Horses and pastures seem to go together. Pastures provide exercise and a low-cost feed source, but unless productive, they provide only exercise. To achieve both goals, however, they must have a good start. This factsheet will go over some steps that will help.

Horse property barns and stables may contain large quantities of mud because of excessive traffic. Mud is more than a mess or nuisance. Winter and spring rains can cause mud and manure to runoff into nearby waterways. Nutrients and sediment in runoff are a source of non-point source pollution, which can degrade water quality. Louisiana horse owners can reduce the impact on streams and bayous by specific adopting management practices.

This fact sheet provides a brief overview of some good stewardship practices for horse owners and how they manage their manure. It focuses on three techniques for managing horse manure and bedding: direct application of manure, fertilizer nitrogen enhancement, composting

Composting is the acceleration of a natural biological process that converts organic matter into a stable humus-like material. This process is a great way to convert horse manure into a more desirable product. Composting produces a material that can be used as a low-grade fertilizer, mulch for reducing weed infestation, and soil amendment for retaining soil moisture.

Louisiana horse owners can reduce the impact of their facilities on local waterways and groundwater by adopting management practices that minimize the potential for non-point source water pollution.

Horses are important for companionship, sport, work, pleasure, education, and therapy. To be good stewards of the land, however, horse farmers should manage their farms in a way to minimize the potential for negatively impacting the environment with horse manure

Pervious concrete may be an alternative surface material for such horse facilities. Pervious concrete is a mixture of the same ingredients, except the sand is reduced or omitted and the amount of water is reduced. A properly installed concrete pad, using pervious concrete, is capable of allowing high volumes of water to permeate through the material. Depending on the aggregate used and the compacted density of the pad, the amount of infiltration of material through the pad can be varied

Rotational grazing has long been used by livestock producers as a way to use pasture more efficiently. By dividing large pastures into smaller paddocks, animals make better use of available forage. Additionally, pastures that are not allowed to be grazed down to such an extent that soil erosion can occur protect the environment by preventing sediment loss into adjacent waterways.