I am SO mad...I could...I could...

Wish you were closer, we would take them.

My neighbor the one whose horses escape and come here to eat.... They chase my goats down, on my own property!! They also hang at the corner of the fence at feeding time, the goats feeding time not their's as they do not get one. If the goats are in my field eating anywhere near the fence line those horse charge at them.

So I say you are making the right choice and I hope you find a place for them. Unless you can separate them I doubt the behavior of the horses will change. These two have been living next to the goats for almost 5 years and they still do it.
Also that thing he bought that I never saw and know nothing about, got regular beatings from those two horses till the supposed thing ran away to somewhere I do not know

I hope you find some place for those two soon. You running any ads? Or put up some signs in the feed stores?

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You may not copy my posts or pictures without my consent on this board or any other.

I have no problems with my horses and goats...knock on wood! The goats go in the horses pasture all the time. Sometimes Joey will chase them out, but not aggressively. The goats keep a pretty good distance. I'm sorry you are having problems Calianne

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Teach only Love...for that is what You are

I am running ads. Also trying to contact rescues. I am being honest in the ads, they attack smaller stock such as goats and the dam is lame, although bred. Have not mentioned any price in the ads, but basically they are free to any good home that doesn't have smaller critters near them. If I think it is a meat hunter, I'll ask a little bit for them.

They go for free, sight unseen, to any rescue. Show me that you are a real rescue, and I won't even ask...I'll just help load them. Two'sCompany is contacting rescues.

It is too bad...they are both super sweet and amazingly people friendly, in-your-back-pocket horses. They both stand well, load well, lead well, etc., etc., everything you might like in a horse...

...except for that whole trying-to-trample-my-goats thing. Luckily only the ONE injury before they were caught.

Oh, Cheribelle, my gelding really IS good with the goats. No injuries, no fear, no nothings before these others showed up. He thinks he IS a goat and tries to get on the milk stand sometimes. Also, we hadn't had a single injury or anything before Copper and Gidget came here. Copper is mean to the other horses too, and she is teaching that attitude to her filly. ~sighs~

I hope someone takes them. I have the goats safely contained in the corral until these two get gone, but the goats don't LIKE it. They are bleating softly and pathetically at me, and giving me sad eyes, "Can't we at least go to the woods? I mean, the alfalfa pellets and hay is okay and all, but can't we plleeeaaasee go browse in the woods? We promise to be good goats...."

ETA: They were not in pens. I allowed goats and horses daytime free reign on 10 acres of pasture...probably the only pasture left in the county that still has grass and forbs in it. They can EASILY avoid each other, and there is not a food shortage or even a browse/pasture shortage. No need for competition. These horses simply think of it as a fun *game*.... like evil little boys pulling the wings off of flies or pulling the legs off of one side of beetles....

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

Caliann, I am a horse lover myself. We have four horses and ride them all. But if I had one that had lameness issues and it was attacking the goats, if I couldn't keep them in separate pastures I'd get rid of it too. Have you tried contacting any local foxhunt clubs? Some of them will take horses and put them down on their property then use the meat to feed the hounds. Also, wildlife rescues will sometimes do the same thing, if there are any near you with meat eaters.

While placing them in a home seems like a great idea and if you can find one, it'd be great, I personally would worry unless I knew the person they were going to. Of course, a rescue is a great option if you find one that has room. But otherwise, if it was me personally, I'd rather know they were going to be put down quickly and go to good use rather than take the risk that they end up going down the line from one home to the next or end up at auction. There are so many unwanted horses out there right now that the odds are just not stacked in their favor, especially when you are talking about a mare with lameness issues and a filly who still needs a couple of years to grow before she is ready to learn a job.

Good luck and I hope you get this resolved soon. Hope your goaties are feeling better!

I am a horse lover (of over 30 yrs) and goat lover (only a few months). As horses are bigger and unexpected things can happen, I would never pasture my goats and horses together. So my question is why not pasture them seperately and keep both?

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~Candice~

bknthesdle: Because right this moment, I cannot afford to build cross fencing and a new shelter. To build a "special" paddock with a 3 sided shed for shelter and feeding would cost me in the neighborhood of $7,000, and that is if I provided a lot of labor myself. Yes, the horses would NEED that 3 sided shelter, if only to escape the sun. Heat is BRUTAL this year and I am short on mature shade trees. Now, in MOST years, that would not be insurmountable....however THIS year:

February, unnatural winter storms that broke ALL of my pipes and therefore all the plumbing on the place had to be re-done: $3,500.

Tornado and windstorm from three weeks ago that destroyed two of my sheds and took 1/4 of the roof off of my barn: $5,000

The fact that the drought STILL hasn't let up, so hay and extra water for the year due to the fact that all of my water reserves are tapped out (pond and stock tanks DRY): $2,000.

My savings is OUT. If any one of those natural disasters had not happened, I could probably scrounge the cash to make a "special goat-killer horse paddock", but the truth of the matter is, Mother Nature, God, or whomever you like to blame the weather on has completely tapped me out.

Blue Run Farm: Do you know how to sell horses for meat? I have no clue. These horses have already been through the sale barn and no one bid on them. They really are sale barn rejects. But, I could try again with our local barn. I don't know of any fox hunters or hound keepers here...it is illegal to hunt deer or large game with dogs in Texas.

