Manure Matters...

How is Manure Affecting our Relationship with Other User Groups on the Trail?

As a horse person the smell of hay, shavings and manure can be a sense of pure joy and comfort! But what about from the perspective of someone who has never had this connection with our four-legged friends? We all know that the trails have gotten busier so it might be time to rethink how we handle our horses manure out on the trails.

At Horse Council BC the recreation desk receives calls for manure matters across the province in regards to horse manure on trails and road ways. Municipalities, concerned citizens and even police officers have reached out to us asking for information on how horse manure should be handled and if there are regulations surrounding it. Let’s dive in and talk about human health, ecosystem health and the habits that we can form for greater trail user experience for all.

The good news is that horse manure does not pose a significant risk to human health and as many of us know when composted it is a great fertilizer for our gardens. The research paper Diseases

of Humans and Horses (Zoonosis)

By Faye Brophy DVM, Carole Bridgeman RN, Adda Quinn (EnviroHorse), and Lyndall Erb PhD states that,

“The chance that the horse on the trail carries a zoonotic pathogen is too small to be meaningful and is a negligible health risk for contaminating food crops, water or people encountered on trails.”. Zoonosis is described as a disease transmitted from animals to humans and herbivores are less likely to transfer zoonotic disease then carnivores or omnivores. This is due to the fact that horses eat plants and therefore will not have any undigested meat pass through their digestive system that might have pathogenic bacteria.

Invasive species are a cause of concern when it comes to maintaining a healthy ecosystem but from the research available it shows that horses don’t pose a significant risk in spreading invasive species on trails. Horse manure can contain seeds of invasive plants; however, they are only going to cause a problem if the seed is able to germinate, compete with native plants and grow into a plant that produces more seed. A study by Stith Gower states “Horse hay and manure can contain seeds of non-native plant species; however, success of germinating and becoming established on active horse trails in forest ecosystems in the eastern USA is extremely low.”. Some places we take our horses might pose a higher risk for spreading invasive species and in that case buying weed free hay would be a good option. The Alberta Invasive Species Council has a Certified Weed Free Forage Program and a list of producers where you can buy weed free hay. Unfortunately, on the North American Invasive Species Management Association website BC is not listed as having a weed free forage program.

In an ideal world we would collect our horses’ manure on the trail and pack it out with us and dispose of it in the compost pile on the farm. But is that practical? Absolutely not! For one I don’t think people’s hands are big enough to turn a grocery bag inside out and scoop it all up. Imagine going on a full day trail ride and carrying out all your horses’ manure… you would have to somehow strap on 15 plus pounds of manure to your or your horse! If anyone wants to experiment and rise to the challenge by all means but it is not practical! Since our horses’ poop aren’t conveniently the size of dogs poop the best solution of removing the poop is to dismount and kick it off the trail. Now mounting out on the trail can be a feat in itself but there are some ways to make it easier.

Mounting when out on the trail can be challenging but is an important skill to practice and can be a useful skill for more than for just kicking your horses manure off the trail. Some solutions for mounting can be using a slope and walking your horse to the lower side of the hill and then you can stand up hill to mount. Lengthening a stirrup from the side that we mount on can aid in giving us an easier reach from the ground. Sometimes you might need to get creative and look around for things like a fallen log that is sturdy enough to stand on. The ability to mount and dismount out on the trail is an important one and can help us if our horse loses their hoof boot, clearing windfall on the trail or kicking manure into the bush.

Being conscientious about our horses’ droppings takes some effort and in no means are we going to be perfect. Being aware of your safety when considering dismounting to clear the trail is paramount. A spooky horse or dangerous terrain is not worth risking your safety. An option that doesn’t require dismounting is half passing your horse to the side of the trail if you feel your horse start to defecate. When possible though it’s worth the effort for us to take part in cleaning up after our horses and will allow others to see equestrians as a considerate and conscientious group. Manure might not matter much to us but can matter a lot to others so it is best if we can keep others in mind when out on the trail.