Horses can be green too!
There seems to be plenty of ideas on how to green your home, car, garden, office, or just about anything else one can think of, but information on green stable care is not quite as plentiful.
Because not everyone can afford to re-build a environmentally friendly barn or install a new green irrigation system, we looked for green barn ideas that were more affordable and convenient.
Green stable tips can be as simple as moving your horse’s water bucket a bit further away from their feed tub or hay rack. Less feed will get into the water bucket, thus creating a cleaner water supply for the horse and perhaps you will have to clean the water bucket less often. That saves you time and you use less water.
Place a recycle bin in your barn and encourage others to put their drink, snack or other recyclable packaging in the bin instead of the garbage.
You probably have heard plenty about energy efficient light bulbs. An ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb. Just make sure that you purchase CFLs that are designed for outdoor/barn use. Motion sensors on your light switches at the barn and around your arena can also cut down on the amount of electricity that you use and will increase security around your barn.
You may also consider having the interior of your stable whitewashed or painted to brighten it up and reflect natural and artificial light.
Rubber mats in stalls can result in using less bedding and can be beneficial to your horse’s legs. You may also explore alternative bedding in your area like recycled paper, wood shavings or wood pellets. Buying shavings, feeds and supplements in bulk can also reduce packaging material if you have the storage space.
Pest control is a major concern for any horse owner but there are plenty of organic and natural product available for livestock operations as large as a cattle feed lot or as small as a single backyard horse.
