As the corner is turned heading towards spring, the manure pile in many barnyards looks intimidating. Now is the time to plan disposal for that nutrient rich material.
Unlike dog feces, horse manure is generally accepted as a reasonable garden fertilizer. So now is the time to think reduce, reuse, recycle. It is hard to reduce the amount of manure your horse produces or truly reuse it. But you can recycle horse manure to good effect.
Step one is to put a notice up at garden and home stores saying "free natural, organic fertilizer". Many times avid gardeners will show up with their own pitchforks and large plastic buckets to truck some free manure away. There are gardeners who argue that horse manure is too "hot" for their gardens laeding to nitrogen burn, but a pile that has been out all winter should be fine.
Enterprising 4-H kids have dried out manure, stuffed it in paper bags and sold it as a fundraiser at herb and garden events. Again, organic and natural!
There are a number of "manure tea" recipes for mixing your own special fertilizer. This one gives directions for shrubs and flowering plants versus vegetables. A simpler version is here - using a regular bucket as opposed to a large garbage container.
You may pick up some weed seeds from horse manure but the nitrogen benefit to your plants may easily outweigh that small disadvantage. Different types of manure do have different levels of nitrogen and other nutrients. The bottom line, is that you can "recycle" your horse manure and by doing so, enhance your garden or a friend's. You might even create some income if you are clever at marketing your manure!
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