Just like our grazing animals, the grass itself also needs food, and the most natural source of this nutrition is the manure from livestock. Modern chemical fertilisers are simply costly artificial replacements for what nature already provides in abundance, and for free. You may have noticed that where horses choose their latrine areas in your paddocks, the grass is often much greener and taller…indeed, “where there’s muck, there’s grass!”.

Manure is very good for the grass in the paddocks, which if left ‘un-fed’ will gradually deteriorate in sward density and quality. So how do we benefit the land without risking harm to our horses. Simply by spreading manure on those paddocks which are resting in the rotational grazing cycle. Once the spread manure has decomposed into the soil, the paddock can be safely grazed again, while the next paddock now at rest can take its turn at feeding from the spread manure. Better still, allow your manure to compost before spreading (the longer the better, but after twelve months it is generally accepted to be fully composted), which will reduce it’s overall bulk, and allow earlier re-grazing.

To summarise the key benefits to spreading your own manure are:

• Your muckheap disposal problems will become a thing of the past.

• Your grassland will reap the benefits with an enhanced sward.

• You’ll save on the costs of muck removal and alternative chemical fertilizers for your grassland.

• You’re recycling, just as nature intended, and to the benefit of our environment.