Facilities and Waste Management

Equine Science II

Equine Housing

Should provide for the welfare, safety, health and comfort of horses and human handlers.

Make efficient use of labor and be cost effective.

Provide for the environmental needs by moderating temperature and humidity. Moderate temperature above freezing are

acceptable if the humidity is low. There needs to be enough air movement to keep

air clean to meet respiration needs of the animals and dilute airborne disease organisms, control and/or moderate temperature, and keep the building free of condensation and moisture.

Building Basics

1. Various materials will worka. Metal siding building will last 15-20 year

without refinishing, but are subject to damage from animals

b. Wood siding building will withstand abuse of animals, but can be eaten. However, wood siding buildings offer better insulating value than metal or masonry, but need occasional painting/staining and upkeep

c. Masonry walls require little maintenance but he initial cost is high and they are difficult to insulate.

2. Metal roofing is cheaper and required less framing than shingles, but has less insulating value.

3. A GOOD ventilation system is essential if the building is tight. Natural ventilation is provided by open eaves and ridge vent system and is MOST common and MOST cost effective. With natural ventilation a 4/12 roof slope works best.

a. Artificial ventilation systems must provide three levels of air movement: the lowest level operates continuously to met respiration needs, the intermediate level is used to control temperature and moisture during winter conditions, and the highest or maximum level is for summer temperature control.

b. Horses require a summer ventilation rate of 200 cubic feet per minute air flow in a building that is 55 degrees F. The normal winter rate is 100 and 25 for minimum flow.

Stall Design

1. Stall sizea. Stall height should be a

minimum of 8 feet and alleyways 9 feet.

b. Stalls should be a minimum of 10 foot by 10 foot with 12’X12’ preferred.

c. Square stalls help prevent horses from getting down in a position close to a wall where they will need assistance to get up (casting)

d. Stallions and foaling should be a minimum of 12’X14’

Stall Design cont.

2. Stall walls and partitions usually are solid to a height of five to seven feet with ventilation provided with open space at the top.

a. Solid walls help prevent injury to equine feet and legs as well as prevent cribbing (equine chewing on the edges of exposed boards)

b. Open space at the top should be spaced 3 ½ -4 inches apart to prevent the mature equine’s hoof from passing through.

c. Rough cut oak is one of the best and strongest materials: equine do not chew it or destroy it as easily as tongue and groove yellow pine which is cheaper, but must be protected.

d. Concrete block or poured concrete walls are easy to paint and keep clean but can result in more serious injuries to equine or foals. However, before block walls should be sealed prior to use in order to prevent pathogens.

3. Stall floors should be absorbent, easy to clean, resistant to pawing and non-slippery.

a. Clay and sand mixes are the least costly and most easily obtained materials (2/3 clay and 1/3 sand will allow drainage)

b. Four to five inches of limestone dust make a level, hard surface. When installed over 6-8” of sand, watered and packed before equine uses the stall, it will be nearly as hard as concrete without the disadvantage of concrete. If rubber mats are added to the surface of hardened limestone, additional protection is provided to prevent foot problems.

c. Wooden floor are slippery when wet and tend to attract rodents.

d. Concrete floors are easy to clean and sanitize: however, more bedding is needed to soak urine and concrete often is associated with more leg problems.

e. Flexible, fiber grade polypropylene is a tough, yet flexible material designed for support, strength, and chemical resistance. It allows drainage with a non-skid surface. It is a good shock-absorbing surface that reduces moisture and is easy to clean. However, it is expensive.

f. Other materials include clay, asphalt, rubber floor mats and fiber-reinforced polyethylene interlocking blocks.

Fencing Considerations

1. First priority is safety of people and equine.

2. Properly designed fencing result in less stress from handling.

3. Cost is a major consideration.

4. Aesthetics is important for community support and property values.

Height and Construction

1. Minimum height should be 5’ for perimeter pasture fences (6’ for taller breeds)

2. Paddocks are small pastures or turn out areas of less than two acres per horse

a. Stallion paddocks should be double-fenced with a lane between them and the next paddocks.

3. Boards should always be secured to the inside, or equine side, or the fence post for stronger and safer applications.

Materials for Fencing

1. Wooden fences are sturdy and easy to be seen.

a. High maintenance cost and expensive.

b. Useful life of 15-20 years

2. Post and Rail Fencing is attractive but expensive to install and maintain.

a. Low to medium maintenance (does not require paint, but rails may need to be secured on a regular basis.)

b. Useful life of 15-20 years

3. Five diamond V-mesh wire is the best and safest wire for equine fencing

a. Close weave prevents injury from the equine catching its foot in it and is actually safer than board fending.

b. Is low maintenance with a useful life of 20-30 years.

c. Needs to be 10-gauge wire or heavier.

