Written by Texas AgriLife Extension Service  

More than one horse in a stalled situation can create a heap of unwanted manure. But owners can turn that daily chore of mucking stalls into a pile of "green" compost material, said a Texas AgriLife Extension Service specialist.

Horse manure is the easiest type to compost, said Kevin Heflin, MS, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension associate in Amarillo.

While creating windrows might be the traditional way of composting manure, Heflin said, in a setting where multiple horse owners are cleaning their own stalls, it might be easiest to build a specific location for them to dump the manure.

A set of livestock panels can be used to create a specified dumping area that remains cleaner and easier to manage, he said.

"Multiple owners will inevitably start stacking the manure everywhere they shouldn't," Heflin said. "They typically will not make a nice neat windrow. If there is a specific location for them to dump the manure, and there are sidewalls or fence panels, it will probably be much cleaner and easier to manage."

These simple and environmentally-friendly horsekeeping practices can bring your farm into harmony with the land.

I'm up before dawn, because it'll be a big day here on our 10-acre horse property in Maple Valley, Wash. In a few short hours 50 or more vehicles will come up my driveway full of horse owners eager to learn about the environmental practices of my farm.

This is what I do for a living: As the creator and director of Horses for Clean Water, I teach people how to manage horses in a way that works for them, their animals, their neighborhood and the environment. In other words, I promote ways to manage horses that minimize our impact on the world around us.

Implementing green practices on a horse farm needn't be difficult or expensive. Many of the topics I teach about are interconnected. For example, controlling water pollution improves the health of nearby streams and rivers, which in turn improves their suitability as wildlife habitat, which increases natural insect predators and decreases your populations of flies and mosquitoes. So, in fact, once you've established your new Earth-friendly systems, you may well find that you are saving time and money and doing less work in the long run.

At my open houses, I've introduced hundreds of people to environmentally friendly methods of horsekeeping. But I also encourage everyone to get in touch with local conservation districts, extension offices, environmental groups and other resources. A wealth of information is out there for anyone who wants to learn about how these strategies can best be applied in their area. Here's how you can get started.

Greening' the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

When the world comes to Kentucky next September, we want to put our greenest foot forward.

That's according to Carol Hanley, director of engagement in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability & the Environment.

Hanley said to accomplish that, the Bluegrass Partnership for a Green Community is working with the Kentucky Horse Park and the FEI World Equestrian Games team to implement green projects, such as recycling, sustainability measures in hotels and restaurants, and introducing native plant species at the Horse Park. "Our European visitors have a different standard of sustainability and we want to make a good impression and welcome them to the Bluegrass State," Hanley said.Green Friends of the Games is a fundraising initiative that will give Kentuckians the opportunity to help make the 2010 Games greener and reduce their environmental impact.

Artist transforming Hummer into horse cart, i.e. why we love modern art [w/video]

by Jonny Lieberman (RSS feed) on Jan 29th 2010 at 7:24PM

What is art? - Click above for high-res image gallery
In 1948 American born artist Man Ray wrote, "There is no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it." This is nearly 30 years after he glued some spikes to the bottom of an iron and called it art. And you know what? We couldn't agree more. Meet Jeremy Dean. He's a New York-based artist that began reading about "Hoover carts" during the recent economic bad times. Turns out that Hoover carts were broken down old cars that horses used to lug around during the Great Depression.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Kentucky Horse Park hopes to turn muck into bucks.The park is undergoing a $5.7 million energy overhaul that officials said will save more than half a million dollars a year.The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that at the center of the project is a biomass gasification plant that will turn 3,450 tons of horse muck produced at the park every year into gas that can generate about 1.6 megawatts of electricity.The savings will be guaranteed by the energy company that is the park's partner.The annual savings are estimated to be $582,000.Federal stimulus dollars and low-interest loans from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority funded the project.

Critics of fuel cell cars have long said that producing hydrogen at an economical rate is just a bunch of horse crap. Now, in Ocala, Florida this criticism is being turned on its ear into reality as thoroughbred racehorses will now be used to generate the world’s lightest element.

Yes, it’s true that pooh is the new hydrogen as the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association (FTBOA) along with MaxWest Environmental Systems has received a $2.5 million grant from the State of Florida to build this waste to hydrogen facility. The waste plant is expected to process 50,000 tons per year of horse poop plus another 50,000 tons or organic waste and wood.

Around 24 jobs will be created by this facility that will have an output of around 10.5 megawatts. Ocala is known as the horse capital of the world (and believe me I’ve been there) with over 35,000 thoroughbreds living in the county, so disposal of horse pooh is indeed an issue.

