A horse can generate fifty pounds of manure a day, which must be dealt with responsibly. Depending on where you live, there are laws governing the removal of horse manure from your property. To limit bacteria and parasite infestation and for the look and smell of your barn, regular removal is necessary.

A stall should be cleaned every day. If space is limited at your stable, the easiest and most sanitary option is to muck into a Dumpster and have it hauled away periodically. This can be expensive and unsightly, but necessary.

If you have the acreage, you might want to spread the manure. Your agricultural extension office will advise you according to how many horses you have and how much land you need to spread manure. It is nitrogen rich, which will encourage healthy grass. Some spreaders are small enough to fit in the aisle of your barn, so you can muck right into it and spread every day or two. Spreading on fields that are in use with horses is not sanitary. For proper decomposition, fast drying, and ease, a spreader should be used rather then a shovel. If you choose to spread, you might want to use a finer bedding material, like sawdust or wood shavings. Wood chips or straw bedding will be difficult to spread cleanly and will take a long time to decompose in a field without the heat generated from compost.

Composting manure is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly plan. After a few months, composted manure is dry, light, and not smelly. It has undergone a fermentation process that concentrates its nutrients, kills parasites and their eggs, and frees it of some of its nitrogen, which makes it useable as fertilizer for plants and gardens.