Breathe deep or cover your nose?

Some of us love the smell of horse poop. I know, that just sounds so gross to the uninitiated. But there's something so rural, so homey about the smell of fresh manure. I guess that's why some horse people actually like cleaning paddocks (though I'm not one of them).

I do like going out with the tractor, though, and pushing the poop around. We have a big pasture so I don't have to do this every day, just often enough to have a nice manure pile composting halfway down our property for most of the year. Something about it is therapuetic, whether it is the idea of making all that lovely compost for the garden, or just that earthy feeling of turning over the ground with nothing but your thoughts and the horses to keep you company (the horses are usually running stupidly away from the tractor, but there you go).

Fragrant or stinky? I guess your opinion depends greatly on how much time you spend with horses. Some of us love it, some of us don't.

Becki Bell is the author of "The Little Book of Horse Poop"
For more on the virtues of horse manure, visit The Little Book of Horse Poop online.