Make a Difference
Sequester Carbon
Taking Action for a Sustainable Planet
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Horse People CAN Make a Difference!
Horse People CAN
Make a Difference!
Sponsored By Horses for Future
Every day we hear more grim news about climate change - the ice caps are melting faster than expected, sea levels are rising, the oceans are getting hotter, we're in the sixth extinction on a collision course towards disaster. Everything seems so hopeless. What can any of us do?
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It turns out a lot. Let's not wait for the corporations and national governments to take action. Horse people can make a difference. We can sequester carbon!
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We can grow healthier pastures, pastures that not only keep our horses healthier but that also sequester carbon. Taken together
we are a community that CAN make a difference.
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Think of the green plants in your horse's pasture as tiny solar panels. The plants create sugars which they send down into their roots. But they aren't just nourishing themselves. The sugars are transferred to fungi and bacteria in exchange for minerals the plants need.
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When a pasture is overgrazed, plants can't develop deep root structures. They don't have enough "solar panels" left to do the work. The fungi and bacteria die off, and the soil deteriorates.
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We can turn this around with better pasture management. It's a win-win situation. Our horses become healthier as we are sequestering carbon in our pastures.
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Here's how it works:
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Fungi and bacteria have carbon-based cell walls . In the process of building healthier soils we are drawing carbon into the land. If we get the soil biome right, the bacteria and fungi in the soil draw in carbon and use it to build their cell structures.
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We have the answers. It's just that we've manage to kick things out of balance so these natural systems aren't working. But we can bring this back.
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Imagine if everyone who visits this web site made changes to the way they manage their pastures, their lawns, their gardens. It's simple - stop spraying, increase biodiversity, get the roots down and the minerals up.
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It starts with horse people because we have land. We have the ability to make choices, and we care about our horses. We want the BEST for them.
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For so many years we've been taught that bright green grass, all very neat, all looking the same, is the best for our horses. But it's not. We need to increase biodiversity in our pastures both above and below ground.
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Want to learn more? Listen to this podcast from Equiosity.com. It's an interview with Manda Scott, writer and climate crisis activist.
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And then join us as we gather the information we need to sequester carbon under our fields and gardens.
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Horse People CAN
Make a Difference
For thousands of years horses have been intimately woven into our history.
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Riding on their backs, we have spread out over the planet. We have ridden them to war. We have used them to pull plows.
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Now let us enter into a new relationship with horses, one that takes us in fellowship with them to a healthy planet.
What can you do?
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Let me tell you about the resources we are creating for you. The first is a facebook group - Horses for Future. This is a gathering place for people who want to make a difference. It's an open group. We want to share ideas. What books, articles, podcasts are each of us finding? Let's share the information so we can all become great soil farmers and change the world!
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What is working for you on your land? Let's share our successes. You never know - your solution may spark an idea that helps someone else create a better solution for their own horses and land management.
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So Horses for Future is our gathering point. Every Monday we'll announce a project for the week. This will be something everyone can participate in - whether you have your own land, or you board your horses, or maybe you don't even have horses; whether you are six years old or sixty - everyone will be able to participate.
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Through the Horses for Future facebook group we can share resources and ideas. Each Friday we will celebrate our successes.
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Every week we'll have projects that we can do together that will help us all learn. You can check out what people have been doing at the facebook group: Horses For Future
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Horses for Future will be a learning center that we grow together.
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We're pairing it with this web site.
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Here you'll find articles and links to resources that will help make a difference for our horses and for the planet.
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Sequester Carbon:
Healthy Soils Produce Healthy Horses and A Healthy Planet
Check these out . . .
Interview with Manda Scott
To listen to the current podcast as well as all archived podcasts use the Project Planet tab at the top of this page.
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You can also find the Horses for Future podcast on soundcloud.com
Want to learn more?
Check out our resource library
Horses for Future: Episode 51: Marla Foreman Pt 2: Smart Design
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This is part 2 of my conversation with Marla Foreman. Marla Foreman is a veterinarian, a horse trainer and a riding instructor. She’s also a good friend so it was fun for us to get together for a Horses for Future podcast.
I particularly wanted to interview Marla because she grew up on a ranch in New Mexico. From there she moved to Washington state, but not to the temperate coastal area. She lived on the other side of the state where rain was scarce and the amount of land she had was a mere postage stamp compared to the acreage she grew up on in New Mexico. And now she’s living on the east coast near Boston.
So she’s learned how to manage horses in very different climates, and very different acreage. What she has learned is smart design. The goal is healthy horses and healthy pastures.
Growing up in New Mexico she saw how well horses maintained themselves when they could move. How to you encourage movement on smaller acreage? And how do you design your farm so you are spending your time enjoying your horses and not just doing chores? The answer is smart design. Hopefully, you’ll get some ideas for your own farm so you can meet everyone’s needs well - yours, the horses, and the land you care for.
Horse people can make a difference in the climate change crisis. Together we’re learning how.
