Every year on April 22 we celebrate Earth Day, a day set aside for appreciating our planet and for looking into how we might make more sustainable choices. How we choose to manage our horse properties affects the planet—and us. Our decisions can either be beneficial and in harmony with the natural world around us, or they can contribute to the problems that upset the balance of the ecosystem. Too often we reach for quick fixes, such as herbicides or pesticides, with effects that are long-lasting.

Science is telling us chemicals and plastics are working their way into our waterways, the air we breathe, the soil we grow our crops in, and the pastures we graze our horses on, potentially creating catastrophic environmental issues affecting us and those we love and care about for generations to come.

Here are six tips for safely managing some of the everyday problems on horse facilities. These sustainable options are nontoxic and support long-term ecological balance.

1 – Put native plants to work in muddy areas and for erosion control.

Native plants are those that grow in your area naturally; they were not introduced by European settlers, for instance. They offer many advantages over their non-native cousins. Native plants are better adapted to local climate and soil conditions and are resistant to diseases and pests—a bonus because you won’t need pesticides, fertilizers, or even extra watering once they’re established. Plus, native plants provide critical habitat for wildlife and are the foundation of our natural systems.

Use native plants next to your confinement areas to catch and utilize runoff, thereby reducing mud. Plants can help by soaking up water and filtering out sediments and pollutants (such as nutrients from manure and urine). Consider planting native plants in any low areas where water accumulates or downslopes where erosion occurs. Or, if you have surface water running downhill toward your barn, plant an interceptor line of native trees and shrubs. Evergreens use more water than deciduous trees and plants (because they don’t go dormant in winter).

For help finding sources of native plants for your area, contact your local conservation district, extension office, Audubon chapter, or native plants society. It’s important to avoid plants toxic to horses. You can also talk with your veterinarian for advice on plants poisonous to horses in your area.

2 – Get swallows busy working on insect control.

Several types of swallows are native to North America, including violet-green swallows, tree swallows, barn swallows, and cliff swallows. What’s particularly beneficial about these birds at horse farms is they are voracious insect eaters and consume close to 1,000 flying insects per day. Multiply that by two for a nesting pair, and in one month you have nearly 50,000 fewer pests bugging your horse.

Cliff and barn swallows build mud nests on the underside of roofs, overhangs, bridges, cliffs, and barns. Violet-greens and tree swallows are secondary cavity dwellers, meaning they nest in already created holes and crevices, such as those in dead trees or made by woodpeckers. They also take very well to nest boxes, which are easy to build or buy and hang around your horse property. Note: Nesting boxes must be specific to the type of swallows in your area. Poorly made boxes encourage non-native species, such as starlings, to move in, which can outcompete swallows and other native birds. Consult your local Audubon chapter, extension office, wild bird store, the library, or the internet for advice on types of nesting boxes and how to build/where to get them.

Bonus: Springtime nesting season conveniently coincides with shedding season. During grooming sessions, collect horse and other animal hair to set out in your pasture area. Once nesting season commences in your area, swallows will begin recycling that hair into nesting material.

3 – Got mice? Get a barn owl!

Invite a barn owl to move to your property to control rodents in your barnyard and pasture areas. Barn owls are common throughout North America and are excellent for mouse control; a family of barn owls can eat around 2,000 rodents in just a few months. Barn owls are perfect for horse properties because they hunt in open meadows and grassy pastures. Place a barn owl nest box 10-20 feet high in a quiet location such as on a pole, inside an unused barn, on the outside of a farm building, or in a tree. Shade the opening from direct sun and prevailing wind. Then let nature’s perfect mouse trap do the rest.

4 – Beat weeds with a homemade vinegar herbicide.

Here’s a simple weed control recipe that’s low in chemicals and caustic substances. All products can be purchased at a garden store or home center:

• 1 gallon household white vinegar straight—or horticultural—vinegar (which can be diluted up to 50% with water)
• 1 tablespoon of a spreader sticker concentrate (purchase at any garden store)
• 1 ounce dish soap (choose one that’s not super sudsy)

Mix ingredients together in a tank sprayer and spot-spray weeds on a calm, warm day when it is not going to rain for at least 12 hours. Use it on driveways, walkways, or patio areas. Don’t use it on a lawn or pasture, as it’s nonselective, meaning it will kill everything.

The spreader sticker is a useful product even for those who use chemical herbicides. When used as an additive, it acts as an adhering agent, helping disperse the product evenly and protecting the product from breaking down in rain or sun. The sticker keeps the product on the plants and doesn’t let it run off or evaporate. When you use a sticker, you won’t have to use as much herbicide to get the job done.

5 – Conserve water with compost.

Besides being a good source of nutrients and beneficial microbes, compost is great at absorbing and retaining moisture. Spreading composted manure on pastures, lawns, and gardens in a thin layer will help your plants be better prepared for dry weather.

6 – Reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Recycling was a virtue before we knew we had a climate problem, but it turns out transporting and processing materials for recycling is carbon-intensive. Plus, many plastics can’t be recycled for a lack of a market. Creating new products from recycled materials still uses less energy than making new products from scratch, but reducing and reusing are even cleaner options.

Pallets are one example of an item you can repurpose. Depending on the condition of the pallets you recover, you might be able to put them to use in all sorts of capacities around a horse property, from walls for compost bins to cute stall doors (for less “testy” beasts such as dogs or ponies). Use pallets for storing and stacking things like feed, hay, lime, and grass seed off the ground. Pallets can even be deconstructed and the wood reused to create lovely new structures.

Facebook Marketplace, Habitat for Humanity, or other similar sites are great options for buying or selling used or surplus materials at low cost. Look for things like surplus lumber for building structures or fences, railroad ties for compost bins or retaining walls, or food-grade plastic barrels that make great feeders when cut lengthwise. You can even make a game of it on your horse property to seek out and discover new ways to repurpose materials.

Implementing these nature-based horsey solutions this Earth Day will benefit you, your horse, your property, and your neighborhood. Plus, it will go one step further toward helping keep our planet a little healthier now and for the future.