse property with a rain garden. Runoff from the horses' paddock on the right is culverted under the driveway to a landscaped area on the left. The dirty water runs through the plants which filter out nutrients and sediments, cleaning the water.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

If you’re a horse person and you’ve never heard of a rain garden, stick with me here. A rain garden is simply a planted shallow depression in the ground that captures and temporarily holds rainwater from downspouts and from rain running downhill across the ground (called surface runoff). It is sort of like a miniature pond that drains, planted with native plants that don’t mind getting their feet wet. In more urban environments the surface runoff is from hard surface areas like parking lots, roofs and driveways.

On a horse property use a rain garden to re-route runoff from a paddock or barn roof. Soil and native plants work together to help break down pollutants (such as too many nutrients from manure, sediment, fertilizers or pesticides.) The shallow ponding of rain water also allows it to slowly percolate back into the ground, recharging ground water.

Rain gardens can reduce erosion, mud, and the amount of pollution reaching our creeks and streams. Plus they’re attractive and provide important habitat for native insects and small animals like birds and amphibians. A properly functioning rain garden doesn’t hold water for more than a day or two after the rain ends, so don’t worry about it breeding mosquitoes or creating other problems. In fact, a well-planned and maintained rain garden attracts native birds and insects that control pests.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because these are the plants that grow in your area naturally. They have many advantages over their non-native cousins often used for landscaping. Native plants are better adapted to local climate and soil conditions and are resistant to diseases and pests—a bonus for you because you won’t need pesticides, fertilizers, or even extra watering to help them along once they are established. Plus, native plants provide habitat for wildlife.

There are endless possibilities in choosing plants for your rain garden. Check with a local nursery that carries natives to learn what plants will do well in your area and be a great compliment to your yard and pasture fence line.

It may seem like a small thing, but together many rain gardens do make a difference. They “slow the flow” of runoff and reduce flooding in creeks and rivers. They can also help stop fertilizers, oil, pesticides, manure and pet waste from polluting our rivers and harming the incredible variety of life. And by using native plants, we give back a little bit by creating mini-habitats for native animals (some of which eat bugs and rodents), and provide us some entertainment and enjoyment.

Happy native planting!

Alayne

Spring Pasture Management Tips

Alayne — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:16:00 GMT

It’s that time of year when the grass gets green and grows fast! But is it time to let your horses begin grazing on the pastures you’ve carefully fenced off all winter? Putting horses out too soon can reduce the productivity of your pastures this summer and letting your horses graze too much can be dangerous to horse health. If your horse has metabolic issues check out my past Smart Horse Keeping on grazing and horse health; otherwise follow these tips to begin your spring pasture management:

By dividing a pasture area into smaller sections and rotating horses through them, you can encourage horses to graze more evenly, keep pasture grasses from becoming overgrazed and guarantee fresh grass for a longer period of time during the growing season.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

Don’t let your horses have too much grass too soon! Remember to limit turn-out time when horses begin grazing again—too much grass can cause very serious horse health problems, especially in the spring when grasses are rich and lush. Increase grazing gradually. Start with about an hour at a time, and work up to several hours over a period of several weeks. If you have any questions about how much grazing time is safe for your horse, consult your veterinarian for their recommendations.
For healthy grass plants, keep horses off of pastures until soils are no longer soggy. One of the most important aspects of pasture management is the time you keep horses off the pasture. Saturated soils and dormant plants cannot survive continuous grazing and trampling. When soils are still wet they are easily compacted, suffocating the roots of grass plants. A simple test for sogginess is to walk out in your fields and see if you leave a footprint—if you do, you know it’s too wet and that the weight of a horse will be sure to compact the soil.
Apply a green band-aid. To encourage a thick, healthy stand of grass (and no bare spots for weeds to take hold) spread pasture grass seed in areas that have bare spots or where grass isn’t growing as thick as you’d like. Remember: bare spots provide a haven for weeds in summer and mud in the winter!
Keep pastures healthy by rotating grazing areas. By dividing a pasture area into smaller fields and rotating horses through them, you can encourage horses to graze more evenly, keep pasture grasses from becoming overgrazed and guarantee fresh grass for a longer period of time during the growing season. Remember the golden rule of grazing: never allow grass to be grazed shorter than three inches. This ensures that the grass will have enough reserves left after grazing to permit rapid regrowth. Consider the bottom two or three inches of grass an energy collector that needs to be left for the plant. Once horses have grazed the majority of the grass in a pasture down to three or four inches, rotate them on to the next pasture. You can put horses back on pastures when the grass has re-grown to about six to eight inches.
Are some sections of your pasture still soggy while others are already dry? Try fencing pastures according to how wet they are. That way, in the early spring you can let horses onto the higher, dry areas first. Save the wet areas until later in the summer when they dry out.

