Horse Stable Manure Management

Manure handling is a necessary evil of stable management with horse owners naturally preferring to ride rather than clean stalls. Making sure that stall cleaning and other manure handling chores are done efficiently can lead to more time spent with the horse. It is important to recognize that horses produce large amounts of manure that quickly accumulates! About 12 tons of manure and soiled bedding will be removed annually from each horse stall (housing a full-time occupant). Careful consideration of how this material is moved and stored is needed for efficient manure management. Getting the manure out of a stall is only the beginning. A complete manure management system involves collection, storage (temporary or long-term), and disposal or utilization. This publication provides information to stable managers on horse manure characteristics and options for its movement and storage. Associated issues such as odor control, fly breeding, and environmental impact are addressed  in relation to horse  facilities.

Manure management practices within horse facilities deserve careful attention. Since most horses are kept in suburban or rural residential settings, it is essential for horse owners to be good neighbors. Often, suburban horse facilities have limited or no acreage for disposal of manure and soiled bedding. Several alternatives for handling manure include land disposal, stockpiling for future handling, removal from stable site, and composting. Some stables have developed markets to distribute or sell the stall waste. Whether in a suburban or rural setting, proper manure management is based on simple principles that will virtually eliminate environmental pollution impacts and nuisances such as odor and flies.

Stall Waste Production and Characteristics

Manure includes both the solid and liquid portions of waste. Horse manure is about 60 percent solids and 40 percent urine. On average, a horse produces 0.5 ounce of feces and 0.3 fluid ounce of urine per pound of body weight every day. A 1,000-pound horse produces about 31 pounds of feces and 2.4 gallons of urine daily, which totals around 51 pounds of total raw waste per day (Figure 1).