By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

CLAYTON, Ohio — Worried about liability issues dealing with horse ownership? Do you really know what harmful plants your horses are eating? Have any idea what to do with all that excess manure?

These topics and more will be discussed during the Horsemen’s Dream Series, a three-session workshop offered by the OSU extension service in Montgomery County. The first workshop began Monday at the Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Montgomery County.

“This is an old program but it’s new to those in the Montgomery County area,” said Gary Wilson, extension educator out of Hancock County in Ohio. Wilson and Bob Hendershot of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, will be spearheading the workshops.

“There’s a lot more to it than simply buying a horse and putting him out in some pasture,” Wilson said. “You’d be surprised that we have a lot of veteran and first-time horse owners alike at these gatherings. We have some 30-year owners who are still challenged on the best way in dealing with pastures and the best ways to evaluate hay and the kinds of grasses that are out there. It’s very intensive when it comes to feeding a horse.”

The Forages for Horses workshop will cover horse nutrition and digestive physiology, pasture establishment, hay quality and storage, manure management and composting, poisonous plant identification and control.

The Equine Environmental and Liability Awareness workshop will cover water quality and regulatory compliance as they pertain to horses, manure and nutrient management, pasture, hay and forage management, facility management and design, equine liability law and neighbor relations.

“Many horse owners don’t realize that if you’re going to have horses continually grazing in one area you need 2.5 acres per horse, and that’s more costly than the average horse owner can afford,” Wilson said. “We’ll also take a close look at hay and its proper storage.”

The third workshop, the Pasture Walk, will provide a field discussion of the topics covered in the classroom.

“We’ll be taking a look at housing, composting and liability issues as well,” Wilson said. “Of concern is the runoff from composting. There are certain ways one can compost manure that makes it more usable.”

Findlay and his colleagues have performed extensive research with the University of Findlay’s equestrian program, having performed research on more than 350 horses and studying grass and grazing plots along with numerous grazing experiments.

“A lot of the knowledge we’ve gained from the research we’re able to pass along to the horse owners at these gatherings,” Wilson said.

The Forages for Horses workshop began Monday, but those interested may still attend tomorrow (Nov. 20) from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The Equine Environmental and Liability Awareness workshop will be held Jan. 12 and 15, 2009, from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The date and time for the last workshop in Montgomery County (the Pasture Walk) will be announced at the end of the first two workshops.
The cost for the three-part workshop is $75 (with a cost of just $20 for an additional person) and includes printed materials. The Miami Valley Career Technology Center is located at 6800 Hoke Road in Clayton, Ohio.

For more information contact Suzanne Mills-Wasniak at 937-224-9654.