I’m on the Board of a hybrid equine owner community ( horse owners and non-horse owners) which has two community barns. What is common practice in a HOA where a horse has passed away and needs to be buried. A equine resident has asked us if they can bury their horse in the pasture of the HOA owned barn and pasture. Can someone provide an opinion on common practice in hybrid communities in this regard ? I’m hesitant to set a precedent as to burying horses in the pastures with no grave markings. What’s the right policy to pursue ?
It is dangerous to bury horses in pastures, as the ground can cave over time. I can’t speak to the HOA aspect, but I’d only consider it if you have land outside of the pasture that can be used.
5 Likes
What other options for disposal exist?
What laws exist around the burial of horses in your area?
I agree with @joiedevie99, burying actually inside the pasture should not be an option. If legal to bury in your area, and you have the space, designating a graveyard could be a kindness. Especially if no or few other disposal options exist.
7 Likes
My husband is the president of our neighborhood HOA, but we are not an equestrian community. I board my horse off-site. I can’t imagine burying a horse in the common pasture would be acceptable. If you allow it once, you’d have to allow it every time it is requested. It would rid of grazing grass available in that area to all the horses for a period of time, and not to mention the potential injury to horses due to the difference in footing firmness after the horse is buried. Do the covenants address the matter at all?
3 Likes
Thank you three for your quick replies. We now know what our policy will be on this…
Ed
3 Likes
I have buried several horses in pastures. The excavator is heavy enough to firm the ground up hard if you run it over the area as you go, which you would absolutely want to do. They weigh around 40k lbs. you can flatten dirt pretty well with that.
In about 6 months to a year, we add a little more top fill if there is any sinking. Usually 2 inches max, if any, and not in holes…More like a ground indentation. It isn’t going to cause dangerous holes. I reseed immediately but depending on time of year, it can take a year to get grass on the spot again.
That said, if does establish a precedent. I personally don’t mind having horses buried here and there, so I am fine with that. It also isn’t inexpensive…last time we lost one it was around $600 to bury it (excavator rental + operator time).
4 Likes
The first thing is to find out what the local laws are about burying dead horses. In many jurisdictions it is not allowed.
What is the HOA’s normal process for setting/changing bylaws? If burying is legal, I would go that route.
We buried one horse in the pasture at my previous farm, and had no problems with sinkholes. But the ground is mostly shale, and in might be a problem with different soil.
Other options are rendering services, or the land fill. Around here we have a couple of services that will transport the carcass.
2 Likes
other options are cremation and composting
1 Like
I would encourage cremation and an urn garden or something.
2 Likes
I buried two horses on my land. The graves never sank at all. It was legal where I lived, and I was lucky to know someone who owned a backhoe who would dig the grave for a minimal fee. We used a tractor to push the bodies in and fill the graves.
Rebecca
2 Likes
Cremation is not an option in many areas. There isn’t a pet crematory in several hundred miles of me that has the capacity to cremate a horse. Most are used for small animals only.
2 Likes
Cremation can happen in the paddock, if it is legal to do so.
At the moment we are on a total fire ban and normally we need a permit for fires 2 metres big.
Responsible adults and you have to pick up the bones afterwards, that have not burned, which is easier than picking up a whole body.
Use diesel not petrol to help, and you need a lot of wood.
If the horse is euthanised you have to cremate as soon as possible, and warn neighbours ahead of time to keep their dogs locked up. You don’t want them eating the poisoned flesh.
2 Likes
SuzieQNutter In the USA, cremation takes place at facilties, like the AG University that has Vet clinics. I don’t know of anyone or any place, that allows you to burn the carcass on a field! Not sure even a big wood pile would totally incinerate a large horse carcass! Smell would be awful! But that is us, other places do things differently.
Our AG college does have the facility to cremate big animals in their furnace. They were most noted for cremating a large quantity of cattle that tested positive for Tuberculosis. State law required the cattle be disposed of this way to prevent spreading it.
5 Likes
I buried two in a clearing in the woods behind the house. A neighbor dug the holes with his backhoe, we put the horses down next to the holes, neighbor pushed them in and filled in the holes after I had left.
They did sink a little about about six months and we had to add fill on top.
Our biggest concern with burying them on our small property was the water table and the proximity to the well, not the footing or the soil over the graves. I would not bury in a pasture if I could avoid it.
I would like to second the suggestion that the community designate a small spot, not in a pasture, for this purpose. It would be a lovely amenity to offer, and the question will absolutely come up again.
3 Likes
I’ve used composting for my last two horses that were euthanized. I feel like it’s the best possible solution because instead of thinking about what happens with rendering, you get to think of your horse peacefully decomposing in a pile of mulch. You also don’t have to deal with the logistics of burying them, or the high cost of cremation.
6 Likes
Open burning is a huge source of pollution --mainly in the form of particulate matter–and not environmentally responsible. Totally get that a private horseowner, who has to euth maybe once every 5-10 years, isn’t going to trash the global environment. But it would be a much bigger issue when all of the horse owners in the HOA want to taker advantage of this. Typically HOA lot sizes are pretty small (hence the shared pastures).
Disposal is a big problem around here (and one that novice horse owners don’t ever consider before jumping in to horse ownership!). The only crematorium within economic distance closed due to the cost of the gas and permitting violations for the emissions The county landfill won’t accept an equine carcass, and the only guy who did the renderer “milk run” went out of business. Literally the only option is to bury or compost on your property. Burial is legally questionable but there’s no enforcement so that’s what people do.
My horse was composted and his skeleton reassembled for use in an art or educational piece.
5 Likes
A previous barn owner took his horses into the woods surrounding his property when he put them down. Coyotes & vultures gotta eat too. It was a bit upsetting for the new owners (vegans) when they moved in and started exploring.
2 Likes
That is why I said if legal.
There is smoke in the view a lot around here. Farmers burn their fence lines, I guess for weeds. Firies back burn, to curb wild fires. Wild fires seem to try their best. Some of Australian trees only germinate after being burned.
As I said you need a permit for fires over 2 meters. I am guessing they mean wide and not high.
I was speaking to next door. They have more acreage than us. He had a fire get away from him. It was not dry so not ravaging. He had the fire Marshall ringing him and berating him for not having a permit. He said the Marshall was not amused when he said he did not have a 2 metre fire, instead he had hundreds of little fires.
It’s fine to bury horses in pastures as long as it’s done right. My BO also happens to own a very successful site contractor business, so he has all of the heavy equipment anyone could want at his disposal. He does charge boarders for burial because it means pulling the big excavator off a paying job, getting it back to the barn, and losing time on that paying job. But he’s done it three times since I’ve been at the barn (2 very old horses, 1 colic), and those graves are dug DEEP and they are smooth and firm once done. I cantered over one by accident once because I wasn’t paying attention to where I was (too focused on the horse). No issue (other than feeling bad, I apologized to the departed critter)…solid footing.
1 Like
