"Ed" wrote ...
I have a couple of large compost bins on my allotment which I regularly
fill with compostable materials from home, but this only accounts for a few
percent.

For the most part, I go to the local riding stables where they bag up the
horse manure and leave it outside for people to take for free.

In the winter time, when the horses are inside the stables, the mix is
heavy with straw and bedding. But now in the warmer months with the
horses outside , it is mainly stuff gathered straight off the paddock
areas where the horses pass their days.

The thing is this. The bins are 4'x3'x3' and I just do not have the
energy or strength to turn them. So , in effect they are cold compost
heaps. I let the contents rot down over a 2 year period.

But is there a danger that the pathogens in the horse dung will not die
off (as they would if I were operating a hot heap) and that my family
could become seriously ill if I use this composted material on my
vegetable plot even if it is 2 years old?

Pathogens in Horse dung? Please advise what and any scientific papers that
back it up. I know it is a big carrier of Tetanus but not heard about
anything else of concern.
"No major human disease has ever been accurately attributed to the intimate
contact human beings have had with horses for thousands of years.
Veterinarians and vet students probably have the greatest exposure to true
risk from horse manure. The horse has a very inefficient gut: it's a one-way
throughput system. Horses are physiologically incapable of vomiting or
regurgitating. If something gets stuck on the way through, the only way to
get it out is by surgery or physical intervention. As a result, you will
often find vets armpit deep under a horse's tail. Nevertheless, there has
never been a documented case of veterinarians contracting illness as a
result of this rather extreme true exposure to horse manure."

We use well rotted 1 year old stuff and have never had any trouble.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London