The Uses of Horse Manure

I grew up on a dairy farm and learned early in my lifehorse weighs approximately 900 - 1,100 pounds. A
that cow manure is useful. That usefulness may havehorse that size produces around 8 to 9 tons; or
been born out of necessity, though. After all, thebetween 16,000 and 18,000 pounds of manure every
manure from a herd of 50 cows has to goyear. That's a lot of horse manure.
somewhere right? That's how I learned that cowWhat is done with that manure? One option for
manure makes a great fertilizer. But we never haddisposal is to haul it to a landfill site, but that is not an
horses on our farm so I started wondering if horseeco-friendly option and some landfills will not accept
manure is useful as a fertilizer too.horse manure. The best option is to spread the horse
Although there is a wide range of weights amongmanure on land so it decomposes quickly, or to
horses depending on the breed, an average adult ridingcompost it and then use it to improve soil quality.