[vikingraider]

My new neighbours at the allotment have kindly given me a 50l bag of fresh horse manure. What would be the best thing to do with it? I was thinking of putting it in a blue barrel with my grass clippings and shredded paper to rot down for a few months. Would that be best?

[Hampshire Hog]

Sounds good to me.
If it’s very fresh it might need several months before it’s usable.
Obviously if it’s still hot it will burn crops.

[vikingraider]

Sounds good to me.
If it’s very fresh it might need several months before it’s usable.
Obviously if it’s still hot it will burn crops.

Ah yeah, it looks very fresh. It didn't smell though, although i only opened the bag to make sure it wasn't his wifes head lol, so didnt get time to get a good whiff

[vikingraider]

I did what I said I was going to do and checked on it today. When I lifted the old compost bag I had as a cover you could see steam coming off it!

[Goosegirl]

Just check the horses haven't been on grass that's been sprayed with something containing aminopyralid.

[vikingraider]

 My neighbours have spread it all over their plot so they'll have issues first while mine is rotting down. But thanks for the warning

[rowlandwells]

Goosy is absolutely write aminopyralid can be fatal for plants that's why we stack our horse manure for 12 months before using it we have been using horse manure for a number of years now without any problems its just making sure you don't use fresh  horse manure

[AnneB]

Goosy is absolutely write aminopyralid can be fatal for plants that's why we stack our horse manure for 12 months before using it we have been using horse manure for a number of years now without any problems its just making sure you don't use fresh  horse manure

You should always rot down manure otherwise it will deplete nitrogen from the soil, which is the opposite of what you want and can burn plants.
Aminopyralid in manure is a different matter altogether and can persist for long periods in stored manure.  This is the RHS advice:
"Unfortunately, residues in manure can remain for extended periods, even up to two years.
Long term storage is an option. The manure must be fully rotted down over several years before use."

[rowlandwells]

yes that s well worth pointing out AnneB something I must admit I hadn't thought of that although I know this to be true but I didn't get that advise from the RhS an old gardener told me this many moons ago and as I said in my previous reply we stack ours for around 12 months before using and haven't had any probs