I have a longhorn steer buried there, Sam Houston. I adopted him from the Fort Worth herd when he was done being the lead steer and donated a young steer at the same time. Old Sam lived until late 20s with me and when he died, that’s where he went and is buried. RIP Sam.
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I planted a tree over my first horse. A year later, we built a barn and the tree and grave is to the right of the entrance to the barn. I doubt anything would be built on that spot, thank goodness.
Our current farm came with a cow boneyard. If we lose a cow, we’ll use the compost method.
I have never buried a horse as we choose to render for large animals but my vets have always said to bury after chemicals were used for euthanasia. It should be safe as long as you are not near anyone well or a creek/ stream?
In many places you have to go down very , very far to hit underground water. Our wells here are 200ft + deep. In MN sand point wells were still common in our area, so very shallow water table. Burying might be outlawed.
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Around me, there are no renderers. Some people have enough land to bury. Generally they dont ask for permission and know to avoid areas close to water. The only other option that I know of is cremation. There is a company that does it and they have a great reputation but it is $$$. Not many landfills remain (and I doubt they would accept horse remains) and I dont know of anyone that offers composting.
I was lucky that my last horse died on a farm that could bury him. I would now take the cheapest and most ecologically sound method for the next. I am not sentimental about remains.
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Our vet told us burying is illegal here if they were euthanized. But rendering services and cremation services are available. Composting animals that died of natural causes is allowed.
much better in my opinion then what a friend of ours did by donating their aged horse to Wild Animal Sanctuary Texas in Boyd to be fed to the big cats (it has 70+ Lions, Tigers, Bears, Wolves)
I do not believe they currently accept live animals to put down on site to feed these animals, but they did back then
Every one we have met in connection to Pine Hill have always been very considerate to the carcass treating it as though it was a live horse. EVERY step of their process is explained why they are doing what no matter how often they have been here. The body is marked for their identification, then each step of the loading process has always been done with great care to not harm the carcass. We have had a few what I would have considered impossible removals where a horse was down in an interior stall that they easily removed without any destruction to the carcass. Pine Hill does an excellent job handling a task that is really hard on the owners.
When they picked up the TB mare they asked if this was the One that is be buried next to Milligan, they had their records correct.
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According to one site, there are 2000 active landfills in the US. According to another there are 3000, and the number is still growing.
Many landfills accept dead animals. I took a dead dog to the landfill in North Carolina, and have had 2 dead horses (one euthanized, one not) taken to the landfill in Virginia. Check your local facility’s rules.
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Connecticut has no active municipal landfills, much less ones that accept horse carcasses.
The landfills in my area have a specific area for dead animals. That’s where the poor animals euthd in the shelters go
Connecticut has no active municipal landfills
that are within the state they ship what can not be burned to Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Pennsylvania, a three-plus hour trip by truck from central Connecticut on I-84, and Tunnel Hill Reclamation Landfill in Ohio, served by rail cars that can unload 100 tons of waste every 15 minutes.
So not an option for an owner of a recently deceased horse.
We live in a farmhouse on 3 1/2 acres and find cow bones all the time. And I’ve buried who knows how many pet rats on the property, a couple of cremated cats, and have a small pile of pretty boxes containing cremated cats and rats that still need to be buried. Usually DH digs 2 1/2 to 3 feet down, we put the dead ones in the hole, put in just enough dirt to cover them, and then a layer of river stone (should we ever dig in that location again.) And then plant a tree or shrub.
The friend who got me back into horses has several hundred acres and has a private horse graveyard. She’s promised me that Feronia can be buried there when the time comes. She helped me pick out Feronia and boarded her for a while, so we’re kind of part of the family. She is a gentlewoman farmer and has a stock trailer, so can transport a carcass.
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State and local laws vary. Where I live, an animal may not be buried within a certain distance of a natural waterway.
After we moved into our farm, my vet told me a pony was buried in the paddock behind the barn. The previous owner did that. She also buried other animals on the property. There are flat stones marking the graves in the yard.
There is a horse graveyard in our area, which is really nice.
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Well then it looks like it depends on who you talk to?? We don’t bury anything so no worries on contamination.
I always understood it to be that chemical euth had to be buried but otherwise whatever, basically. Our landfills take deceased livestock and bury them immediately, we have so many eagles/birds that would be poisoned, not to mention bears/coyotes etc. If you lose a livestock (horse/mule/etc) in the back country you have to either drag it a certain distance from the trail or the FS will come in and dynamite it.
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Dynamite?! Holy flying innards! That sounds awful. How do you explain that to a little girl that lost her pony?
“Sorry, Sweetie, but when we walk on the trails, look up in the trees and you feel her presence still here,” (not mentioning exactly how that occurred).
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When I bought my horse in 2001 everyone buried them on the farm along the edge of the hayfield. Maine changed their law, however, and allows only 1 horse per year to be buried on a property. Permits are required for addtional burials. Maine doesn’t have much city water, so contaminating the water table is a concern. Cremation was the only other option, but if you want any ashes you have to take the entire 50 lb. box.
I had my horse composted. I’m really glad I did. We have had that service available for well over 5 years. I couldn’t watch them remove the body, But friends who did said it was remarkably gentle. I’ve heard the same from a couple of other people. They use the same slide that is used to remove injured horses. They request that there is only about 25 feet between the horse and the trailer. They are very gentle, stroking and talking to them. It takes about 15 minutes.
Underground burial is anaerobic so it takes a long time for the body to decompose. Composing is aerobic and often called above ground burial. It takes 6-8 months or so, although the bones take longer. The service keeps a diagram of where each horse is so they can retrieve compost before they turn the field.
I was able to get two large buckets of compost in tne early spring. I mixed it with the loam when I planted a dogwood tree in his memory. I’m very happy with this choice. I feel like he is buried in the backyard.
My horse was with me for 18 months. I put him down on 7/20/22. I could feel him behind my left shoulder at first. He stayed behind me until about 1/10/24. I got up that morning and he was gone. Of course I miss him, but I can look at that tree every morning and say “hi sweetie.”
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Lovely description of horse composting! Thank you for sharing. The compost added to your tree planting does make a wonderful memorial to your horse.
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Composting: I am at a private barn (just me and my barnmate) and a couple years ago when I had a horse put down we put him in our manure pile behind the barn. This was the first time either of us had composted a horse. When our contact came six months later to pick up the compost pile to spread on his hayfield I hung around out of morbid curiosity to see what was left of the body. The first bone I saw in the bucket of his skidloader was the pelvis, and I was amazed at how clean it was. There was a thin pinkish film covering most of it, but absolutely no soft tissue at all. I did not keep any of the compost dirt, but I did keep the skull. Some people I know are freaked out about that, but it was really very interesting. I told my barnmate that old horse is the science experiment that keeps on giving. 
Since that first horse we have put two others in the pile for disposal. For us, having our own manure pile, it is convenient, cost effective, efficient, and in the long run it benefits the removal guy as well for adding organic nutrients to his hayfield.
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I think that’s interesting. Of course, I have an antelope skull that one of my dogs found. I keep it near my front door to greet visitors. His name is Herman.
Rebecca
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