We left a few buried horses on past properties. One was definitely done legally. The other…well, I’m not sure now, but I was new to the area and a neighbor did it, so it was probably fine. I have friends in that area still and the current owner has no reason to dig there. It’s the same guy we sold it to and he’s been there almost twenty years. I wonder if there’s any sort of obligation to tell someone about what might be buried “out back”?
I wondered the same thing. I was a little worried when the buyer of my horse property put a new fence up along the back property line. There was already a fence there, and two of my horses are buried right along the fenceline. Plus there is a big dog buried on a hill overlooking the pastures. I know it was all legal, but I don’t think I disclosed it. I’ve never seen a section on the Colorado disclosure that asks where the bodies are buried! And it’s a pretty thorough disclosure.
I never got any blowback about it, and the two horses were pretty deep (the dog, not so much, as we used an existing hole for her, but that grave had a marker). I don’t think anyone would go down as far as the horses are for fence posts, but you never know.
I never got around to putting a marker on the horses’ graves. My next door neighbor certainly knew the graves were there, as we borrowed his big tractor to fill the graves. I have no idea if he mentioned it to the current owner.
Rebecca
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Ive put a few in the corners of a pasture. Figuring if it ever gets sold as a country bldg lot that they would not build up into the corners and no access rds would go there.
It was a big deal when the big cities spread out into the semi-rural horse areas. One developer bought the old riding stable property - back when those places , common then, had schools of lesson horses that ultimately were buried on the properties. The new home owners of the development were totally freaked out when the crews started digging on the housing lots!
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As long as the animal was put down with a gun or died naturally… no problem with where it is buried, or if it was buried. Animals put down with drugs is more of an issue… the leaching of the euth drugs into water table. Animals put down with drugs should go to a landfill. Our farm here has had livestock on it for 150 years. Theres bones everywhere. Mostly cows who didn’t make it through the winter. Some horse bones, some old ones, a tiny pony skull, very old, very delicate dished head (I gave that one to an artist friend who painted it) one old plough horse skeleton (practically whole)- gave that one to the pony club…some newer which I believe were from our neighbours. I tossed them into a hole, and covered them up with soil, because I didn’t want them on the surface. A rotated coffin bone among them, toe worn down due to rotation. We’ve buried a few of our own here too, down deep. No vets involved with those.
Being a bit remote here, and in farming/ranching country, it’s not a big deal finding bones. Haven’t found any human bones yet though LOL. It’s always a possibility.
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Local law requires large animal burial to be 6ft deep. We have buried a number of our old horses out in the paddocks. All were put down, not shot or from natural causes. We do have an almost 100ft thick clay layer under the topsoil. Any drugs do not have a ready access to the water table, which is even deeper than the 100ft of clay. Fun when digging new wells!!
There is also an option of composting of large animals (cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hogs) allowed, should burial be difficult. Depending on the size and heat in the compost pile, the body can be gone in a VERY short time. The compost pile needs to meet certain specifications in depth, quantity enough to completely cover the carcass to a certain depth. I think there are also requirements for surfacing under the pile, like cement and containment of any runoff. Rules are not hard to find thru the Extension Service.
Composting rules came after Extension and AG College testing results showed it as a “clean disposal method.” This is because hauling carcasses away is not much of an option in my State anymore. There is only one rendering company in the entire State now, which makes runs to various areas weekly. Keeping a carcass for a week or more, waiting on pickup, can cause other problems as it starts to deteriorate in place! Farmers cannot wait a week or more to get carcasses dealt with, especially in summer heat.
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Every old farm had a burn pit when we were kids.
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We had a dead ditch at the ranch we were on but on smaller places not so much. We’ve left a lot of horse, dog and cat graves across the state and as far as I know nobody has been bothered. It probably bothers me more, every time we left a place I hated to leave behind the animals that couldn’t come with us. We never disclosed it but at the last place we left I knew there were horse graves at the perfect location for a new shop/barn if someone wanted and I kind of wondered if that would end up being a conflict. Nobody has built there yet so I’m sure time has done its work.
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we know were all of horses are buried as years ago we purchased a family plot at a north Texas pet cemetery. They have kept excellent records as who is buried where. When we had to put down the TB mare we knew that she would want to be next Mulligan, and that is where they put her. The 45 year old pony was put next to his buddy George. The others are there with their pasture mates
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We lost two parakeets a few years ago (!) and I saved them in the freezer to go with the next larger cohort. They even made a move with us and then we lost three cats, a horse, and a dog… we forgot the keets each time. A few weeks ago we lost our pet bunny and DH remembered to send the parakeets with her. We both noted that they were probably happier resting with a sweet bunny than a cat, dog or horse. I’m very realistic about it once they are gone but there is a good symmetry in putting them where you really do sense they will rest in peace, for me.