4. Rigid PVC produces a strong, flexible fence.

a. Initial cost may be high, but maintenance is low.

b. Useful life is 20-30 years.

5. High-tensile vinyl fencing with two or three high-tensile wires embedded in a 4-5” vinyl rail

a. It is flexible, safe and low maintenance.

b. Useful life is 20-30 years.

6. Other types of fencing including high-tensile wire, rubber fencing and galvanized metal fencing. Never use twisted barbed wire for horses.

Bedding Material Considerations

The bedding material chosen should be absorbent, dust-free, readily available, easily disposed of, unpalatable and affordable. Cost is often the most overriding factor.

Good bedding protects the horse’s feet from thrush, and encouraged the horse to lie down, rest and cushion its feet and legs from the hard stall floor.

Types of Bedding

1. Straw is the most popular because it makes an attractive bed.

Advantages Absorbent Relatively dust-free Comfortable

Disadvantages Highly combustible Some horses like to eat the bedding High labor for cleaning stalls Difficult to dispose of the high volume of

material

2. Wood shavings and sawdust are highly absorbent but may be more expensive than straw and may cause respiratory problems.

a. Requires less frequent cleaning than other materials, helps keep odors down, and is easier to dispose of than straw.

b. Equines seldom eat wood shaving and sawdust and these materials burn slower than straw.

c. Do not use hardwood shavings, especially black walnut as it has caused founder and laminitis

d. Wood shaving and sawdust must be stored in a dry location because it takes a long time to dry out and is worthless as a bedding material when wet.

3. Recycled newsprint is a new material that helps equines with respiratory conditions.

a. Newsprint is a very absorbent, softer and more comfortable than either shavings or straw, but combustibility may be a problem.

b. Has less dust than straw or shaving and pollen-free

Reasons for Outside Maintenance Practices

Important for good relationships with neighbors: flies and odors are controlled.

Contributes to a healthy ecological system for equine with disease and parasites controlled.

Promotes stewardship of resources: pollution is controlled and water quality is protected.

Proper Maintenance Practices

A good sanitation program is essential to reduce or eliminate fly larval development sites and consist of controlling standing water in wet areas and manure management.

Maintain the equine site at a slope of 2-6% away from buildings, working rings, and training areas to direct water without erosion to grassed absorption areas.

Develop a Water Quality Management Plan to: Reduce runoff that can carry soil and waste

contaminants into surface water sources and cause non-point source pollution (does not flow from a pipe) and

Protect ground water from pesticide and fertilizer spills, improper waste management and careless use of pesticides close to well water sources.

Area Maintenance is Needed

1. River and stream bank management is done to protect banks from trampling, destruction of vegetation and contamination

Best accomplished by fencing to restrict animal access and pumping drinking water to a holding trough away from the bank

Living fences of hedges and trees along the bank or inexpensive electric fencing

2. Waste management includes manure removal, storage and disposal techniques

Total volume of manure and soiled bedding is 2.0 cubic feet per day per horse

Properly stored and composted manure and bedding helps in pasture management: reduces chance of pollution when spread of fields, provides nutrients needed along with improving soil characteristics such as organic matter and moisture holding capacity.

After composting for 1-2 months, the volume of stall waste is reduced by 40-70% and many parasites, pathogenic bacteria and weed seed are destroyed

The manure holding facility must be covered and protected from runoff.

3. Pasture management includes controlled grazing to manage ground cover and provide quality nutrition for equine

a. The primary cause of runoff on equine farms is overgrazing. Graze pastures when they are 6-8” and rotate off when down to 3-4”

b. Equines are spot grazers and need to be rotated among several small pastures rather than one large one to protect from over grazing. Five or six paddocks with weekly rotations is ideal.

c. Drag pastures with a chain-link harrow at least annually, but ideally after each rotation so that the sun and air may reduce parasite populations

d. Removing manure from paddocks on weekly basis for composting with stall waste is an excellent way to reduce pollution and control parasites.

e. Pasture may need to be irrigated to provide all the nutrients needed by equine and if the farm raises livestock as well, a combination of cattle and horses increases the uniformity of grazing.

4. Watercourse and runoff management is closely related to maintaining cover and diverting water to reduce slope length and runoff speed

a. Divert clean runoff water away from barn, paddocks, manure storage areas, and exercise areas.

b. Reduce the length of slope on pastures with terraces and water bars.

c. Plant grass in drainage ditches to slow down runoff water

d. Plant at least a 10’ vegetative buffer strip between the steep slopes and waterways.

THE END!!!