Happy grazing!

Alayne

Looking for More Manure Disposal Options?

Alayne — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:00:00 GMT

If you are not using your manure and stall waste on your property, or if you have more than you can utilize, consider an alternative, off-site use for manure and stall waste. In past blogs I have covered ways to give away stall waste. Here are other green disposal options.

Landfills

Most landfills will accept manure if you are able to haul it there. Research this option first, because many landfills charge a tipping fee for livestock manure and some even require a special handling fee. However landfill operators in some parts of the country such as in Florida will take horse manure and stall waste for free, using it as the “topsoil” to cover debris. In other cases, taking manure and stall waste to a landfill just to take up valuable space in our finite landfills is not a good use of a renewable resource. Consider other green options below first.

Local Topsoil or Compost Facilities

Research local topsoil or compost facilities. These places are usually permitted to accept livestock waste. Some will accept it for free; others charge a small tipping fee.

Area Nurseries, Tree Farms, Crop Farmers, and Other Agricultural Crop Producers

Check area nurseries, tree farms, crop farmers, and other agricultural crop producers including specialty crops like flowers, garlic or vineyards. These agricultural businesses can put manure and stall waste to good use. Smaller local agricultural businesses such as CSAs (community supported agriculture) might be interested in accepting horse manure to compost and use in their operations. A relationship in this kind of situation could lead to a long-term, beneficial solution.

Organic Farmers

Organic farmers might especially be interested in composted horse manure if it is free of dewormers. If you work to reduce chemical use on your property this might be an option for you.

Perhaps you can negotiate a trade with other livestock operators. The vast majority of parasites and pathogens are species-specific. This means the diseases and worms that affect horses are not going to affect sheep or cows, for instance. An effective manure management plan might be to “trade” manure with a different type of livestock operation--providing each of you has pastures you can spread it on. Often times dairies will take horse stall waste and use as bedding. Many farms do manure trades, one neighbor with beef cattle or lamas may take horse manure in trade for their ruminant manure. The advantage to that is you aren’t spreading parasites on your fields that your animals can get reinfected with.

What other useful and green off-site manure disposal options have you discovered in your area?

Alayne

Give Away Your Manure or Compost

Alayne — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:06:00 GMT

If you’re not saving your manure or compost for your own use, an effective disposal option is giving it away to places that can utilize it. Make your give-away system as effective as possible by:

Consider posting a "free manure" sign where people can see it from the road.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

Making your pile easy for others to access. If your pile is in a location where people can simply drive up and take what they want, when they want it, you’ll get rid of a lot more stall waste than if you have to arrange a meeting time.

Making your stall waste attractive to gardeners. Many gardeners prefer stall waste with very little bedding. Others prefer composted stall waste. Ask around and do a little informal research to see what gardeners in your area prefer. The more desirable your product is, the more likely it is people will come and get it.

Advertising. Post a “free manure” sign where people can see it from the road and make it as obvious as possible where they need to go. Advertise by word of mouth: talk to all your non-horse neighbors and gardening friends who would love some free fertilizer. Put an announcement in local gardening newsletters, listservs and on websites—most places like this will advertise free products at no charge. Don’t forget Craigslist or other similar Internet sites.

Taking it to the source. If your manure is composted and you have the equipment to load and haul your compost, check with community gardens, local garden clubs, nurseries, landscapers, tree farms and topsoil businesses for takers. You may even be able to make some money selling your compost if you’re able to deliver it!

Alayne

Coolers are Basic Winter Horse Gear

Alayne — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:11:00 GMT

I do a lot of riding and I am always surprised when I see people missing one of what I consider to be the most basic of winter riding gear: the cooler.

There are many varieties of coolers in different shapes, materials, colors, and prices.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

Having the right winter clothing, both for you and your horse, is critical at this time of the year, but shopping for horse clothes can be confusing, especially for those new to horse keeping.

