This message is from: Misty Meadows B & B <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I've given my information from the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to a friend who is just constructing ring right now, so don't have all the details in front of me, but we are being highly discouraged from using hog fuel in the horse industry. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it is the cheapest way to build a ring, with sand being far more expensive, but it is an environmental nightmare because it breaks down and in all the rain produces a toxic leachate that is very acidic and gets into groundwater and salmon streams. Misty Meadows has a salmon spawning stream running through it and the meadows become floodplain in the winter. When we set up our paddock area, we had an advisor from the Ministry who works for their horse industry program come and help us set up an environmentally sound place.She told us that the industry had about three years to voluntarily clean up its act before restrictions went unto place. The main ones are covered manure piles from October to April and no woodwaste or hog fuel runoff. It seems that hog fuel will become unacceptable soon so I just wouldn't consider using it. Most of the rings here on Vancouver Island are constructed from it and it makes riding hard through the winter. As it breaks down after only a couple of years, it gets soft spots in the rain, and is quite slippery if it ever freezes. We can generally use all outdoor sand rings for training except for a couple of weeks in February, but folks with hog fuel rings find themselves without a ring for about three months and saving money for indoor arenas. Cathy Koshman Misty Meadows B&B and Fjords Victoria, BC, Canada
