How much to charge to bury a horse?

[gator]

When I was a member of the Cherry Point Saddle Club me and a buddy helped bury a Colonel's daughters horse. The Colonel had a Marine with one of those Unimog trucks with a FEL and BH on them dig the hole in the pasture by an oak tree. If I remember correctly the hole was about 6'x8'x about 8 to 9' deep. We used two vehicle nylon pull straps, one on front quarters and one around hind quarters then hooked to the front end loader. I jumped into the hole as my buddy held its head above the hole. As the horse was lowered, I took the head until it was at bottom of hole (just a note, if you do it this way, if the head gets below the body, all the lung fluids come out the nostrils onto you). With the horse on its side, I positioned its head, tail and legs in the hole under the direction of the Colonel, then we limed it and backfilled the hole to a mound.

Got a nice thankyou note from the Colonel saying it helped his daughter through her misery when he told her of the gentleness and care we took buring her horse.

Can't help you with the price, as we did this for free.

 

[cowboydoc]

8' give or take is plenty deep. Dig it about 8' long and 6' wide. I just dump them in and where they land they land no big deal. I don't know how many horses I've buried over the years but alot and we've never limed them or anything of the sort. Never one time has one been dug up by any critters. There are ALOT of coyotes and the like in everyplace I've lived. LIke I said a year later you don't even know you buried one. This is one thing where some people are making it way too complicated.

 

[F350Lawman]

After our vet put one of our horses down, we paid $150 for a local rendering company to come out and pick the horse up. The vet advised us not to be there for this process.

I think this is a much better solution than paying someone almost the same price to bury it on our property. I imagine as the horse decays it will leech interesting things into the soil/water table as well as cause the ground to sink above it.

I think it's worth it to pay at least as much and maybe a little MORE to have it burried on your property when you consider the treatment of the dead animal. The rendering process is NOT nice. We have gone this route before out of necessity. Next time I think we would prefer to bury.

I know the animal is already dead and it means nothing to them, it just doesn't seem like a fitting ending for such a magnificent animal. It certainly isn't happening to my horse knowing what I now know unless it absolutely can't be avoided. I suppose in the dead of winter with 2'-3' of accumulated snow I might not be able to get to or dig the frozen ground in a reasonable ammount of time.

I also wouldn't worry about it leeching after all you'd probably do it far away from any wells and there are deers and other fairly large animals dying closer to my house all the time.

 

[Docsknotinn]

Well this one brings back some old memories. I havent done this in years. In our area most farms had a constant pit dug to drop rocks etc in from the field. I would guess most were 6' deep by small to huge. the horse was usually pushed over the edge and then buried several feet under topsoil. Those that were hit by cars over the years were another story. We dragged them with a truck and chain to a site, again about 6' deep and wide enough for the animal, no lime, no boards and after several months it was impossible to tell. I had never seen one dug up. I was thinking that when I was a kid the glue companys paid us to come and get them but that was a long time ago. Dave

 

[cowboydoc]

Yes the rendering plants did used to pay to come and take them!!! And well they should. Heck they make $50-100 buck just off of the tail alone. They make a little less just on the mane hair. Then they found out people would actually pay to have them removed and so now they get paid to remove them and make money off of selling all the parts and cutting them up. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[MossRoad]

There are some rendering plants in our area. As one person mentioned, it is not something you want the owners to watch if they considered the animal a pet. The renderer shows up with a big green truck with a lift and a winch on the back. They wrap a chain or two around the animal's legs and drag it onto the lift platform. Sometimes the animal breaks apart when bing winched. Then up and over the tailgate it goes. Sometimes we see them driving around with 8 or 12 legs sticking up out of the back of the box. Most disturbing to a pet owner.

On a side note, not directed to anyone in particular, rather meant to share with all of you:

When I was younger, I always found it strange how we treat animals differently. Horses get burried, a beloved member of the family, similar to a dog... but dairy cows that provided income for the family day in and day out for most of their lives get rendered to squeeze the last $$ out of them. Something I was never taught as a kid, but learned later on in life is the differences we make between pets and livestock. I now find it important to teach my children that difference. Yes, we are going to treat the animal well, feed it and take care of it, but we are not going to name it and we are going to eat it when it is big enough. I can just here it now...

"DAAADDDDDYYYYY!!!!" /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Docsknotinn]

Moss Road that is dead on. All the animals I buried were pets. Several were hit by cars, a few with riders. The toughest part of that deal was trying to keep a neighbor out of jail for wringing some drunk drivers neck. we still had to drag them with a chain and there was no happy campers on those days. My grand dad always sold them. $50 is $50 and this is a farm and thats the way of it. I sure as heck wouldn't pay some one to take any animal to any place so they could make even more $ off my animal. No Way ! I would think given any reasonable soil condition and burial place I would ask $50-$100 depending on the neighbor. Dave

 

[gsganzer]

My neighbors know I'm a serious hunter and put me on notice one night, to shoot one of their horses if it didn't get any better. Not the "neighborly" assistance I'd like to be called to do. Fortunately (for me), it recovered.

They tried to make it easy on me and said they'd paint stripes on it (white horse), so I could prepare for my african safari and pretend it's a zebra. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif (They were joking) I believe in treating a dedicated mount with the respect they've earned, including a proper burial. My land is so rocky, I'll probably have to be buried in the same hole I dig for my gelding.

BTW: 10 days before I leave for africa

 

[barticus73]

Anyone ever consider cremating the animal say in a large burn pile? Is this considered proper or not?

 

[riptides]

Not to turn this topic around, I think the originator is handling this "maybe" sad event with great respect.

On MossRoads posting -

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( but we are not going to name it )</font>

A conversation with a neighboor ----
ME:
"Whoa, boy do those cattle look good! What are their names?"
HIM:
"Ready and Next"

Did I not read this person correctly or what?
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
-Mike Z.