# Dead horse !



## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

What to do with a large freshly deceased horse. Neighbor lady showed up informed that her quarter horse had become entangled in a fence and was dead. Was relieved to hear it wasn't my fence and what It had to do with me? 
Now listen to this. Seems that funds for getting a hole dug in our frozen soil aren't available to her at this time and wouldn't I somehow winch a half ton of dead horse onto my 2WD pickup, drive it down to the valley and dump it somewhere for the coyotes.

No Mam and hell no!!


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Lots and lots of 'quick lime'.


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

Isn't there a rendering service in your area?


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Possum Belly said:


> Lots and lots of 'quick lime'.


 I am not even sure that substance is available around here.

Then there was some chatter about burning it cremation style. I said there wasn't enough wood in a square mile around here to make a pyre big enough to burn that horse down.

Although interestingly enough, fresh pork bones burn like blazes.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

aoconnor1 said:


> Isn't there a rendering service in your area?


The abattoir's around here have a service that picks up bones and offal from inspected slaughtered animals. separate bins for pork and beef and a charge of three to four cents per pound.

The days of the free dead stock removal went out with BSE.

Digging a hole would probably be three four hundred bucks and even if some renderer would take it which is doubtful it would cost her more than that at four cents a pound charge.

No my math is wrong. 4cents on a thousand is only forty and the horse weighs maybe 1200, so 48 bucks.... Hmm maybe time to phone the abattoir?


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Did I mention that the valley land is almost all privately owned and those folks already have a axe to grind with the shenanigans us flatlanders perpetrate there.


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Possum Belly said:


> Lots and lots of 'quick lime'.





postroad said:


> I am not even sure that substance is available around here.


Just about any gardening or feed store would have it.
Any type of "powdered" lime would work.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Possum Belly said:


> Just about any gardening or feed store would have it.
> Any type of "powdered" lime would work.


 How much for a 1200 pound horse is needed? The horse would stay fresh for the next five months in our climate and she could just leave it till spring but I suppose she wants it gone because the trauma of the body being there for her daughter to see.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Anyone with a manure spreader or front -end loader that could dump LOTS of manure over the horse body, let it cook up in the pile? Disposal by manure pile is now legal in Michigan, but you have to cover the carcass deeply with the manure so it will heat appropriately and reduce the carcass to nothing. We are down to one rendering plant in the entire State, which only "makes the rounds" once a week to pickup carcasses.

Manure Disposal has been thoroughly tested by Michigan State University in Lansing, which helped set the rules for using this method for large animal carcass disposal by farmers.

Very effective with almost nothing left in residue within the pile. Smell of manure in deep pile covers any dead animal smell, so no predators coming to dig out the animals. Depending on how large and how hot the pile gets, any animal inside could be gone in as little as 3 months. Higher and deeper on the pile, is a good way to cover the carcass.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

goodhors said:


> Anyone with a manure spreader or front -end loader that could dump LOTS of manure over the horse body, let it cook up in the pile? Disposal by manure pile is now legal in Michigan, but you have to cover the carcass deeply with the manure so it will heat appropriately and reduce the carcass to nothing. We are down to one rendering plant in the entire State, which only "makes the rounds" once a week to pickup carcasses.
> 
> Manure Disposal has been thoroughly tested by Michigan State University in Lansing, which helped set the rules for using this method for large animal carcass disposal by farmers.
> 
> Very effective with almost nothing left in residue within the pile. Smell of manure in deep pile covers any dead animal smell, so no predators coming to dig out the animals. Depending on how large and how hot the pile gets, any animal inside could be gone in as little as 3 months. Higher and deeper on the pile, is a good way to cover the carcass.


 Her horses generate a heap of manure that gets cleaned up in spring. Now wouldn't that be the ultimate send-off though? Getting disposed of in a pile of your own crap! I will mention it to her.


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## Kris in MI (May 30, 2002)

Forerunner often composts large animals. This is his thread (very long) that talks about his compost piles http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/general-homesteading-forums/homesteading-questions/342651-extreme-composting.html


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Road kill deer are covered in Lime here(well used to be). My neighbor charges 50. to bury a cow for us. We let our old brood cows live out their lives,instead of sending them off. Yes, you can cover and compost, Forerunner does it all the time.


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

postroad said:


> How much for a 1200 pound horse is needed? The horse would stay fresh for the next five months in our climate and she could just leave it till spring but I suppose she wants it gone because the trauma of the body being there for her daughter to see.


Don't know but 1-2 bags to start and then one as needed as the process goes forward.


