Conference noted::equitation

    I've never heard that one.  We never buried any horses at my parents
    house because it was only 3 acres and woodsy but have buried many
    at my friends farm.  After 15 years, its to the point where we have
    to try to remember who is buried where.  I guess it depends on who does
    it too, her husband has a backhoe so you'd never really know what he
    was doing anyways.

    There are 5 or 6 horses buried on my parents farm, in Nashua. The farm
    is about 90 acres at this point but was much larger when I was a kid.
    Never had any trouble, the neighbor had a backhoe, and they were always
    buried a good distance into the woods off an old logging road that runs
    through the property. I'll have to ask my father if he ever had to get
    any permits or anything, that's interesting!
    

    Yes, I was told that it is a Board of Health Code here in Mass.
    
    However, that didn't stop me from burying my two.  I didn't find out
    til after the fact.....The suggestion I was given as to how to dispose
    of the body was to send it with the "meatman".  I wouldn't do that even
    if I had known of the ordinance.
    
    Kathy

    I was thinking of starting a note on this morbid topic myself. I think
    it's good to think of these practical matters before you're
    grief-stricken with the death of a loved animal.
    
    Does anyone know how much land you have to have to be able to bury a
    horse? I have 2.5 acres and intend for my horse to live out the rest of
    his years here, and rest here when he dies. If I can't, I don't know
    what I'll do. What are the alternatives? Is that place in Foxboro set
    up to take large animals? What do you do if a horse dies in his stall?
    I know these are awful thoughts, but I'd like to have an idea in my
    mind of what to do.
    
    -Andrea-
    

    Yes, I had a broodmare drop dead in her stall a couple of years ago,
    too.  It's truly awful to deal with.  We had to tear down a wall to
    get her out, and then drag her out to the paddock to bury her.  This
    was on the Friday before Labor day, too, so it was difficult to rent
    a backhoe.  We used a rental bobcat that time, but it's easier if
    you know someone with a larger backhoe.  I've had several horses --
    my broodmare, and ageing gelding, another gelding whose shoulder
    was paralyzed by a bite from another horse, twin premature foals --
    as well as a large goat, a car-chasing dog and several barn cats
    buried on my farm, and my guess is that it is not legal.  But it's a
    law I do not mind breaking.  
    
    If you do have to have a horse put down, it can be a problem to line
    up the vet and the backhoe in the same place at the same time, so it's
    something that bears thinking about beforehand.  First time I had to 
    have one put down (the one with the paralyzed shoulder), it was a rude
    awakening to find that most backhoe operators don't even want to talk
    to you, because this is too small a job for them to bother with.  I
    had several of them just hang up on me when I called to inquire.  So
    the thing to do is to find some local who has a backhoe -- ask friends
    and friends of friends -- and keep track of this person.  Sometimes
    your vet will know of someone, but not always.  The only other option
    is renting a bobcat, but they are difficult to operate unless you've
    had experience.
    
    Gee, have I rambled on enough here???
    
    -ellie  

    The two times I have known my horses were going to die, I left them 
    outside so I wouldn't have to go through getting them out of the barn.
    Luckily both times were during the summer.  Knock on wood, I haven't
    had any die inside.

    I asked my mother if we had permission to bury the horses that we
    buried and she said no.  She said it is a law but not one that was
    "strictly" enforced (where we were anyways) and that we just did it. 
    The first time we had to bury one on our property was a large pony that
    got hit by a car and not only did we have to bury him but the police
    department had to shoot him.  
    
    The reason why I asked about this subject was we recently had a horse
    at my barn fall and break his leg in a "people" cemetary and he had to
    be removed from the cemetary, brought to the farm and then taken somewhere 
    else.  
    
    Karen

I'm relieved that this topic was created.  I'd been wanting
to ask about this topic for literally years, but I,
too, was afraid of appearing too morbid.  Yet, it was 
on my mind whenever I thought about owning a horse that 
was over age 15.

Another aspect I've wondered about is the COST of 
disposing the body.

I'm also puzzled about the assumption that you're not
supposed to bury a dead horse in Massachusetts.  I grew up 
on a farm in Iowa, and it seems to me that Iowa law
REQUIRED the burial of dead livestock, and the law
specified a depth of six feet for health reasons. 
(Farmers could also have a corpse hauled away to a
rendering plant (?), but I never saw anyone do that with a
horse.)  Obviously, Massachusetts is much more densely
populated than Iowa, so that may affect the laws. 

			----

The horse I had previously leased was recently put down,
and while I didn't inquire about all the details, I do
know the stable where the horse was boarded buried the
horse on their large farm.  The stable owner also runs 
a landscaping business, so they had a backhoe available.
I don't know what/if the owner had to pay.

(I must also admit to wondering if they dug the grave first,
then led the horse to the site before putting him down.
Practical, but kinda gruesome.)

    As far as cost goes, I guess it depends on who you get.  I have
    seen people charge anywhere from $75 to $175, of course that depends
    on time of day, how far they have to truck their equipment.  It makes
    sense to either have the hole dug before the horse is put down or
    have the backhoe there at the same time.  That way the bugs etc. don't
    get to the horse.  Six feet is the general rule, that way when the body
    settles the ground won't sink, also you don't want any animals to dig
    them up.  We've unfortunatly had to do this a few times!!