In the winter when we are finally able to get out to ride, our hairy horses are fresh and our rides long. This increases the odds of ending up with a hot, sweaty horse that takes what seems like forever to dry. It is especially important to deal with this situation when a wet horse is returning to outdoor living in a pasture or paddock, or in frigid temperatures or windy conditions (which further lower body temperatures. Any of this can lead to sore backs, soft-tissue problems, achy joints, or other illnesses.

If you are riding in the cold winter months a cooler is a necessary winter-time piece of equipment for horse keeping. Coolers, which look like a large blanket or sheet, are placed across the horse’s back and body to keep a horse comfortable after a tough workout. They are made of either fleece or wool and work by wicking away the moisture generated by the heat of the horse's body.

Moisture goes through the cooler (which is also keeping the horse warm) and is wicked away into the air. This helps to dry a horse more quickly while keeping them from getting too cold. There are many, many varieties of coolers in different shapes, materials, colors and prices – do an Internet search for more ideas. Or, save money by making an inexpensive cooler out of an old woolen or fleece household blanket (yes, the kind from your bed!) with a few clips (or cloth ties stitched in place) under the horse’s neck to fasten it closed.

Stay warm!

Winter Paddock Footing for Horse Properties

Alayne — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:29:00 GMT

Once again it's the dead of winter when most horse owners across North America are experiencing some form of inconvenience because of snow, ice, or cold temps. At Sweet Pepper Ranch in southwestern Idaho we’ve been getting more than a healthy dose of colder than normal temps plus snow, which has lingered on and on, outweighing its initial welcome. These days I find myself whining a lot about not being able to ride, the difficultly of hauling on snowy roads, or the joys of riding in single digit temps (not!). Ugh!

Coarse washed sand drains well, is less dusty (than finer varieties of sand) in the summer months, and is “softer” in the winter months than other surfaces.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

One of the most frequent horse property management questions I get at this time of year has to do with footing problems in horse paddocks. (The Horse's Digital Editor Michelle Anderson recenly asked me this very question when deciding whether or not to move her horse to a boarding facility for the winter.)

The problems are that water often puddles in poorly drained paddocks then freezes and causing slippages. Or that footing is too rocky and pot-holed, especially when it freezes, making it uncomfortable for horses to stand on (or people to walk on!). Or that surfaces are too uneven and rutted for manure clean up.

(Remember: The show must go on. All manure you don’t pick up now becomes a pulverized a layer of muck once things thaws out again. Even though hunting for manure in two feet of snow or chipping it loose from blocks of ice is no fun, the more frequently you clean now the easier it all will be in the end.)

The challenge for a winter footing is to come up with something that once it's frozen is still soft enough for a horse to stand on, easy enough to pick up manure off, and well-draining enough that it doesn’t puddle and form dangerous ice ponds.

The purpose for footing in confinement areas is to build up that area and keep horses up off of the soil, allowing rainwater to drain through. Less mud equals less chance of nutrients and sediments running off and polluting surface waters, too. Footings such as chipped wood products, gravel (crushed rock), or coarse sand drain well, reduce erosion, and go a long way in reducing mud. Of these, I have found sand to be the most useful and the most horse-friendly footing for paddocks, especially when it comes to winter paddock footing choices.

Coarse washed sand (versus finer varieties) drains well and is less dusty in the summer months. I find it an excellent choice in the winter, too. It drains well (when thawed) so that water doesn’t accumulate on top. It seems to be a softer surface than gravel or chipped wood which can become dangerously slippery when frozen. Because of its small particle size, when sand freezes it is a more level surface than other footings.

Use at least three to six inches of sand. If you already have a lot of mud you may want to either remove some of the existing mud or plan to put footing in at a 1:1 ratio (for example, if you have about 6 inches of mud you’ll need at least 6 inches of footing). If it is currently icy, shovel buckets of sand onto slick, icy spots.

One caveat with sand: Be careful to avoid feeding horses on it as ingesting sand (or dirt particles) with hay can result in sand colic, a serious digestive disorder. We sweep the rubber mats in our stalls before each feeding to be sure they are sand-free.

Horse Keeping Observations from Australia

Alayne — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:13:00 GMT

Some of you may have noted from my recent blogs that I traveled to Australia this past November. I was invited to be the keynote speaker at an Australian national conference, "Horses and Land Management," an event that was more than five years in the planning on my end.

The author, on the right, at Living Legends in Melbourne, a retirement home for thoroughbred racehorses. Alayne’s friend Sheri Clevenger, who traveled with her, is on the left. Doctoral candidate and conference speaker Mariette van der Berg, is in the middle. Mariette spoke on horse behavior as it relates to pasture management.

