The August issue of EQUUS features an article on making your farm environmentally friendly. What steps have you taken, or would like to take, to make your horsekeeping greener?

EQUUSeditorial:

The August issue of EQUUS features an article on making your farm environmentally friendly. What steps have you taken, or would like to take, to make your horsekeeping greener?

I no longer bring my carrots in a grocery store plastic bag to throw in the trash.  I use and reuse a recycle grocery bag, like one you purchase at the grocery store.  I also stopped buying bottled water, now use plastic water bottles I fill and freeze at home.

 

All the water from the house is recycled back onto the paddocks, water buckets are emptied onto garden beds when being cleaned, stable manure is bagged up and sold on the side of the road to prospective gardeners, which also recylces the feed bags.

 The major step for me was to quit using chemical pest control and to use more natural sprays. At the moment, I'm using Equisect, which seems to be working very well (and has a wallet-friendly price tag). I am also putting my Appaloosa mare on a more natural diet - taking out the corn and molasses (which is very hard to do, given that most feeds are manufactured and it's difficult to find someone in the more urban areas who will take custom orders). I board her with friends, and we do not use chemicals in general around the barn and pastures. Along the "organic" vein, I also ride bareback (though I was trained in western disciplines and dressage), use a bitless bridle, and my mare is, and has always been, barefoot. We're pretty much all-natural : )

I encourage all horse owners to contact their local Natural Resources and Conservation Service office (there is one in every county, across the nation), to find out more about pasture management, manure  management, and pest management.  Proper composting of manure creates nutrient-rich fertilizer AND protects ground and surface water-- which means healthier horses and humans.  Managing pasture areas and heavy use areas can reduce feed costs and keep your horses out of the mud during the rainy season.  www.horsesforcleanwater.com has some excellent material on it.  Your local extension service may also have small horse acreage booklets, which cover these topics and more.  

At our stable, Serrano Creek Ranch in Lake Forest CA, the stable owner has developed a recycling process for the manure and shavings that turns it into rich compost available for sale to the public. The compost is even bagged in the shavings bags turned inside out! At $2 a bag, it's a great deal for your garden and the planet.

Hi Folks,  seems like every Christmas I receive from riding lesson students, clients and sons; about 6 of those bath gift baskets.  The ones that have sponges, bath gel, lotion, etc all in a decorative basket.  I never know what to do with them and they always seem to end up in the yard sale come summer.  I appreciate the kindness and the gifts, but I feel bad because I don't use them.

 A couple of weeks ago I had an idea.  I took them all out of the closet and emptied them.  The baskets I used in my tackroom.  They fit perfect on the shelves. One for hoof picks, another for stud chains, chin straps. Another for hoof polish, one for small medicines, one for treats, etc. I picked up a couple of pump dispensers for the bathroom everyone uses. I used the little bottles of lotion to refill the dispenser, and the little bottles of bath gel to refill the soap dispenser.  The sponges went into the horse washing bucket.

 When some of my lesson kids showed up last weekend, they were so excited to see "their" baskets on the shelf!

I now feel better that they are actually being used, and I am not adding to the landfill.

Maria