    
    My friends horse died quite a few years ago, and we put burried him
    on the propety in Mass on 4 acres.  What were they going to do, tell
    us to dig him up? I dont think so.
    
    Since all this happened..the oringinal folks have moved and new
    owners have moved in.  I went right over there as soon as I heard
    and told them that a horse is burried in there back yard, I showed
    them where and they were thankful I told them. ( they were going
    to landscape the place)
    
    I wish they did have a place you could take your dead/dying horse.
    I do not like that fact that the only alt' we have is a meatmarket!
    
    My horse died 7yrs ago (in the winter)  the grond was frozen and 
    there was nothing we could do....no where to take her...so you
    can guess where she ended up.
    
    Louisa

    A friend's horse had to be put down last weekend.  The property owners
    have a backhoe and have buried horses on their farm before.  They
    definitely did NOT dig the grave first.  Although you could do it,
    it wouldn't have made the horse owner feel any better about the
    whole affair.

    My horse had to be put down last November (colic). We had to walk him
    to a spot on the farm and then I left while the vet and the stable
    owner stayed with Jasper. That day will stay with me for a long time.
    
    I'm not sure what the Board of Health will do if they find out about
    the horse burials. I know that you are not "supposed" to bury horses
    or any animals on your property. But there was NO way in HELL I would
    ever send Jasper to a slaughter house.
    		Cindy
    

    I was talking to a friend about this last night.  About 5 years 
    ago she had a layup off the track die at her house which was right
    outside the center of town.  She had to wait for an autopsy because
    of the insurance company so she called the animal inspector about
    the burial.  He told her to just bury the horse, nothing about where
    or the size of the property.  
    
    RE:  .13  If I knew my horse had to be put down, I would much rather
    have the hole already dug than to have to wait who knows how long
    before someone showed up with a backhoe.  A few years ago I was taking
    care of a very sick horse for a friend.  She ended up dying in the
    paddock outside around 5:00 pm.  I stayed with her until after 9:00
    pm to make sure that no wild animals or dogs got to her.  Let me tell
    you, that was far worse than having to look at a hole for a while.
    I will never forget it either.

    Burying a horse in the middle of winter can be a problem. My daughter's
    trainer who lives in Harvard used dump manure at a potential buryng site.
    The manure would keep the ground from frezing...
    
    

    re: .15 regarding .13.  You have a good point.  There is a backhoe on
    the farm in this case, but I guess thing choice would be up to the
    owner.  My friend was very upset over the loss (her first) and was
    not able to stay for the burial.  Leading the horse to the hole would
    have been too much for her.

    I know someone who led the horse into the hole.....I hope I never
    have to do it.  Most others I know have had someone take the horse
    to the meat packers, and others have dug the hole after the fact.
    
    Does anyone know how many acres are required in Mass?  Would the
    local board of health know?

    
    A couple of years ago I volunteered with my vet, Mass Equine, on 
    Saturdays.  We went on calls all day with a variety of cases to see.
    I'll never forget the time we went to put down an old Morgan pleasure
    horse for an elderly couple.  The gentleman had a backhoe and had the
    hole already dug when we got there.  This mare was his horse and he
    couldn't go out into the woods with us.  I never saw his wife, he said
    she couldn't even come out of the house.
    
    The walk through the back field into the woods along a dirt road to the
    woods took FOREVER.  I was leading her and she was the sweetest mare.
    I always wondered what she was thinking about as we led her through
    that field.  I led her up to the side of the hole and the vet
    administered the lethal dose into her vein.  It only took about 6
    seconds and she just crumbled into the hole.  THEN, we had to get into
    the hole with her to check her pulse and make sure she was gone.
    I'll never forget that horse or that walk.
    
    Several years before that, the same vet had to come out to put down a
    foal of my neighbor's who had "wobbles".  This is a neurological disease
    he had since birth and was getting worse daily.  He could still walk,
    but not straight and would fall often.  This time there were even tears
    in the vet's eyes.  Such a terrible fate for such a young guy.
    
    I lost one of my own about 6 years ago.  She was our family's first
    pony.  And we intended to keep her until a ripe old age.  She was about 16
    (not old for a pony) when she had a bad case of colic.  The vet was out
    3 times during the day with the oil, banamine, Milk of Magnesia, etc.
    By the middle of the afternoon, we were on our way to Tufts for
    surgery.  This pony was like another child for my mom, so no expense
    was going to be spared to save her.  We watched the surgery from the
    observation room and knew they were looking for an obstruction.  When
    the surgeon finally came to talk to us, he was holding a tumor about
    the size of a baseball in his hand.  It was clean and white and not
    "gross" looking at all.  We were excited to think that she was out of
    the woods.  However, the doctor told us that he had removed the tumor
    from her intestinal wall, but they couldn't save her as about 40 feet of
    intestine had already begun to decompose as a result of lack of oxygen.
    We had so say good bye to her on the surgery table and she was still
    under anesthesia, so she never knew.
    
    They did a necropsy there at Tufts and then the body was going to be
    cremated en masse.  We always wanted her to be buried at home with other
    assorted family animals.
    
    I have a Thoroughbred gelding at home who's 16, acts like 4.  I know he
    won't live forever, so looks like I'm going to go through this again.
    
    It's like losing a best friend...  And you never forget them!