cover it over is best and a good idea . ive never had a problem just using black polythene but if you feal there may be a problem you can just use the weed supressent . its realy going to help you mostly in the spring thow as nearly everything is dorement in deep winter . weeds do tend to grab any opertunity so the odd sunny week theyl start to grow to get a head start . id just use black polythene myself .

Nope, I disagree - if the ground has been dug and horse manure added, presumably pernicious weeds like docks, nettles, etc., were removed at the same time. Once the weather gets cold, you won't get weed seed germination taking place, so no weeds during winter, and the elements are free to do their stuff on breaking down the soil.
The time when weed germination begins is early spring - you'll know when that starts.

I afraid I'm with Bamboo. Light soil is best just turned over and left to the winter elements and only manured in the spring. Nutrients on light soils will tend to be washed away with the rain. I would only manure heavy soil in the winter and leave the soil 'rough dug' for the frosts to break it down to a fine tilth. No need to cover the soil.

Bulba digs and then applies a mulch which works its way down and in over the winter I would not recommend covering with black plastic or a weed suppressant membrane for the reasons Bamboo has already given.

I agree with Nosey Potter. Once the manure has been added, if it is covered, this will speed up the break down process, leaving you with lovely rich soil in early spring. Horse manure if not rotted properly can have some pernicious weeds, as Bamboo suggests, but the black membrane has in the past for me, cooked these out, and the worms just love it - you may need to lightly water to encourage the worms, if your membrane is not permeable. A note of warning though - nettle roots seem to withstand just about anything except pulling up or glyphosate, even surviving under membrane for a period!! Best of luck.

i did say that the weeds wouldnt realy start untill early spring as everything is dorement and what if not every weed root hasnt been removed which is more than possible and it wont hurt anyway . its thanks to moon grower i came up with the weed supressent membrane so the soil can breath and as said bye avkq47 the worms love it . id still just use black polythene as the worms love that to as it holds the moisture in and theres nothing like worms to break your soil down . id like to know what doctor bob thinks as i value his opinion the most closely followed bye bamboo to .

Erm, I wasn't suggesting the horse manure would have pernicious weeds, Avkg47 - I said I hoped pernicious weeds had been dug out when it was turned over before the manure was applied.
The only reason I'd cover soil in this way is if it hadn't been dug, was full of weeds, and I didn't have time to deal with it for some months - then I'd peg down thick black plastic and leave it until I was ready to deal with it. As this ground has already been dug and weeded, and manure added, I can't see the point of covering it, frankly.

Thankyou to all who responded

your more than welcome ron .