The Sunday Post: Hospice News

Rosie’s fund-raising
idea . . . stinks!

By Stevie Gallacher

ROSIE MILLER has found a smelly way to raise money for CHAS — but don’t say her idea is a big pile of manure.

If you want to be accurate, you’d have to say it’s 100 tonnes of manure. Horse manure to be exact.

Rosie (52), from Renton in West Dunbartonshire, has owned Carman Stables for the past five years.

“When I first bought the place there was three years worth of manure round the back of the stables,” she says.

“In the five years I’ve been here, the ponies have added to that. There’s now around 100 tonnes on my land. It’s organised into a very large pile round the back of the stables.

Rosie digs deep for CHAS while her 11-year-old Welsh cob Pegasus, who “helped” with the manure pile, looks on.

“I have to get rid of it some way, so I thought selling it and donating the profits to CHAS would be ideal.
Manure

“The site for Robin House is 10 minutes down the road from here.

“I’ve been to see it and it’s a lovely location. That planted the seed in my head and when I thought about getting rid of the manure, it just hit me.

“For a pound, anyone can bring a bag, a wheelbarrow, or even a 20-tonne truck if they like and fill it up with as much manure as they want.

“There’s no limit to the amount they can take. I’ve really no idea how much I’ll raise for The Sunday Post Hospice Appeal, as there’s more than 100 tonnes here. We want to raise money for CHAS and we have to get rid of this manure.

“We want as many people as possible to come!”

Before buying Carman Stables, Rosie was a yard manager at a stable in Milngavie. She has always had an interest in horses.

“I started riding when I was two. Horses have always been in my blood.

“It might have something to do with my ancestors. Apparently my great-great grandfather bred horses for steeplechasing.
Baffled

“My family were baffled when I became interested in horses, but I’m sure it’s something passed down through my genes!”

Since the age of 16, Rosie, originally from Milngavie, has worked in stables and, after buying Carman Stables, set up her own riding school where she is a qualified riding instructor.

She’s keen to point out her manure is top-quality stuff.

“Because the ponies are bedded on shavings instead of hay, there is less chance for any seeds or debris to work into their diet.

“Also, because some of the manure has been there for more than five years, it can now be classed as organic.”

The folk in Renton seem to agree with her.

Rosie added, “There’s a chap who uses my manure as fertiliser on his crops.

“He has won lots of competitions and insists it’s because of the horse muck he got here.”

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