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My two buried horses were chemically euthanized, but I didn’t worry about them contaminating the well. The new well we put in was 700 feet deep, and its predecessor (from before the horses were buried) was 450+. The aquifer where we had water rights was way down there. You have to go a long way down to get to water in Colorado, and even farther to get to where you have permission to pump in a lot of places.
Rebecca
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When we bought our small farm, we noticed a depression in the pasture behind the house. We figured out it was where the previous owner buried, too shallowly, a dead horse. I hit that damn scapula with my mower for a few years before it finally disintegrated. Or sank just below the surface. Nothing else has come up, thank goodness.
We’ve got lots of dogs and cats buried around here after 21 years. My childhood pony is buried at my brother’s farm. But all my other horses have been taken by the renderer. We don’t have any equipment big enough to dig that hole
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That’s the method my barn has used the few times it was required. I was honestly amazed at how effectively and quickly it worked.
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One my my mares was buried 8 feet down (they went a little overboard on the depth) and there’s still a depression from where she is (was). I think with a body that large, you’re going to get a hole no matter what.
But hitting a scapula would probably send me over the edge 
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When my neighbor was discovered to have avian flu in his duck barn, the state came out and took care of the ducks, bedding, and barn —60000 ducks, loads of bedding, and then a power washing with strong chemicals of the barns and outbuildings. Seeing people in full epidemic protective gear as I was riding my horse along my fence line that I share with him was upsetting.
Then came the biggest bulldozer I’ve ever seen that buried the dead ducks --not 10 feet from my property line!!! Yikes! I called the police, state board of health, and finally someone from the USDA called me back and explained everything to me —
Turned out that the ducks and their bedding needed only be buried under 4 feet of soil and then topped off with some kind of decomposing accelerant. According to the USDA expert --the law in my state requires animals only be buried under 4 feet of soil. She also said that there is a persistent rumor that animals cannot be buried. That is not true.
Anyway, ducks buried, bedding buried, barns cleaned --six week wait and my neighbor was back in the duck business. FYI his ducks are not kept in cages --I’ve ridden by his barns in the summer when the windows are open --the ducks roam around inside the barns on very clean sawdust! He is often inspected and passes every time.
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Nah, buyer beware. People leave far worse things than horses buried on their property.
When we had to bury our first horse, I showed the excavator (a friend, and horse owner) a weird depression in the ground, and asked if he could bury her there, and maybe fix that spot while he was there? He agreed and I went in the house. When he was done he came to the door and said “all is fine…but…there was another horse buried there. That’s why there was a big depression.” LOL.
So, she has company.
We asked around - the neighbors said they remember the digging, and the hole was so big they thought they were putting in a pool. Rather than too deep, the grave was just too big, and not filled in properly.
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When you say “north Texas” any chance you mean El Paso?
I was in El Paso in the 70’s and had my dog buried in a pet cemetery there. I don’t believe that cemetery is still operating, I have looked online but nothing comes up.
My first horse was buried on my parents farm. An old dog is beside. A few years ago they severed the property in half and sold that parcel. My parents never disclosed that there was a horse there. Unlikely that anyone would dig in that area. There’s already a house, barn , garage and pool with better views.
Now my parents are planning on listing the other half and moving to their property on the lake. I’m sad thinking that I won’t be able to look over the field where they are.
Our three living horses are boarded, horses don’t get buried on that property, they get taken away.
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Dallas Fort Worth area, the site is in Bowie
To me El Paso would be far west Texas,
Thanks. I figured you meant somewhere closer to Dallas but since El Paso’s complete name is El Paso del Norte there was a chance 
The first time I needed to bury a horse, DH and I were having a new well drilled. The driller needed to dig a big hole to use dirt to channel off water, and we knew we were going to be euthanizing a pony in a day or so. So we asked him to put the hole along the fenceline, since we knew we would never build anything there. Then we used the neighbor’s tractor to finish up.
The second time we were scheduling euthanasia, we were looking for someone to dig a hole. DH saw our well driller’s rig down the street, so he stopped by to ask if the driller would make a quick side trip with his back hoe. He was willing to do it for just a little money, so it worked out fine.
My third horse was buried where I boarded him in South Carolina. He was happy there. The BO could rent a backhoe for a reasonable fee and could do all the work himself, so we had him do it. He donated his labor because he really liked that pony.
Rebecca
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