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## dizzy (Jun 25, 2013)

Is there a zoo in your area? From what I understand, as long as the horse died of natural causes, they'll take it for large cats.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

dizzy said:


> Is there a zoo in your area? From what I understand, as long as the horse died of natural causes, they'll take it for large cats.


 I had been thinking the same thing but the nearest is over sixty miles away. Still a mystery to me how a young healthy horse just up and dies from being tangled in her neighbors sheep wire for a short while?

Her neighbor is a fairly recent immigrant from a not so wealthy background in some eastern European country. She said as they had been surveying the scene he had mentioned something like it was time for the barbeque.

She wasn't sure if he had been joking or not.


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

Winter is a problem with frozen ground. We freeze down to at least 6 feet every winter here. That's why the decision to euthanize old horses is done in October. For very practical purposes, they all get evaluated as to whether they will make the winter.

That said, the unexpected does happen. Here, it's either haul them off to the woods for the wolves, leave them someplace tucked away in a low spot and haul dirt in to throw on top asap, or find a sled dog owner/racer with a lot of dogs who need fresh meat - but they don't want any drugs in the meat.


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## littlebitfarm (Mar 21, 2005)

Compost! Any tree services around that would dump a couple loads of wood chips on the horse? 

I just buried a horse here. Called a backhoe guy out. Pointed to where I wanted the hole. He dug it. I thanked him and waved a fresh $100 bill and asked him if that was enough. He happily grabbed it and I'm sure that cash never made it to the books. I moved the mare and filled in the hole with my tractor. That was my choice and I would rather be the one handing my mare than a stranger.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

postroad said:


> What to do with a large freshly deceased horse. Neighbor lady showed up informed that her quarter horse had become entangled in a fence and was dead. Was relieved to hear it wasn't my fence and what It had to do with me?
> Now listen to this. Seems that funds for getting a hole dug in our frozen soil aren't available to her at this time and wouldn't I somehow winch a half ton of dead horse onto my 2WD pickup, drive it down to the valley and dump it somewhere for the coyotes.
> 
> No Mam and hell no!!


Before you get involved, you may want to contact your county or ag office and find out exactly what the regulations are in your area. In some areas there are very specific guidelines for disposal and in other areas it can be pretty vague. 

If they can't afford to have the carcass disposed of as regulations dictate, they should consider calling a zoo and they may have some helpful suggestions.

Rendering companies will take horses in my area but like yourself, there is a cost.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

if it is winter and the horse is frozen. I would keep it and feed it to my dogs all winter, or as long as it lasted. you can chop it up and give it to them a little a long. No need to waste 1200# of perfectly good meat in my opinion. if it were summer time where it would spoil, I would compost what I did not feed them the first few days. 

kinda like saying someone just offered me 1200# of free dog food, how can I get rid of it??  unless you or someone around does not have a dog??? Then hogs will do??


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

duplicate post


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

wr said:


> Before you get involved, you may want to contact your county or ag office and find out exactly what the regulations are in your area. In some areas there are very specific guidelines for disposal and in other areas it can be pretty vague.
> 
> If they can't afford to have the carcass disposed of as regulations dictate, they should consider calling a zoo and they may have some helpful suggestions.


 Yah who knows what is regulated these days. I know we are not allowed outhouses anymore.

Zoo is far away. Horse is still laying there as of last night. It will stay fresh for a long time in our climate. She has recently fell on some hard times due to separation. I don't own a tractor but I did give her the number of a guy in the village who might be able to help move it from public view at least.

Its going to be a little awkward to move as it begins to freeze solid.


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## notwyse (Feb 16, 2014)

You could have a dandy block party chili Cook off/barbeque. I had an old made expire on me once some years ago....it was quite the little problem. Brought out my sick sense of humor for days....


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

notwyse said:


> You could have a dandy block party chili Cook off/barbeque. I had an old made expire on me once some years ago....it was quite the little problem. Brought out my sick sense of humor for days....


 
You bet. I have often shook my head when looking at her horses. For same feed and pasture I raise all the Dexter beef for a family of nine plus sell off enough bred heifers to pay for hay.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

A cow eats grass, a horse eats grass? I have never really understood as a culture why people here in the U.S. view eating one as fine, and the other with disgust? I guess we have all just gotten to far removed from reality, living in our land of excess?? Being it was not gutted and not sure exactly how long it has been dead I would not eat it, same as I would not eat a cow in the same predicament. However, isn't it funny, if it had been her cow that got caught in the fence and died, the first thought would be to butcher it and salvage the meat? But since it is a horse that is not even considered?


