How to Remove Compacted Manure

Keeping your horse's stall clean is essential to its health. A dirty stall attracts insects and can cause thrush and lung problems for your horse. If you neglect to clean the stall on a regular basis, manure gets compacted and becomes much more difficult and time consuming to remove. Once removed, you can use compacted manure as a fertilizer or add it to your compost. To prevent compacted manure, clean stalls on a daily or twice-daily basis.

Things You'll Need

  • Rubber boots
  • Gloves
  • Shovel
  • Pitchfork
  • Wheelbarrow
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Instructions

    • 1

      Dress in clothing that can get dirty. Wear long pants to protect your skin from insects and bacteria. Rubber boots are easy to clean after mucking a stall. Heavy work gloves will prevent blisters on your hands.

    • 2

      Turn your horse out. Put your horse in a clean stall, tether it outside or let it graze in a pasture.

    • 3

      Remove the water buckets and feed tubs. Clean water buckets daily to prevent algae and bacteria from growing. Keep the buckets out of the stall while removing compacted manure to keep them clean.

    • 4

      Remove the compacted manure. Most horses will get into a pattern and defecate in the same spot. Start in these areas. Dig a shovel into the compacted manure and lift into the wheelbarrow. Compacted manure is heavy, so break up the piles into manageable parts. If hay is mixed into the manure, cut the piles apart with the sharp end of the shovel.

    • 5

      Muck the stall. Remove all visible fecal matter and urine-soaked hay and place in the wheelbarrow. Start in the back, left-hand corner of the stall and use the pitchfork to sift through the hay to find any loose fecal matter or wet hay. Work from back to front, left to right towards the stall door.

    • 6

      Replace the bedding. Add hay to the stall to replace what you removed. Scatter it evenly around the stall, then use the pitchfork to mix it with the leftover bedding.