Heifers and Horses

[mesa123]

My neighboring farmer tells me absolutely no horses together with cattle. He says the horses will run all the weight of the cattle. I have one miniature horse, who is a stallion. I cannot keep him with the other horses because he is intact. He normally stays with the goats. But...just out of curiosity, I put him in with the young heifers.

They all ran around excitedly for about the first five minutes together. Then they stood and faced each other before each going their separate ways. Now they pretty much ignore each other.

Am I making a big mistake keeping them together?

[randiliana]

It all depends on the horse. Some will chase them, some won't. I'd just keep an eye on them, and deal with the situation if it comes up.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

WE used to have a couple horses and had to keep them in their own pasture. They were big bullies, both to the calves and the goats. Any hay or grain, any good pasture plants etc the horses would keep everyone away until they had had their fill, then the other animals would get the leftovers... I dunno about you, I'd rather the growing calves get the good feed and the horses get the leftovers...

[Farm 36]

I would say no to puting horses with cattle .I was traving down the interstate and notice some cattle start to run then looked harder to see why and saw a horse chasing a heifer and they all started to run . A horse when bored will chase cows for something to do but some horses do just fine . My horses are seperate .

[haypoint]

Years ago I had my cattle and horses together, no problem at all. Recently, I put a couple of 600 pound calves into a 25 acre pasture with four horses. The horses wouldn't leave the calves alone, eventually running them through the fence.

[tinknal]

Depends on the horse. Most won't bother a cow but if you get one with strong herd instincts they can be a problem. We once had a well bred QH colt who would do a funny thing. The pasture was in the back of the farm, with a lane to the barnyard. After the cows came up to water, he would cut each cow and individually chase her back down the lane to the pasture. He would do this until he had taken the entire herd back to pasture.

[Cliff]

Originally Posted by RosewoodfarmVA

WE used to have a couple horses and had to keep them in their own pasture. They were big bullies, both to the calves and the goats. Any hay or grain, any good pasture plants etc the horses would keep everyone away until they had had their fill, then the other animals would get the leftovers... I dunno about you, I'd rather the growing calves get the good feed and the horses get the leftovers...

I wouldn't worry about one mini eating all the feed from a cow. If a horse isn't a chaser they just go off on their own and ignore the cow so they'll be eating in two different places anyway.

I have 6 horses with my cattle, they've been there for years. One of them used to occasionally would chase cows for a minute or two but he grew out of it.

[ErinP]

Depends on the horse.
We've had horses that would run cattle when left on their own and horses that would ignore them. Ours are all working cow horses.

You never know...

[SLD Farm]

I would agree. Depends on the horse. I have 3 feeder steers and my horses pretty much ignore them. I do have to feed grain to them separately though.

[MollyK]

I would say that the horse isn't going to run the cattle... most people's concern is that the horse it's the grass down too far where the cows can't eat it... I don't think you have to worry about a miniature being bossy to cows.
I have my TWH stallion with my 13 week Holstein and they LOVE each other. They groom each other.
My stallion use to stay with all the 'big' cows and he never ran them.
I would say if you horse ignores them now then you don't have a problem!

[mesa123]

Originally Posted by SLD Farm

I do have to feed grain to them separately though.

Yes, I've found that if I throw a little grain to the mini first, then he's content and doesn't try to take the heifer's food. If I were to not feed him first, he'd follow me around chasing the heifers out of the way.

[deineria]

I keep our heifer in a field that we rotate our horses in, 1 at a time, and then I also move her to our hill where our other 3 horses are in at one time, and we are talking Arabs, one being a stallion, and all are high strung. They never bother the heifer. They are all very friendly with her.

[tyusclan]

I always read that it was a good idea to rotate horses and cattle in a pasture to help with parasite termination, but that you should never run them together. I pastured mine together for years with no problems that I could see. I had an uncle and a cousin that also kept their horses and cattle together. As long as one (or more) of the horses isn't chasing the cattle, I wouldn't sweat it.

[Oakshire_Farm]

I have always had my cows and horses together! No problems, I have a Shire stallion and his son a QH x Shire gelding, the cows all lived with the boys no problems. They have free access to feed, the only time I ever had a problem was a young jersey bull calf that was a sucker! He would not give up trying to suck everything (he was a bottle baby) he was trying to suck on the horses, they got fed up and he got kicked, I saw it happen The calf was killed instantly. It was hard to watch, but over the years I have had well over 100 other bottle babies in with the horses no problems, it was just the one calf. I saw the cows kicking him constantly, other calves butting him. The horses normally would run away from him but one day the horse had enough and the calf got it

[DJ in WA]

My concern would be when it's time to eat the horse, he might weigh less after chasing the cattle.

Or maybe you can find some other use for a miniature horse.

[mesa123]

Originally Posted by DJ in WA

My concern would be when it's time to eat the horse, he might weigh less after chasing the cattle.

Or maybe you can find some other use for a miniature horse.

Hahaha...If only I knew what I was supposed to do with a miniature horse. He was only supposed to be at our place for the summer as a teaser back when I was breeding horses. But, his owner died and he never went back home. I'm glad I'm able to take care of him, but still...what in the world are these minis for?

[ErinP]

Beats me!
We've had ours for 8 years and he serves no purpose beyond looking cute and being obnoxious.

Hadn't even thought of eating him.
Being a pony, he's always ready, right there at slaughter weight...

[mesa123]

Originally Posted by ErinP

looking cute and being obnoxious.

you hit that nail on the head!