Goats and ponies

[celadon]

I just bought a mini pony for my grandchild. I would like to put him in with the two 5 month old goats that I have. Is this a good or bad idea?

[KimM]

I have goats and miniature horses. I began by letting them get aquainted through a secure fence for a while first. Then I turned them out together during the day, in a large area where the goats could get away from the horses if need be, and watched them interact. I feed them completely separate because horses can get quite nasty at feeding time and may kick and bite the goats if they get near their feeders. Mostly they all get along quite well.

[Cygnet]

The goats may chew the horse's manes and tails. Some do, some don't.

Had a mare with a thick, luxurious tail trimmed within 2" of the ground -- took me years to get it that long. Beautiful grey.

Broke my heart the day my goats got the munchies ...

[Milk n' Honey]

We've had our ponies in with our ADULT goats. I wouldn't put them in with any small kids. When we first put them together, the ponies chased the goats everywhere. We had to move them over to the other side of the fence for a few weeks and then the next time they didn't seem to mind each other at all. If the pony has never been with goats, I'd second the suggestion to put the pony in a neighboring paddock for a few weeks, maybe a month and then introduce them.

[glidergurl03]

We have minis in with our goats most of the year (either fillies that can go out w/ the stud or mommas w/ babies at their side that we wanna work with), and they do well together.

[chamoisee]

I had a mini pony, stallion, about a year old. Very gentle with people, he chased my goats, would hardly let them eat, and just liked giving them a hard time. He bit them! I should have taken him out then, but nooooo..... I had to wait until he killed my most favorite doeling, an extremely special, irreplaceable A.I. breeding. She was my special pet.

I got rid of the jerk and would never let any pony in with my does again. He was OK at first but got progressively worse with time.

[celadon]

Well, I am glad I posted this. I do not think I will put him in with the goats until they get older. My goats are just pets and I would not want them hurt. Thank you all.

[harplade]

I had a small shetland in with my goats. She did fine with them for months until I put a young buck in with them. Don't know if they got into a dispute over whose goats they were but the Shetland bit the end of the tail off of the buck. He's ok but she had to go.

[wooly1s]

I feed them completely separate because horses can get quite nasty at feeding time and may kick and bite the goats if they get near their feeders.

Same experience here...our mini is fine with the goats until it is time to eat, then she kicks and bites...

[Ark]

We have a horse on our 20 acres with our goats, and now that she has been here 4 months, she seems to really enjoy their company. She follows the herd around most of the time.
We do feed her in her own stall because she is food agressive. She used to try to bite the goats if they got too close to her but when we yelled NO she would stop. I have not seen her bite or even lay her ears back at them in a long time. Not sure yet how it's going to work at kidding season though!
We do have some kids right now, but no newborns.

[Tracy in Idaho]

I had a full sized Nubian wether (ie HUGE) in with a horse of mine once, and it seemed to go along fine for months.....

Until the horse killed the wether one day.



Tracy