benefits of horse manure?

Hello everybody,

I'm new in this forum and this is my first post here
I would like to know what is so beneficial in horse poo for the vegpatch. I mean, aside from the huge amount of straw that it comes with. I'm getting trained in horse care and natural horsemanship, and the boss at the centre where I go, offered me all the "horse poo" I want for my garden, naturally I'm taking bags full of it every time I go. Now I'd like to know what is so beneficial about horse fertilizer. Somebody knows? 

It is full of nitrogen.

Compost it first, though, or it can burn your veggies because it is so high in nitrogen, and it can introduce weed seeds as well.

Horse poo is good stuff: you just need to compost it first. Or, you can pile it where NEXT years garden is going to be, and by next year it will be composted and ready to plant into.

The digestive tract is short, so lots of weed seeds.  Not necessarily bad, but be warned.  I have had many sources recommend horse manure for 'hot beds'

Soil/compost over cardboard over horse manure over weeds/grass is a raised bed formula that's worked well for me

Horse manure is especially high in macro and micro nutrients, unlike ruminants who's multiple stomachs remove more 'goodies' from whatever they eat.
Don't add masses of manure just because you can get as much  as you want: I did that and levels of  salt, phosphorus and potassium climbed high enough for the soil technician to suggest I lay off the superphosphate!
Nothing like it to get a compost heap going.
As others have said, unless you're a gun composter, you'll get weeds and inevitably they'll be extra tough ones you don't already have.
Can you also get old straw/hay/sawdust from the stable? Best mulch ever...

Good staff.  If possible, don't use it if horses were "de-wormed" lately.

Thank you for all your messages, I'm getting a clear idea about how I should use this fertilizer. I like the idea of using it under a layer of soil for seed beds, and I might also follow the suggestion about adding it to the compost file.

Mika wrote:
Thank you for all your messages, I'm getting a clear idea about how I should use this fertilizer. I like the idea of using it under a layer of soil for seed beds, and I might also follow the suggestion about adding it to the compost file.

I chuck a few bags of it into my cold compost pile, but I mix it with leaves and paper products and I soak it down... and leave it sit for a a year or more.

Be careful about  the pin worms (I think that is the hang up with horse manure.) Your compost pile should reach about 160 degrees Fahrenheit to burn off pathogens and cook parasite eggs like pin worms.

A standing composted works best for this kind of temperature rise (Like three bin with galvanized wire for the pile to breath.)