Equine Industries Manure Disposal Practices, Variations and Magnitude

The American Horse Council reported that there are 5.2 million horses in the U.S. with 192,000 in the state of Colorado. Each year one horse produces about 10 tons of manure. The objective of this survey was to look at the manure handling systems of 1.5% of Colorado horse ranches, estimate the possible methane production from horse manure, and examine the potential for pollution as an effect of the manure handling practices. The survey consisted of 2960 horses from 24 ranches. The survey indicated there are two management systems for horses, pasture-range (55.6%) and confinement (44.4%). Within the confinement systems, there are two manure handling systems; compost (decomposing stock pilings) (31.6%) and fresh spread (12.7%). Estimated total manure methane production for the state of Colorado is 3320 tons/yr; and for the U.S. horse population 89,900 tons/yr.