One of the joys of horse ownership is figuring out how to dispose of your muck heap. Some people are lucky enough to have local gardeners who queue up to take it away. Others spread it on their fields. Often though it involves paying a local farmer to remove the heap for you.

So what if I told you that you could not only dispose of your muck for free but you could also help the environment and heat your house?

Well you can! All you need to do is follow some easy DIY instructions to make yourself a brick mould. Then take some horse poo and fill your mould. Having compressed it down with your foot, turn the mould upside down and hit it with a mallet to release the brick. Make yourself a stack of bricks then leave them to dry for about 3 weeks.

Once the bricks are dry you can burn them in your multi fuel stove or open fire. Believe it or not, horse poo fire bricks don’t stink either!

For more information on how to build a brick mould for your manure please visit Backwoods Home Magazine.

You can also buy a metal briquette maker that can be used to recycle your unwanted junk mail and other waste paper and cardboard.

Pop star Will Young looks a real country gent in his new music video for his latest single.

The video starts with Will arriving at a stable yard in a tweed jacket, carrying expensive leather riding boots. He changes into some very smart riding clothes in order to ride a dressage test.

The horse in question, Traveler, is a superstar in his own right. He made an appearance in Braveheart as Mel Gibson’s mount.

Young had riding lessons to prepare him for the making of the video which includes a scene of him tackling a showjump after the test.

‘Grace’ is due to be released for sale on 1st December but here’s a sneak preview of Will’s horsemanship…

A football fan has received a 3 year ban from attending all English football matches following an incident in which he punched a police horse.

Shaun Allen of Cross Heath, Staffordshire was attending the Stoke City v Bolton Wanderers match at The Reebok Stadium on 16 August when he became abusive to a mounted police officer who had taken a can of beer of him. Allen punched the horse then ran off but he was arrested later.

On 7 November he appeared at Bolton Magistrates court where he pleaded guilty to causing harassment, alarm and distress. He received a 3 year match ban plus a fine of £200. He was also ordered to pay £100 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Three Spanish matadors are on trial after being accused of hiring hitmen in 2001 to kill 12 horses belonging to a rival matador.

The hitmen placed placed bombs into the horses stables causing 6 to die and 6 to have serious burns from which they took years to recover.

It is alledged that the horses were a victim of mistaken identity and that the hitmen had actually intended to kill horses belonging to another man.

The Domecq family who owned the horses have asked for those responsible to be given a three year jail sentence. They have also requested compensation for the horses that died.

Horses and mules were heavily employed by the military during World War I. Over 200,000 animals were obtained at the start of the war from the UK, Spain, Portugal, India, South Africa and New Zealand. The horses were placed into squadrons then deployed to the troops on the frontline.

Horses were used to carry weaponry including ammunition and guns as well as troops and often carried a combined weight of over 280 lbs on their backs. With many horses dying or becoming injured the army had to buy about 15,000 more per month to maintain numbers.

War horses and mules were extremely underfed and received less than a quarter of the food an equivalent animal in the UK would have. It is reported that starving horses were seen trying to eat the wheels of carts.

It is believed that in WWI at least 8 million horse, mules and donkeys died on all sides.