Cost: Stall mats run approximately $50 and up for a 4-by-6-foot mat. (Rubber conveyor belting works almost as well and can be much cheaper when gleaned from your local concrete-making firm. Look for belting that's a minimum of 36-inches wide for maximum ground coverage.) Alternative bedding is often free of charge for the hauling.
Solution #7: Dispose of It
What You Do: Find a waste-removal service.
Why It Works: You pile your manure in a receptacle, such as a dumpster. The service regularly hauls it off.
How to Do It: If you have just one or two horses, you may find that by reducing bedding and practicing other alternatives outlined above, you can fit your manure into garbage cans and have it hauled off by your regular garbage service. (Check with the service, first, to see if they permit such waste.) If you have more horses, check into renting a dumpster.
Upside: No muss. No fuss. Manure is regularly hauled away from your facility, which prevents reinfestation by parasites and reduces fly problems.
Downside: Your garbage service may balk at hauling manure. If you rent a dumpster, the cost can be high, depending upon the area of country in which you live. Plus, you have to wrestle with the logistics of loading your manure into the receptacle.
Cost: According to the folks we talked to, dumpster services ranged from $40 every 3 months in Nevada (a bargain!) to $68 a month in South Carolina. (Tip: If you board your horses, you can split the dumpster cost among your fellow boarders.) F
The editors thank Alayne Blickle, program director for the Washington state-funded Horses for Clean Water.
This article originally appeared in the May 1999 issue of Horse & Rider magazine.
