I've never used it, but I believe it has to be composted first.

I agree i heard uncomposted it burns the plant cause it gets too hot.

I use horse manure year round on plants and lawn. I do NOT compost first as I initially put it on top of ground where it dries out and then gets soaked into soil.

I only use manure without shavings mixed in. I read info suggesting the shavings(wood) add too much carbon into the mixture and should be broken down

before using.

Larry, I don't use it but I know a lot of gardeners that do. If put around ornamentals, I would not worry about it but if putting around crops that I am planning to eat, I would let it sit for a while to be composted. With the heat and rains that we are having, if you spread around the garden and mix it in, by the time is fall, I think you would be fine.

Silvia

I use a large amount of horse manure for our roses. I have the space to compost it first, usually turning it several times. I do this over 2-4 months depending upon the rain we get. I then stack it for use. We mulch with it, going 4-6" thick. In a year it will break down to about 1" thickness. Our roses do very well with it. The material we start with has sawdust, wood shavings and hay as bedding material, I have seen no problem with any of it. After composting and offensive odor is gone.

The title of this post made me burst out laughing. Thanks, I needed that! As a horse person, my recommendation is to get manure directly from the pasture or paddocks instead of in the stalls. There are plenty of people who don't learn how to clean stalls properly and end up tossing dollars (shavings) out with every scoop. Of course, stalls are stripped when needed and all new bedding added but for the most part, the pee spot is scooped out and the manure is picked out with an apple picker. Nope, not a picker for apples but a device made for picking up horse manure since it is shaped like apples. Google it for a photo. :-) So you are getting not only manure but extremely strong and believe me it will knock you down strong urine. No other animal that I know of has urine like this. Plus they have a lot of it. You may want to ask the people if they will allow you to pick up the droppings in the paddocks when the horses are put up. So you don't endanger yourself unless you are experienced with horses. Most farms will be happy to let you do it. In Wellington Florida, they have paid manure pickup companies that are licensed with the city. It is against the law to leave manure standing in paddocks or manure bins for very long. This helps keep the fly populations down. It is also a great location to get manure free of charge in the paddocks since they are cleaned daily. That includes Loxahatchee just north of Wellington.

However, horse manure should be composted to gain the full benefits plus fresh manure attracts flies. Horse manure doesn't come in patties so it is easy to break up once dry. It dries very quickly. Unlike cow manure horse, manure breaks down faster. Much faster, so you aren't sitting around waiting forever to use it. Horse manure is generally ranked 1.5–1.0–1.5 N-P-K. The benefit of the shavings comes when you compost since it is a carbon rich material. Which is what you must combine with the manure during composting. I add leaves, sticks, palm fronds (cut up), grass clippings, cardboard from food packaging and boxes, junk mail that isn't printed on glossy paper. I also add kitchen scraps from fruit, tea bags, peanut shells, corn cobs, hair (human or animal hair) coffee, veggies, peelings, tissue paper, Spanish moss, houseplant clippings, stale bread, etc. NEVER use anything that comes from an animal ie. meat, dairy, etc. Only add egg shells if your soil tests low in calcium. I use a ratio of 25 to 1 (25 carbon rich materials to 1 manure). That will help decrease the time it takes to become compost.

In regards to the term hot manure. Fresh manure is considered hot because it is very rich in nutrients and can burn the roots of any tender plants or seedlings. This is why leaving it in a compost bin for a bit is recommended. The nutrients die down to a safe level making it better for your plants and garden.

I hope this helps.

Glad you appreciated the title. Fresh horse crap is out in my residential neighborhood. We are a live and let live bunch here, but I think fresh manure would be pushing it. I have an SUV. So does my wife. Putting manure inside the SUV would negatively affect my home life. I have a carrier for the hitch, but would have to buy some sort of containers to go on it. I looked into renting a truck and having someone deliver it. In the end, free horse manure would cost me twice as much as putting down 2" of Black Cow.