Many horse owners find themselves facing increasing pressure from urban sprawl, neighbors with little horse experience or knowledge, changes in zoning and regulations, and limited personal resources. Some days it can feel overwhelming, but there are ways to cope with all of the changes, while maintaining your property and your sanity.

Despite increasing urban pressure, Sue Svendsen successfully manages her property, while still enjoying her horses and farm. Sue lives on 6.5 acres with her husband Bill, six horses, a donkey, and three dogs in Vancouver, Washington. They train and show their horses while also running a dog grooming business. A large barn, originally from the early 1900’s, houses the horses, a wash rack, and the grooming business. There are several turnouts, a large covered riding arena, a round pen, and stock pond. Sue also set aside a large portion of her property for wildlife habitat. Sue has struggled over the years to control erosion, reduce mud, divert runoff, and manage manure, all while being in the public eye.

Their property sits adjacent to a popular county park with heavily-used walking and biking trails bordering their turnouts. In the 15 years Sue and Bill have lived at their farm, only one member of the public complained about their property. Sue and Bill’s diligent efforts to manage manure, reduce mud, keep water clean, and control erosion have paid off.

The property started out as a dairy farm in the early 1900’s. The hillside slopes steeply down to the valley below, where Salmon Creek, one of the most studied creeks in the county, flows. Natural springs from the steep hillside enter a shallow gravel stream that flows along the farm road and into the stock pond. Sue fenced the small stream off from horse access to keep the water free of manure and sediment.

Steep slopes posed one of the biggest challenges for Sue in controlling runoff and erosion. Gutters, downspouts, and inexpensive pipe extensions collect and divert rainwater around the barn and high traffic areas, thus reducing mud and keeping the runoff clean. Sue uses an interesting drainage system for her covered arena as well. The 60’ x 120’ arena produces over 160,000 gallons of runoff a year. Gutters on the outside of the barn collect and divert the rainwater to interior downspouts placed at intervals along the inside walls. These downspouts drain to a buried pipe that carries the water to the nearby stock pond. This keeps the water clean and significantly reduces mud around her arena and the adjacent turnouts. By putting the downspouts on the inside of the barn, they are protected from curious horses that might damage them.

To reduce mud in the turnouts, along pathways, and at entry ways, Sue used erosion control fabric covered with 5/8” gravel. Despite the cost of the fabric, Sue felt it was well worth it. The fabric separates the gravel from the soil below, while the gravel builds up the surface, allowing water to drain through. Sue removes manure from these areas every one to three days, since manure particles can clog the pore spaces in the gravel, reducing infiltration over time. The footing materials also provide protection for the soils and reduce erosion on some of the steeper pathways down to the arena.

Sue also had more than eight inches of sand trucked in for her outdoor turnout area, which used to double as her riding arena. Along with the gutters on the arena, the sand reduced mud by providing a raised surface for rainwater to drain through to the soil below. Much of the acreage on Sues’ property is too steep to allow grazing, and outbuildings take up a large portion as well. This left little space for grazing and turnout, so Sue chose sand rather than try to maintain grass in the turnout. Maintaining grass in a small area can be difficult and it is a choice many horse owners on small acreage must make. In some cases, having a larger turnout with footing materials is easier to maintain than an area with patchy grass and weeds. Depending on how many horses you have and your available space, a turnout with good drainage and appropriate sand or gravel footing may better suit your property than trying to maintain an area of grass.

Originally, Sue tried to maximize grazing opportunities for her horses by turning them out on the steep slopes above the barn and main pathway. These areas had been used for grazing prior to Sue and Bill acquiring the property. Horses, due to their size and weight, compact and churn up wet soils, which can lead to mud and severe erosion on steep slopes. Sue noticed erosion during unusually wet seasons and decided to fence the horses out of the nearly two-acre steep area. She also worked to remove blackberry and other invasive non-native plants on the hillside. Sue obtained plants from the Clark Conservation District at their annual native plant sale. Along with plantings of red flowering current, and other shrubs, native ferns and shrubs have returned to the hillside, creating wildlife habitat.

With seven equines on site, managing manure poses another challenge. On average, a horse produces 50 pounds of manure a day, not including bedding materials. To try and reduce the amount of waste they manage, Sue and Bill began using pelleted bedding. After making the switch a few years ago, Sue will never go back to other traditional horse bedding materials. The pellets take up less volume in the manure pile and break down faster, leaving her with better finished compost. Sue’s manure management evolved over the years, culminating with the building of a large storage and compost building that will allow her to store and turn many weeks worth of material. Currently, Sue uses the finished compost for landscaping around the property, but she may consider having it tested and selling it as finished compost in the future.

Sue does know not everyone could implement this many different management practices on their property. But she feels her management practices help them maintain good standing in the public eye. Sue worked with several agencies in the process of transforming her property and putting many of these best management practices into place. She received funding from the Natural Resource Conservation Services’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program in 2005. This program offered Sue over $18,000 in cost share funds to implement fencing, footing materials for mud reduction, guttering and drainage, and manure storage and composting. In addition, Sue worked with the Clark Conservation District to develop a farm plan for her property and help offset costs for the manure storage and composting building through a $7,000 cost share. Sue found the process cumbersome at times, but notes “I understand the reasons for it, they have to be sure the projects are constructed well and that they will last.” Overall, she found both programs worthwhile and the staff at the agencies helpful.

The timing of her farm plan from the Conservation District could not have come at a better time. Nearly one month after the District completed the farm plan for her property, Sue and Bill received their first and only complaint. Because Sue had a farm plan in place, the Conservation District could tell Clark County and the concerned citizen that Sue was in the process of completing projects to resolve the issue and improve her property. Denise Smee, Manager at the Clark Conservation District points to this as a perfect example of how farm plans can be beneficial to landowners in increasingly suburban areas, reducing worry and helping them create a plan and goals to improve their property, reduce neighbor complaints, decrease chore time, and save money.

Sue’s investment in her farm and changes in management strategies improved the overall look of her property, while increasing chore efficiency, reducing mud, enhancing water quality, and wildlife habitat. Her efforts earned her status as a model farm from Washington State University (WSU) Extension Clark County’s Small Acreage Program. Sue’s stewardship provides an example to others and she has showcased her farm in several public tours. Her farm received a sign, so members of the public walking by on park trails can recognize the success of her efforts and know what a good horse property looks like.

As Sue has shown, careful planning and partnerships with local agencies can pay off for you with less mud, well managed manure, good neighborly relations, fewer chores, more money, and a beautiful property you can be proud of.

Erin Harwood coordinates the Small Acreage Program, a partnership between WSU Extension Clark County, Clark County Clean Water Program, and the Clark Conservation District. She assists small acreage landowners in managing their property through workshops, farm tours, classes, resource materials, and individual assistance. She can be reached at (360) 397-6060 x7720 or erin.harwood@clark.wa.gov.

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