Got manure? Creative Commons photo.
Recent years have brought with them an increased awareness of the environmental impacts that people cause each and every day. While I certainly won’t be trading in my big pickup truck in favor of a little hybrid car anytime soon, I try to be mindful of my own ecological footprint. And I like to try to take steps to minimize my impact, small as they may be.
As a farm and horse owner, trying to “be green” is something that can be easily overlooked. It may be hard to believe that steps can be taken to make horse keeping more environmentally friendly, considering the amount of manure that just one horse can produce in a day.
Putting together and executing a well-planned manure management protocol is oh so very important to maintaining the quality of local waterways. Take a look at this blog post over on The Horse.com to learn more about some “green” horse keeping tips and techniques that you can consider implementing during the summer months.
And then check out some of the other headlines from this week in Horse Health News, presented by Absorbine:
How Can Horse Owners Protect Waterways: To further dig into the topic of how to keep waterways clean and free from damage that can be caused by run-off, check out this video that features Horses for Clean Water’s Alayne Blickle. [The Horse]
5 Ways to Prevent Tendon Injuries: The very best tendon injury is … the one that doesn’t happen. What are some ways that you can minimize your horse’s risk of a tendon injury? Check out this post to get some tips on what precautions you can take to hopefully help your horse avoid this type of injury. [Equus Magazine]
Non-Toxic and FREE Insect Control for Farms: Tired of using countless chemicals, traps and sprays in an attempt to reduce the number of irritating flies buzzing around your farm and barn? Look no further then your friendly (OK, maybe not always so friendly if they are swooping at your head) neighborhood barn swallows. Just one swallow can eat thousands of insects per day! [The Horse]
Researchers Probe Microbial Levels in Soaked Forage: Did you know that if you soak forage for 24 hours, you may be reducing its hygienic quality? A team of researchers from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has discovered that soaking forage in water for 24 hours will raise the counts of both yeast and enterobacteria. [Horsetalk]
