The Equestrian Blog

Be warned – Horsetail, Mares Tail or Scouring Rush

Just a quick question... As horse owners we're mostly all familiar with the battle against ragwort and how it has spread into every field, central reservation and grass verge in the country, but how many of us know anything about mares tail?

Horse or Mares Tail, (scientific name Equisetum Palustre), is toxic to horses and should in my opinion be equestrian enemy number one. It looks like it belongs in Jurassic Park and spreads like wildfire. From a few small patches last year my paddock is now covered in it and it looks as if it's spreading fast and here to stay.

I've been researching this plant and what I've discovered doesn't make for pleasant reading.. more at Mares Tail - Toxic To Horses

Horse Poop & Alternative Energy

Posted by rji | Filed under Equestrian News, Worth Mentioning

Any horse owner that maintains their own stable yard is only to well aware of the problems created by horse poop and how to dispose of it and muck heaps can grow to very large sizes, very quickly, if you have two or more horses to look after.

horse manure The old DIY disposal system was to give it away to gardeners and rose growers but gardens are being turned into car parking spaces and governments are legislating more and more against the dispersal and DIY use of what could be a valuable natural resource.

Well there may be a little light on the horizon.....

The state of Florida has just awarded Dr. Jose Sifontes, a biofuel researcher, roughly $500,000 to pursue efforts to create a facility that converts horse droppings into fuel for vehicles and generators as well as a peat-like soil additive.

Florida's Marion County alone, generates 400,000 tons of horse poop from its 50,000 horses so there should be no supply shortage. The dung and bedding from stabled horses, which represent about half the 50,000 horses, could cover a football field 200 feet high.

An average 1,000-pound horse produces 9 tons of manure a year, all of it contains valuable fertiliser, which could enrich the soil in your garden or your vegetable patch.

Maybe, just maybe, the UK government in their urging to have farmers diversify into equine livery yards and riding or hacking centres, will consider the local use of waste products and encourage the composting and sale of this resource rather than the bureaucracy that seems to be building around keeping a muck heap?