Photo courtesy: Alayne Blickle

The two-day conference targeted Australian government officials and agency staff who work with horse owners. It was a dialogue about ways to improve horse keeping standards that will reduce water quality impacts and deal with climate change. Speakers shared knowledge on sustainable horse keeping practices such as pasture management and weed control, dust and mud reduction, composting and manure management, emerging diseases, and emergency management. The event was organized by Horse SA, a not-for-profit community-based organization whose goal is to help support Australia’s growing horse industry.

As the keynote speaker, I was invited to talk about my 15-plus years of experience with Horses for Clean Water providing environmental education to horse owners on horse property management. I shared information and ideas on how to create a successful peer education program that is win-win-win for everyone: from the horse to the landowner, neighbors,and the environment. I showed presentations with lots and lots of photos of the wonderful horse properties many of you have across North America (you were all central to my talks!)

I presented ideas for different styles and methods of managing manure and building compost bins. I talked about innovations in managing confinement areas like track paddocks as well as ways to combat horse boredom including slow feeders, both novel ideas for most Aussie horse owners. I advocated for different techniques for reducing pesticide and chemical use on horse properties. And I shared ideas for rotational grazing.

Horses and Land Management was held in an interesting location. Living Legends in Melbourne is a retirement home for Thoroughbred racehorses. It’s a beautiful park-like setting with hundreds of acres of open space along with large grassy pastures where the retired racehorses live. Wildlife roams free, including herds of the native kangaroos. It was mesmerizing seeing the fields teaming with these large, bouncing marsupials--some females even had a little joey in their pouch. The public pays to wander between pastures, visit exracehorses or watch kangaroos. It’s a lovely setting for an afternoon stroll or family picnic.

Wildlife roams free at Living Legends, including herds of the native kangaroos. It was mesmerizing seeing the fields teaming with these large, bouncing marsupials.

Photo: Alayne Blickle

Even though Australia is an English speaking country there were some confusing moments over language differences that led to smiles and laughter. Just for fun, here are some of the differences I noted, the American words and their Down Under counterpart:

Alfalfa = Lucerne
Chickens =Chooks
Pastures = Paddocks
Blankets = Rugs
Trailers = Floats
Mosquito = Mozzie
Trash = Rubbish
Exit = Way out
Backcountry = Bush
Lemonade = Sprite
You’re welcome = No Worries
Beer = Piss
Supper = Tea
Break time = Tea

As you can imagine, much of this led to bewilderment like when I heard someone talking about “floating a horse down the road,” or in a lecture when they referred to diseases carried by “chooks.” I quickly discovered that when I talked about paddock management, thinking of paddocks as confinement areas, they were thinking of pastures instead. At one point I asked my host why Australians call alfalfa “lucern,” thinking perhaps it had to do with a Latin root for the word or some scientific explanation. He replied with a smile, “Well, we were wondering why you Americans call it alfalfa.” All in all, the language thing was always easy to straighten out; we celebrated the differences, but recognized the greater similarities.

Kidding aside, my overall impression of the Australian horse industry is that it’s one full of wonderful, innovative people (much like here) who are devoted horsewomen and -men. It seems to primarily be centered on their huge racing industry which contributes $8 billion annually to Australia’s GNP, and I was lucky enough to personally meet Bel Esprit and Wanted, two of Australia’s leading Thoroughbred sires.

But I did find one big difference: Australians are more proactively working towards adapting to climate change in regard to horse management than we Americans. They are aware that diseases affecting horses are on the increase. Gary Muscatello, DVM, from the University of Sydney and one of the conference speakers, stated: “Every time new outbreaks occur there seems to be these links between climate change and infectious disease risk.”

The general principle is this: Where climates are warming and the patterns are changing, it influences what’s happening in those locations. Both domestic and wild animals are stressed by the changes (greater heat, less water availability, increased dust, reduced air quality resulting from fires, less habitat) so they become more susceptible to infection. Less habitat for wildlife means wildlife is moving into areas where there’s better habitat such as around horse properties, thus increasing exposure to pathogens. As Muscatello explained, “the interaction of the stressors on the horse along with the new disease organisms to which the animals are immunologically naive leads to new disease outbreaks.”