The manure gasification plant heats the horse waste to around 1,400 degrees F. This creates methane, carbon monoxide and hydrogen that can be sold on the open market or used to create energy for the plant. The remaining residual ash can be mixed with asphalt or used in farm fertilizer.

In the past I’ve talked about turning hog manure into hydrogen and other organic waste as well. Recycling farm waste will not only be good for the environment, but will give farmers an added stream of revenue or source of power as well.

As someone who grew up on an Illinois horse ranch, shoveling horse poop from stalls to make a little extra money for high school, I never imagined back then that I was shoveling the stuff that would one day create clean energy. From horse to hydrogen is an idea I’m now liking a lot.

The Naturmobil can gallop to speeds of 28mph. Photograph: Public Domain

Those thinking of buying aToyota Prius may be disappointed to learn that the future of eco-friendly travel has nothing to do with hybrid synergy drives - instead it involves six wheels, a treadmill, and a horse. The Naturmobil, the brainchild of an Iranian engineer, Hadi Mirhejazi, combines 19th-century travel with 21st-century gym equipment.

In essence it is a horse, tethered to a treadmill, inside a perspex box on wheels. The driver and passenger sit in the front (the prototype is a two-seater sports car), while the horse is in the back. To get moving you simply turn on the treadmill and wait for the "engine" to start trotting. The horse's movement, aided by 20 gears, recharges the treadmill's battery, and keeps the vehicle moving. It can go at quite a canter, reaching 28mph during a road test.

Mirhejazi spent more than two years building the Naturmobil, and says he uses "many types of technology to make the horse comfortable". The animal sits under a jacket of cold water. For the more delicate problem of "emissions", Mirhejazi straps on an extra-large colostomy bag. The waste is then collected beneath the treadmill, "so the road will not get dirty or smell bad"; a selfless design, given there is no partition between horse and driver.

There are a few drawbacks. Despite the horse's cooling system, the Naturmobil is not suitable for hot climates. Motorways and main roads are also off-limits.

Mirhejazi had hoped to attract advertising for the vehicle's exterior, which could host two LCD screens. The plan was to take a publicity road trip around the world. Alas, the plan never came off. Mirhejazi has offered to give away the prototype, patent, and $100,000 to anyone who can explain why the Naturmobil was really invented. Advertising? Eco-friendly horse box? It seems the inventor himself is not entirely sure.

• This article was edited on 17 August. It incorrectly said the Naturmobil had four wheels - it has now been changed to six wheels.

Written by Darlene Ricker  

Equine feed manufacturers go green By Darlene Ricker Environmentally friendly products are seen as inevitable as these feed companies map out a green road to the future.

Manufacturers are looking at how to make equine feed more environmentally friendly, from packaging to ingredients, while not sacrificing nutrition.

In the 1970s, The Greening of America topped the bestseller lists. Fast-forward 30 years, and now the horse feed industry finds itself in its own greening process. The term "green horses" has taken on a different meaning than untrained or young stock, and it carries far more panache with today's consumers.

The question of the day is: Should the equine feed industry "go green?"

That issue was front and center at the equestrian competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics, which touted itself as the first "Green Olympics." From environment friendly horse feeds to arena footing to recycling of stable waste, the equestrian venue last summer in Hong Kong was a model of green awareness.

During site construction, 90% of trees at the Hong Kong Sports Institute were retained in their original positions, while others were transplanted. At both the cross-country and core venues, 500 new trees and 17,000 new shrubs were planted, while fewer than 50 trees were felled. Building work inside Penfold Park was sequenced to minimize the impact on the habitat of its resident bird population of egrets during their breeding season, and energy-saving lighting systems were installed in the stabling area as well as the main and training arenas.

Image via: Ninety Acres Culinary School Richard Branson, known for supporting all types of wild and high profile schemes (renewable energy, carbon capture, alternative fuels for Virgin Airlines and even eco-resorts on his famous islands), now he's into something a little more mellow: funding a F...

Check out this June 9 article by Glenn Hurowitz on Gristmill  (Grist.org's blog), about a Nebraska US Senate candidate whose got good looks and green sensibilities:

U.S. Senate candidate Scott Kleeb and the clean energy roundup

Fresh from an overwhelming primary victory in Nebraska's U.S. Senate race, 32-year-old rancher, Yale Ph.D., and college history teacher Scott Kleeb spoke with me on the phone about his "brand of change" for a clean energy economy and the environment.

Kleeb shocked the political establishment in 2006 by getting 45 percent of the vote in Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District, one of the most Republican districts in the country. Then, as now, he ran as a clear progressive on most economic and environmental issues (while staying coy on some contentious social issues).