Dead horse disposal

[Tbird]

Had to euthanize my 29-year old gelding last night. I want to bury him here on the farm but somone said that doing so could foul my well.
Anyone know if this is true? Need a quick answer, obviously.
Thanks.
Karen

[karenkarenn]

Karen,
Hi. I had to bury my 22 year old two years ago. I miss him. I have a well.
Are you going to bury him near the well?
If not bury your dear away from it- far away. I don't know your acreage but I would go the atleast 300 to 800 feet away.
Karen

[griff]

How far is your septic tank and leach lines from the well..

That should be a good bench mark as how far the horse should be from the well, especially if he is down hill from the well.

griff

[Laurierace]

So sorry for the loss of your oldster. I think the answer lies in the size of your property. I don't know the distance it would have to be to be considered safe but someone must. You could also consider composting if you had space to do it somewhere secluded. I think that would be the way I went if I had my own farm.

[clh]

So sorry for the loss of your horse. I know how hard it is. Instead of burying our foals and/or horses on our farm we send ours out and have them creamated and then have the ashes sent back to us. This way we don't have to worry about any of the "cantamination" issues, and we're not sending them off to be rendered. We are also not leaving them in the back "40" for the coyotes to compost for us either. But that is just the way we have done it.

[KBEquine]

My condolences on losing your old guy -

Try to find out whether your state/county/township allows burial.

The question about the well is related to your local water table - which is trickier than it sounds. Distance from the well is only a little relevant - you'd need a hydrogeologist to assess your groundwater flow to answer your question. BUT in general, the farther from the well, the more the ground can "clean" whatever needs cleaned . . .

Best of luck - and again, condolences.

[freshman]

If not an emergency and you are able to wait til Monday, then you could contact your ag extension agent; they would probably be a able to help with livestock burial/disposal protocol in your area.

[erins isle]

So sorry about your loss, but I'am sure he had a great life at your place.
I had all of my dogs euthanized and then bury their ashes in the garden.
It's just a thought. Take care.

[Jessi P]

Hey Karen, let me add my condolences to the rest. It is never to lose a companion but I am sure he must have had a wonderful life with you to live to that great age! It can be expensive to have him cremated but I agree that if you can afford to do it it does cover all of your bases. If you can wait until Monday as freshman posted your local ag agent will be a wonderful source of information not only on the burial issue but also regarding other questions you might have about the stewardship of having your horses living on your property.

[cng]

Some counties will forbid burial of any type, others will require a certain distance between the burial spot and adjacent homes/properties, others will require the burial to take place a certain amount of feet away from any wells or water sources (generally 100 feet or so), others will require a permit and a property test to determine where your water tables are... phew! If those details make your head spin, believe me, they're only the tip of the iceberg. The beauty of bureaucracy, eh?
http://www.alphahorse.com/bury-a-dead-horse.html

[Tbird]

Thanks everyone. My neighbor who has a huge farm took him and buried him for me in a remote part of their farm where they have buried some of their horses. They already knew the legalities. I'm grateful to them and happy to be able to "visit" him there.

[Tbird]

I want to add that the only bright spot in losing a horse is that you get to get another one and I'll be getting an OTTB whose racing days are over and who needs a great new life.

[Phantom]

I recently loss a mare...and asked my neighbor to dig a hole with his back hoe...he didn't want money for his services, but in my thank you card to him and his wife, I slipped a gift card to a local restaurant.

[Tbird]

Hey, Phantom, I'm in SW Missouri. Where are you located?
BTW, I may steal your gift card idea.

[majxmom]

It's illegal in my county to bury a horse on your property, but of course people do. One lady had a Grand Prix jumper that she euthanized and she couldn't bear to send his dead body to the renderer, so she buried him on her 600 acre ranch. You'd think that would be enough land, but someone ratted her out and the county forced her to have him dug up and hauled off to the renderer. If she was disturbed about treating his body disrespectfully at the renderer, imagine what he looked like coming up out of the dirt weeks later. Yikes. I send them off dead to the renderer (where they are boiled) no matter how precious they were to me, and try not to think about it. The lady who comes out to pick them up (Janice Pimentel, to give her a plug) is very compassionate and courteous, and we are very lucky to have her. She just winches them up and she's gone in a few minutes, and it's less than $300, when it's about a two hour drive for her. I was very surprised to learn from friends in WA that they did not have such a service or a renderer, and horses had to go to the dump. A lot of people bring them live to the dump with a vet and euth them there. That seems god-awful compared to my options.