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Muleman said:


> A cow eats grass, a horse eats grass? I have never really understood as a culture why people here in the U.S. view eating one as fine, and the other with disgust? I guess we have all just gotten to far removed from reality, living in our land of excess?? Being it was not gutted and not sure exactly how long it has been dead I would not eat it, same as I would not eat a cow in the same predicament. However, isn't it funny, if it had been her cow that got caught in the fence and died, the first thought would be to butcher it and salvage the meat? But since it is a horse that is not even considered?



It was a two year old quarter horse. I bet the meat would have been fine.

They are getting short on meat at their house. Me and the wife have decided to slaughter the next barren gilt my uncle gets through his barn at cost for them. Last gilt cost me 58 cents a pound live weight plus salt pepper etc. Do the kill skinning processing myself.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.739843106064207.1073741832.682198201828698&type=1


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I know some folks that were feeding horses to their dogs when they got down so cheap. They were only bringing $25 or $50 at some of the sale barns. They were not advertising it as I am sure some one would take offense, but not really sure why. As long as an animal is killed humanely and not let go to waste, I have no problem with using animal meat for human or livestock use. I am thinking horse meat is healthier for a dog than the dry dog feed sold in the stores myself.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Boys say they saw the horse being dragged past the school yesterday here in the village. Wife texted her friend to see what's up. Her estranged husband had chained it to the back of his 4x4 and drug it somewhere but he's not saying where.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Muleman said:


> I know some folks that were feeding horses to their dogs when they got down so cheap. They were only bringing $25 or $50 at some of the sale barns. They were not advertising it as I am sure some one would take offense, but not really sure why. As long as an animal is killed humanely and not let go to waste, I have no problem with using animal meat for human or livestock use. I am thinking horse meat is healthier for a dog than the dry dog feed sold in the stores myself.


I grew up believing that horses were livestock, not pets and being Canadian, we do have a fairly strong market for horsemeat. My only concern with horses for human consumption is that the need to be fed out and allow a specific period of time for drugs to be out of their system. In a case like this, I would think that a horse that died suddenly would be best used as dog food than for human consumption.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I have a feeling that this horse and this story are going to get bigger. Maybe someone will put it to good use.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

postroad said:


> Boys say they saw the horse being dragged past the school yesterday here in the village. Wife texted her friend to see what's up. Her estranged husband had chained it to the back of his 4x4 and drug it somewhere but he's not saying where.


Perhaps I'm reading more into this than I should but it may be because I've had people dump their pets, unwanted livestock and deadstock and I tend to resent it so I'm really hoping this dummy didn't do something similar.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

wr said:


> Perhaps I'm reading more into this than I should but it may be because I've had people dump their pets, unwanted livestock and deadstock and I tend to resent it so I'm really hoping this dummy didn't do something similar.


 Who knows?


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## popscott (Oct 6, 2004)

postroad said:


> Did I mention that the valley land is almost all privately owned and those folks already have a axe to grind with the shenanigans us flatlanders perpetrate there.


Soooooooo&#8230;.. I guess a horse head in their bed would be a shenanigan that would be frowned upon? That would keep them quiet for awhile.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Composting is an accepted method of disposal in most places. Lots of old straw, saw dust, leaves, etc. 
Not sure I'd eat the meat of an animal that spent its last hours struggling in a maze of fence wire.
Interesting that there isn't much focus on the horrific death of a fairly young horse, due to presumably unsafe fencing.
The glut of horses caused by over breeding and the loss of the slaughter horse market allows people to afford to buy a horse that can't afford to care for one and, in this case, bury one.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

cranbrook said:


> Composting is an accepted method of disposal in most places. Lots of old straw, saw dust, leaves, etc.
> 
> Not sure I'd eat the meat of an animal that spent its last hours struggling in a maze of fence wire.
> 
> ...



I'm not real sure who you want us to chew on about the manner in which the horse died since the person asking the question does not own the horse or cause it's death. 

The person asking does not own the horse and does not deserve disrespect in any way. They are simply a neighbour who was asked if they could help out. 

You may have also missed the fact that this happened in Canada and we have no slaughter ban in place and we actually have a fairly strong horse meat industry.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

It's technically illegal to bury a horse here but when we had a smaller one die we slipped the guy with the bobcat a bit of money. When we had a full size mare escape and get hit on the road the rendering truck picked her up. You just call in and they hopefully can get to your area soon enough but in winter it's not much issue. They only charge like $100 or $200. Not too bad to make the problem go away. These days I probably would cut it up, store it somewhere, and feed it to the dogs. No reason to waste good meat.


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