So as the Australian climate warms and becomes drier, Australian horse keepers are looking at ways to decease and manage dust, conserve water, prepare for increases of insects and new disease outbreaks, and develop firewise education aimed at decreasing fire risk. Watch for future blogs on several of these topics.

For now, G’day mate!

Build a Simple Water Storage Container for Your Horse Trailer

Alayne — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:06:00 GMT

Having a supply of water in your trailer is useful for hot trail rides, all-day horse shows or camping trips.
Photo by Alayne Blickle

This project is brilliant; it costs next to nothing and has great value. If you trailer much with your horses, having supply of water on hand is useful after hot trail rides or an all-day horse show. Plus, when I’m on the road with my horses I like to know that if I break down I’ve got water along for my horses.

Here’s how we made our water storage container:

Check around for a source of plastic drums. Only use drums that originally contained something safe, such as fruit syrup or other food grade products. Solvents or other chemicals may not be safe for this purpose. Sources for plastic drums would be industrial materials exchanges, feed stores, Craiglist, or other similar online lists.

(Top) The drums we got have snug, clamp-on lids--perfect for easy opening and closing when filling with water. (Bottom) Attach a hose faucet/valve to the outside of the drum if you want to be able to use a hose for your container.
Photos by Alayne Blickle

The drums we got have snug, clamp-on lids--perfect for easy opening and closing when filling with water. Keep on the lookout for the right drums for your purpose.

Materials needed:

Plastic drum with removable lid
Plastic or brass hose faucet/valve (purchase at hardware store)
½ or ¾” threaded male to male coupler 2" long (plastic or brass) or hose adapter
Flat (or flanged) nut & rubber washers to attach the coupler through the plastic drum wall
Silicon sealant or other waterproof, non-toxic calking
Plumber tape

Tools to use:

Cordless drill
Drill bit large enough to make a hole to put the coupler through the drum wall

The process:
1) Thoroughly wash the inside of the drum to clean any residue.
2) Drill a hole just large enough to put one side of the coupler through drum about 2” to 3” from the bottom.
3) Use the silicon or other waterproof non-toxic sealant along with the nuts and rubber washers to secure the coupler to the drum – this needs to be a water-tight seal.
4) Attach the hose faucet/valve to the outside of the drum.

Tuck it in your horse trailer, fill with water and viola! You, your horses and a safe water supply are ready to head down the road.

Alayne

Easy Bleachers for Your Arena

Alayne — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:34:00 GMT

These simple, low-cost bleachers are easy to construct and really fit the bill for us at Sweet Pepper Ranch, providing a nice arena viewing area for guests and visitors.
Photo by Alayne Blickle

Our horse property, Sweet Pepper Ranch, is a guest ranch and horse motel. That means we need to have certain amenities in place and are always shopping around for low-cost, effective ideas for making our place nier and more useable. These simple, low-cost bleachers are easy to construct and really fit the bill for us, providing a nice arena viewing area for guests and visitors. The version we built cost us about $1,200, including the labor we hired out

Materials:
Treated wood:
          4 – 2 x 8 x 8 treated boards for the seats
          4 – 2 x 6 x 8 treated boards for bracing under seats
          2 –2 x 10 x 10 treated boards for side boards
          3 – 4 x 4 x 8 treated boards for corner posts
Wood screws
Miscellaneous scrape pieces of wood to be used as braces for seats.

Tools needed:
Carpenter's lever
Cordless drill
Circular saw

The process:
1) Dig holes to bury 4x4s for four corners of structure. Using string, even out all four corners so that they are square to each other and even. Concrete can be used to stabilize corners.
2) After concrete has set, attach 2x10 side boards from front to back on each side of bleachers. Choose the angle you want, but keep in mind that this effects the seating arrangement; steeper will allow you to have the seats closer together without having as much space between seats.
3) Attach rows of seats appropriate distances apart (with the materials listed here you will end up with four rows of seats.) Use a carpenter level when installing.
4) With seats in place, "T" the 2 x 6 under the 2 x 8 seat row as a brace for stability.
5) Use the smaller pieces of wood under the seat row to attach on the side boards for added support.
6) Repeat process for the number of seats you’d like.

This is how we did ours at Sweet Pepper Ranch but there are many variations on how this kind of a project can be assembled. Some variations you can choose from: wider width seats (i.e. use bigger boards), use pre-constructed stringers on the diagonal where seats aware attached, rows can be all seats, etc.

Happy seating!

Alayne