You need to contact your Township or County. It’s usually left up to local government if livestock burial is allowed. My township doesn’t allow it because our water tables are super high and burying a large animal could pose issues with ground water.
Personally, I wouldn’t allow burial on the property. I would push for rendering, removal and burial elsewhere, composting, or cremation at a facility.
I’ve never known a boarding facility to be allow with burial on-site. Maybe because I’ve always lived in horse-heavy areas so there’s usually at least one rendering/cremation company that can be contacted to remove the body.
No experience with an HOA in an equine community, but I would expect similar rules to a boarding facility with such a set-up.
Be sure to check state laws first regarding burial of animals, particlularly horses. Maine is still rural but tightened up regulations. When I bougfht my horse in 2001 there was no question he would be buried on the farm – 75 acres with a 30-acre hayfield. Plus the BO’s father’s backhoe was kept there. Now the BO can now bury one horse annually but needs a permit for any additonal. She stopped burials on the premises. Part of the reason for limitations is due to the drugs used for euthanasia. There isn’t much city water, most of us have wells. They don’t want the drugs getting into the watertable.
I planned on cremation, which is several thousand dollars plus transportation of the body. If you want ashes returned you get a 50 lb. box. I can’t even think about rendering. I composted him and I am really glad I did. Total cost was $800 including pcikup, They called ahead and came 30 minutes after we put him down. They use the same large animal rescue glide that is used to move injured horses into a trailer. I couldn’t watch them, but friends were impressed. They stroked him and talked to him and took their time moving him onto the trailer.
When you bury a horse it takes a long time for the body to decompose becaise it is anerobic. Composting is aerobic and takes around 6 months except for the bones. They keep a diagram of where each horse was located so they can get a few buckets of your horse before they turn the pile. I mixed it with the loam when I planted his dogwood tree. I feel like I buried him in the back yard.
The BO where my elderly pony was boarded.buried him on their land when he died. They liked him a lot, and he was very happy there. I no longer had land beyond a very small lot, so I was grateful that they buried him. All they charged me was what it cost them to rent a backhoe (less than $100). These were very nice people.
Rebecca
that has been our experience with the service we use, every step is carefully explained every time even though we have been using their service for a long time. Since we can not bury onsite we have a Family plot at the company’s pet crematory … we have six head buried there… they are very good at keeping records as to who is buried where. We had a mare who was the very best of friends to daughter’s sport horse, she never left his side. They kept a space next to him open for her, when she was euthanized they knew just where she was to be buried so that they could remain together.
Agree with not burying in common pasture because of setting an unsustainable precedent (who knows how many other horses people are going to want to bury although not sure how big your pasture is), proximity to water sources, and my understanding is that a euthanized horse is basically a toxic waste problem because of the drugs used. I’ve had to put down several, but we have a local service that will pick them up and take them to rendering or cremation.
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