Help! spreading horse muck on pasture - forgetting the worms....

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ponypatter

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Ok, I know this has been posted on recently, but it seemed to go off on a worm burden tangent. We need to find a solution to getting rid of our well rotted manure. We used Forefront on the grazing which means we have some very effective grass fertiliser, but it's not suitable for allotments etc.

We do regular worms counts and have always been clear, so limited worries on that front.

So it would seem sensible to spread the muck on the fields, fertilises and reseeds in one go and saves me money on the same.

BUT, my friendly farmer assures me its no good as it'll taint the grass and the horses won't graze it. I'm not convinced on this - they are gannets and this solution will make him less money!.

So, please help! Who spreads their muck on horse pasture, how thick do you spread it, how long do you leave it etc...?

If its helpful, we have 6 horses on 7 acres (supplemented with hay in winter).

Many thanks for any help/advice or experiences.
 
The muck heap at the yard is spread on all the arable fields never on the grazing fields. The farmer here does it for exactly the same reason as yours - as in the long run it will taint the pasture. The grazing here is old grazing pasture and very good and well looked after by generations of farmers so I would leave it to the experts!
 
Horses are "hard wired" not to eat in their waste areas so it makes sense if the area is small and the coverage is done anything like regularly, that spreading manure would eventually make the pasture unsuitable. I do know people who spread small amounts over large areas but usually on resting fields and, admittedly, in a country that has harsh winters and so renews its pasture annually and therefore does not have the same sustainability issues.
 
We spread our well rotted muck back on the pastures and have spoken to soil specialists farmers and fertiliser suppliers and there is no harm in doing so it is actually benefficial to the land. However each field is then rested for 6 months and we do spread with lime as well each year. Bearing in mind the cost of fertiliser it makes economic sense to spred the muck. but make sure it is well rotted, down to a black peaty substance so all the worms and weeds are broken down and destroye by the heat as it breakes down. Get your soil sampled every year so you know what soil type you have and what nutrients it needs.

When we move our horses into their summer grazing we spread the muck on the winter paddocks, leave for a couple of weeks, then harow. Then roll and leave for hay. Then once the haylage is off it has a further 2 months before horses go back in. We never have a problem with soiled areas as it has months off and teh muck is broken down and absorbed.
In November the horses move back into their winter paddocks and the summer paddocks get spread with muck and left until at least April before the horses move across.

This way we have fantastic grass 12 months of the year plus our own haylage. We soil sample every year and the improvement in our soil over th past 3 years is measurable in teh soil sampling. We can see an increas in our pH which was extrmely low at 5.2 when we moved here and is now 6. we need to get it to about 6.5 so will be liming again this autumn. We also use forefront which stays in the land and in the haylage as it passes through the horses gut so it needs to be spread back on the land so we benefit from the one spray of forefront for several years to come
 
sounds fab, and like i need more land! Oh well.
I'm even less convinced on the well rotted tainting the grass after watching one lardbox eat the grass that was growing 5' up said muckheap!
 
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