horse muck

[Kathy]

Hi
I am writing a feature for HORSE magazine on muck (what a glamorous life), and am looking for a few people to contribute to the article who know a bit about horse-muck!
I want to know why it makes such good fertilizer for allotments and gardens -

Why do you choose it? What nutrients does it give your plants / land?
What type is best?
How old should it be?
Do you have any comments about purchasing or obtaining horse muck?

I would be grateful for any replies from anyone who would be willing to contribute to the feature. Please reply via email - see below.
Thanks so much,
Kathy Carter
email kathy_carter@ipcmedia.com

[Kathy]

[kenkew]

It would be interesting if people said they'd responded or not. Might save duplicate e-mails...?

[Merry Tiller]

It's the humus producing qualities rather than the fertiliser content, which is quite low, that is important

[moonbells]

I did reply, saying nutrients are low and there are better things for making things grow fast, but the organic matter is what makes the difference to the soil structure.  It needs to be well rotted, at least 6 months old, and it would be best for folk wanting to get shot of manure to compost it first as horse owners usually have a field or two of space where gardeners don't, and also composted doesn't smell or steam so transporting's easier.

I used the example of local stables to me: they have free collectable fresh manure, which is useless really, so everyone at the allotment just pays a local farmer £20-25 for a load of properly well rotted stuff, delivered.

I tried to stick to answering the questions directly, though didn't put figures to the nutrient levels. I could have spent an hour on google to find out, but Kathy can do that as well as I can...

moonbells

[aquilegia]

Ah HORSE magazine - know it well (I'm a rider as well as a gardener!)

I choose it because it's free! And it's wonderful for making my clay soil more habitable to plants (gives the soil better structure for the roots to grow through and makes it drain better). I can't produce enough compost of my own for this.

The type that is best is straw. Shavings and paper bedding take years to break down and do not have the same nutrients as straw. I don't know about manure made from these new bedding types as my yard doesn't use them. But I would imagine they wouldn't be much good.

I get manure free from my stables (it's free to everyone that bags it up themselves). The only trouble is, as I don't have a car I have to wait until someone is willing to give me and a load of poo a lift!

Age - a year, i think. It takes a long time to break down, even in a hot, steamy heap. If you can still see bits of straw in it, it's too fresh and can burn the plants.

[NattyEm]

<quote>I could have spent an hour on google to find out, but Kathy can do that as well as I can...</quote>

Thats why I wouldnt reply.  If you're writing a feature don't you get paid to do the research?   Gosh I sound mean and cynical don't I!

[kenkew]

Yes, true, but on a subject such as this, isn't it best to get the information from the horses...

mouth?

[Shoyu]

Surely this is another avenue of research.

I too have a horse. Our yard owner also farms 130 acres so has a use for most of the poo. The heap is pushed back with a JCB every few days so it is quite compact (there are 42 horses on the yard). He takes the muck once a year to spread on his land, which is either used for grazing horses or sheep or producing haylage for use on the yard. He does allow some to be bagged up and taken away (free to those of us who contribute!).

On a different note, my OH is fascinated by the spectacle of a steaming heap on a cold winters day - I MUST get him a hobby!

[Kathy]

Hello
Thanks for joining in with this thread - it is all really interesting, although who would have thought there would be such a difference of opinion regarding composted muck and spreading it on your grazing fields - opinion varies from 2-12 months! Anyway, thanks and all the best,
Kathy from HORSE mag