HT Photo Challenge “FREE”

MANURE



This week’s Horsetales Photo Challenge is “FREE”. My first thought was not much is free if you have horses. But that’s not true.



The total enjoyment of having horses is free. Watching their frolics in the pasture, running back and forth, chasing each other. Watching my children enjoying their horses, preparing them for competition, riding them with excitement.



Riding my horse for the pure joy of riding is free. Going to the field, the feeling of the warm sun on my face, the feeling the cool breeze against my checks, and the wonderful views of the changing colors on the horizon as the sun sets, is free. The smell of the warm horse scent that fills the stall after a workout, the sights of horses resting and laying in the sun, the sounds of their soft nickers as they see me come with their evening meal, the feel of their soft coats after a rain, and talking to them as if they understand my concerns are all free.



Another wonderful aspect to horses is all of the manure. Piles and piles every day. Overnight, there could be 6 piles waiting at morning chores to be cleaned from the stalls. At least 6 more piles could be cleaned during the day, and that much more in the evening. I really should count some day!



So…with the bobcat work that I had to do the past week and a half, the manure pile was gigantic. After 10 horses in a lot for the past year, you can imagine the mountain. This photo is only a 1/5 of what it could have been, as we kept loading some into a dump truck as the pile continued to grow.

And, this is what it started with….many, many piles of these turds.



And this is what started the turds.



I wonder what each pile of manure costs? How many piles of manure come out of a round bale? Then break that down into each turd? Any guesses? I can feed 4 horses a week on a round bale. Each horse makes at least 15 piles of manure a day. How many turds in a pile? 40?
My best estimation to the cost of each pile is….
$.13,
making the cost of each turd …
$.003, 1/3 of a penny???

Maybe manure isn’t free after all.



But the enjoyment of watching Tom having fun on the bobcat is free. And the looks he gave me as I took his pictures are priceless. I could see him thinking, what are you doing? And I laughed at him. Laughs are totally FREE.