When you walk into the stall it hits you like a ton of bricks. Your eyes water, your airways burn and your nose begins to tingle in the most unpleasant ways. It is the unmistakable smell of ammonia.
Horse in enclosed stall
Ammonia is a colorless gas with a strong smell, produced as a byproduct of microbial decomposition of organic nitrogen compounds in horse manure.
© 2017 by Smerikal
Typically, when you think of ammonia, the pungent smell is related to urine. However, research has shown that dangerous ammonia is also found in feces as well. This means that it is much more prevalent in your horse’s environment than you may think. According to Michael Westendorf, of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, “A 1,000 pound horse will defecate approximately four to thirteen times each day and produce approximately nine tons of manure per year.
The 1,000 pound horse will produce, on the average, 37 pounds of feces and 2.4 gallons of urine daily, which totals about 50 pounds of raw waste per day in feces and urine combined.”
That’s a lot of manure… and a lot of ammonia!
Knowing that feces contain ammonia means that your horse is producing ammonia on a consistent basis. Dr. Carissa Wickens of the University of Florida explains, “Ammonia is a colorless gas with a strong, odorous smell, produced as a byproduct of microbial decomposition of organic nitrogen compounds in manure. It comes from urea, a nitrogen-containing molecule, which is present in urine and feces.”
If you smell ammonia, you have more than an odor problem; you have a health problem as well. Ammonia is a health risk to your horse, stressing the upper respiratory airways and placing them at risk for pneumonia, heaves and other serious illness.
So now that you know ammonia is virtually everywhere that your horse walks, what do you do? Eliminating ammonia is surprisingly simple. A healthy application of a zeolite based horse stall refresher, such as Sweet PDZ Horse Stall Refresher, will eradicate the ammonia gas at the source.
This unique, all-natural substance neutralizes the ammonia that it comes in contact with in order to keep your horse breathing fresh air, no matter the source!
Sweet PDZ (www.sweetpdz.com) has been keeping stalls healthy for over 33 years and continues to be the leading horse stall freshener on the market. This organic (OMRI Listed), non-toxic mineral captures, neutralizes and eliminates harmful levels of ammonia and odors. Sweet PDZ is a far superior alternative to lime products for ammonia removal and moisture absorption. For more information, or to find a retailer near you, please call us at 1-800-367-1534.
By Jennifer Roberts