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I’ve been using well-rotted horse manure mixed with soil for years, but lately created several beds using the horse-manure only, having noticed how well stinging nettles were growing on the source pile. When I say well-rotted, I mean at least 3 years old! I noticed that if you dig too deep into the pile it’s a lighter brown colour and smelly, so I presume that’s the anaerobic bacteria at work. When I reach down to that layer I just leave it for a few weeks and sure enough it darkens and loses the smell.
We’ve had no problems with leaf curl, and the only plants that put on too much green growth at the expense of flowering were annual cosmos. I suspect that was caused by a mulch of wood chippings though. All our flowers and vegetables have done just great, apart from the cabbages, which bolted.
I think our horse manure may be better for gardening because the horse is allergic to straw, so we use wood chippings for bedding.