Last Sunday the thermometer climbed to the high 80's. It was sunny, breezy, and it felt great to be outside. Ange and I didn't think we'd have many more days like this to complete our "To Do List" before winter weather arrives. So we loaded up our SUV with some heavy-duty garbage bags and shovels and drove to the riding stable down the road. Yep...time to get horse manure. Our neighbors always welcome us to take the manure away and we are happy to get it. Each spring I amend the garden soil with a mix of peat moss and the dried horse manure. The daylilies love it!
Usually when Ange and I gather manure, the horses are all over us wanting some love (or more likely, treats). It's sometimes difficult to shovel unless one of us lures the horses away with grass. This year, for the first time ever, none of the horses were even remotely interested in what we were doing. That is, once they realized we didn't have any food for them. It was easy going -- in no time we had multiple bags filled. We always look for the driest manure available, so it's light for us to shovel and much of the decomposition has already taken place. Once home, we re-filled our vinyl garbage containers with manure, ready-to-go for next spring. Done! Cross that off the list.
Trivia: A 1,000-pound horse produces approximately 40-50 pounds of manure every day. That translates to about eight and a half tons per year! Add bedding to this and the amount of stable waste only grows.
Usually when Ange and I gather manure, the horses are all over us wanting some love (or more likely, treats). It's sometimes difficult to shovel unless one of us lures the horses away with grass. This year, for the first time ever, none of the horses were even remotely interested in what we were doing. That is, once they realized we didn't have any food for them. It was easy going -- in no time we had multiple bags filled. We always look for the driest manure available, so it's light for us to shovel and much of the decomposition has already taken place. Once home, we re-filled our vinyl garbage containers with manure, ready-to-go for next spring. Done! Cross that off the list.
Trivia: A 1,000-pound horse produces approximately 40-50 pounds of manure every day. That translates to about eight and a half tons per year! Add bedding to this and the amount of stable waste only grows.
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