:sighs and rolls her eyes: And what story would I tell my mother (DM) and DH? If *they* knew I was selling them for meat, they'd flip out. :grrrrr: I hate to lie, but I also hate to walk out to dead goats too.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

I understand about mother nature and being tapped out for money. Our farm is set up for cattle. Everything goes to them first. (pasture, hay, etc.) So I have had to become resourceful to have my horses, sheep and goats. I scrounged up pieces of fence to make a moveable pen for my sheep for continuous graze around the yard. I scrounged up unused cattle panels so my horses can grass graze. For the goats, it's left over fencing from the sheep (the one permanent pen I splurged on) and I stole my husband's dog's doghouse for a small temp shelter when the goats are in their pen.

I am so sorry that your goats were attacked and that your forced into this situation. Hope a solution presents itself soon. ((hugs))

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~Candice~

Candice, you do not know what I would give to have unused cattle panels. Actually, you do not know what I would give to have ANY cattle panels. Being able to make temporary pastures would be a godsend.....but for right now, I will make do with what I DO have and deal with the troubles.

Everyone gets their bad years and I guess this is mine. ~smiles~ The goats are our main livestock, and our most expensive. The horses are just our kind hearts at least, and a small hobby at most. Mainly we are a small dairy and rare breed chicken operation here, so those things are the priorities.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

This is why I got rid of my mini gelding. He was running the heck out of my goats, tried to kill my dog and killed one of our chickens.

He went to a friend of mine and now that he has a job he doesn't do it anymore. There was definetly no way he could stay here though. Hope you find a place for them soon. soon!

We raise cows and farm wheat and soybeans. We are being hit pretty hard this year with mother nature. We have flooding everywhere. We've lost pasture and farmland to flooding. Sadly, my using the panels are temporary. When the cows come home in the fall, I lose them.

I know a horse trainer gal in Texas. I can ask her if she has any ideas for your horses. Who knows, maybe she can help. Can you post the info on your horses and I can pass it on to her?

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~Candice~

ANY help is appreciated. ANYONE who is willing to come get these two horses is welcome.

The mare, although I have my doubts on if she will be able to be ridden, would make a good driving cob. A lot of folks forget that riding is not the ONLY form of horse-powered transportation...and a horse that has issues that will not allow them to carry weight on their back can be trained to pull a small cart or buggy without aggravating old injuries.

They are sweet, good-natured horses. The ONLY temperament problem is the attacking of small stock, and the mare is a herd bully. They have no issues with humans at all.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

Caliann, the rescues I contacted don't have room and are loathe to take in even partial Arabians since their temperaments are so volitile. I wish I could be of more assistance! You could contact any local meat processing shop and ask if they know of anyone who would be interested in the mare for meat. The filly you could probably find a home for and she might even "unlearn" the behavior if she doesn't have her mom there to pass it along. I'm a horse lover who has several horses as well as goats and I usually don't condone horses for slaughter, but if she's a danger then she doesn't need to be passed along to other homes. I'll ask around some of my rescue friends and see if we can find her a home before she's relegated to slaughter.

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Kindess begets kindness.

Can you tell me the breed of the 2? Ages? I think you said the filly was 14 months old.

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~Candice~

The mare is a QH /Arab mix, probably more QH than Arab. You can see the Arab in her lines, but not so much in her face. Th mare is 6-7 years old.

Th filly, I was told, was born in April of 2010, so yes, she would be 14 months old. Th filly's sire was, supposedly, a full Appendix QH, and she looks it. She is going to be a tall, stocky girl. Again, both are sweet, nice, people friendly, yadda, yadda, yadda. If someone could put some time and effort into re-habbing the mare's knee, she was, supposedly, sweet to ride.

Give me a couple of hours and I can have pictures up of them.

Temperament-wise, other than attacking smaller stock, there is nothing wrong with these horses.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

TwosCompany....you tried and that is all anyone can ask. Thank you so much for that! We'll see what happens. The current situation can go on for a week, maybe, and everyone still be safe. There is a little time to try to get things done.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

Some horses will do this and some won't. We had horses at the ranch that could not be pastured out with the cattle, would chase calves especially. Others wouldn't even think about it. Have also had horses that would go after dogs ... ranch dogs as well as strange dogs ... and again, others that would not. Seems to more often be young horses who are 'playing' ... chasing, pawing ... but they can kill a smaller animal just the same.

Caliann, no I have never sold a horse for meat, so I would have no idea how to do it on purpose. What I was trying to say is I worry about a horse going down the line and two or three owners out, ending up at a killer auction. While I do consider donating the meat to be a viable and humane option, the horses that are bought at auction by kill buyers generally do not have such a quick and painless end. If there are no hunters or wildlife rescues near you, donating does not sound like an option.

It's a shame that the horse market is so oversaturated that it is so hard to find a good home for a horse. While you may be able to find a home for the filly, maybe someone with not a lot of cash to spend on purchase but looking for a project, the mare is going to be more difficult with the lameness issues. There are so many good sound horses out there going for bottom dollar, it's hard to find anyone willing to take on a problem. At least, that's the way it is around here. I really hope you find a solution soon, it's a shame that you rescued these horses out of the kindness of your heart and now they have become a problem.

I am lucky enough to have separate areas for my horses and goats, but that is not an option for everyone. I do have one that I am sure would attack a goat, not because she is mean, but because she is curious and wants to play. When she was younger and I still had her boarded out, the barn owner told me one day they had a hard time getting her in to the barn for the night because she was out chasing wild birds in the pasture, lol. Didn't catch any, but it was clearly a game. And when our neighbor's dog kept getting into the horse field (chased them through the fence twice, urgh!), I'm pretty sure she's the one that finally convinced him it was not a fun game anymore. So, in some ways, her chasing worked out for us.

Good luck!!!

I don't think there ARE killer auctions in the U.S. any more.

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Alice
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"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

Yes there are, New Holland for one. They just ship them over to Mexico now since the US slaughter houses are closed.