Horse manure is a common by-product of horse ownership and it's important to properly manage it in order to maintain the health and well-being of your horses, the environment, and yourself. This article highlights the top 4 most important reasons why your horse paddock cleaning schedule should be a top priority.
A 1000 pound horse will poo between 4 to 13 times each day, producing approximately 9.1 tonnes per year - now that’s a lot of poo, so what are you doing to manage it?
Here are a few key reasons why it's important to remove horse manure from your paddock on a regular basis:
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Health and safety: Horse manure can harbor a variety of harmful bacteria and parasites that can cause illness in both humans and horses. For example, roundworms, tapeworms, and other parasites can be transmitted through horse manure and cause serious health issues.
These parasites can be transmitted to humans through contact with contaminated soil or water, or through the ingestion of contaminated food. In addition, horse manure can produce harmful gases, such as ammonia and methane, which can be harmful to inhale. Removing manure from your paddock helps to reduce the risk of transmission of these harmful organisms and gases.
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Pest control: Horse manure can attract flies and other pests, which can be a nuisance and pose a health risk. Flies are attracted to the moist, warm environment found in piles of horse manure, and they can spread diseases such as equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, and other illnesses. Flies can also transmit parasites and bacteria, and they can be a nuisance to both humans and horses. Removing manure from your paddock helps to reduce the breeding ground for these pests.
- Environmental impact: Horse manure contains nutrients that can be beneficial to plants, but when it is allowed to accumulate in large quantities, it can have a negative impact on the environment. Excess nutrients from manure can leach into waterways and cause algae blooms, which can deplete the water of oxygen and harm aquatic life. Manure can also release greenhouse gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. These gases are produced as the manure decomposes, and they can contribute significantly to air pollution. Removing manure from your paddock helps to minimize the environmental impact of horse ownership.
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Aesthetics: Horse manure can be unsightly and unpleasant to be around, especially if it accumulates in large quantities. A paddock that is cluttered with manure can be less enjoyable to work in or spend time in, and it can also be less appealing to look at. Removing manure from your paddock helps to maintain a clean, attractive environment for both you and your horses.
Fast & Easy Horse Paddock Cleaning with Paddock Blade Horse Poop Scooper
So, how do you go about removing horse manure from your paddock? Here are a few of our top tips:
- Invest in a Paddock Blade to clear your fields of horse and animal manure. This innovative paddock maintenance tool was designed to clean paddocks with less effort and time, whilst retaining healthy pastures. After hooking the blade to your vehicle with the included universal tow loop, you’re ready to clear an acre in 10 minutes and slash valuable time spent on this mundane task each week. So, if you’re still walking around your paddock for hours with a wheelbarrow, why not upgrade to our innovative horse poop picker upper, and spend more time with your horse and less time poop scooping?
- Use a manure fork or shovel to remove the manure and deposit it into a manure cart or wheelbarrow. Be sure to wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly after handling manure to reduce the risk of transmission of harmful organisms.
- Spread the manure out on a compost pile or in a designated area for composting. Horse manure can be composted along with other organic materials, such as grass clippings and kitchen scraps, to create a nutrient-rich compost that can be used in your garden or landscape. Composting horse manure helps to reduce the volume and improve the quality of the manure, making it easier to handle and safer for the environment.
- Alternatively, you can use a manure spreader to evenly distribute the manure over a large area, where it can be left to decompose naturally. This can be a good option if you have a large paddock or pasture and want to use the manure as a natural fertilizer.
- If you have a large number of horses or a large paddock, you may want to consider hiring a professional manure removal service to handle the task for you.
Paddock Blade Horse Poop Scooper: The Horse Poop Picker Upper that Saves you Time & Effort
As horse and paddock owners, we can understand the direct effects that the build up of horse manure can have on the health of our horses and pastures and the potential long term effects if not removed. These serious concerns across health, safety, and the environment are some of the main reasons we advocate for the Paddock Blade.
The Paddock Blade cuts out the hard work for you. A simple, yet innovative design, with your time, effort and paddocks in mind. It’s easy to understand that poo piles up and sometimes this gets ahead of us. Where do we find a few extra hours per week to ensure that our paddocks remain healthy and controlled? Often, this isn’t possible, but with the Paddock Blade, a quick whip around your paddock will leave you done with 70% less time than your average, conventional method of shovel and barrow.
Utilising the Paddock Blade in your paddocks still gives you the opportunity to repurpose manure - spreading it across compost piles or distributing elsewhere to decompose and fertilize, whilst stopping the build up in the areas that are causing concerns or haboring bacteria, parasites etc.
We understand better now why it is imperative to poo pick your pastures and paddocks regularly and there are many options to doing so in a way that works for your lifestyle and paddocks. If you’re not yet implementing one or some of the methods above, we suggest looking into the options that work for you to ensure that you can maintain the healthiest paddock and give your horses the strongest chance at a healthy and happy lifestyle.
Want to know more about the Paddock Blade and how it’s changed the lives of 1000s of customers worldwide? Head to our customer reviews to find out more!
Shop our range of durable, innovative and time-saving horse poop picker uppers today.
