Moving to pasture

[the mama]

I have 3 goats; 2 large young bred does and one nigerian dwarf doe with horns and attitude. I need to move them into a 20 acre pasture already inhabited by 5 horses. I teathered them to the fence for 2 days. Then I have put the youngest large doe in the pasture as she will not range far from her mother. Now I am watching to see how the horses will react. They have seen and smelled the goats over the fence for 2 days with no problems. I will cross fence the 2 acres for the goats in March ( income tax return money). Also I bring the goats out at night to a 10 x25 pen with roof for security. Any ideas/thoughts about how to proceed? Only the oldest doe is being milked 2x daily.

[DocM]

My goats have socialized with my horses for years. In the summer, I graze my sheep, horses, and goats together. The only thing I'd worry about is that typically, a fence that will keep a horse in won't keep a goat in - and you have 20 acres. My "goat proof" fence is only about 5 acres. The sheep can be turned out with the horses in the pasture without secure fence, and won't stray from the horses, but the goats will typically stay around with them for a few minutes and then start looking to see how green the grass is on "the other side". They aren't herd bound to the other animals at all. The other thing is that the mineral blocks I leave out for the horses and sheep don't contain enough copper for the goats, so they are supplemented in their own pen.

[HappyFarmer]

Ours get along fine except at feeding time. If you could feed them seperately it would be best. I've seen a horse grab a goat by the back & fling them because of food. Keep a close eye on the horses. It really depends on each individual animal.

[the mama]

Problem solved. I put the goats into the pasture and they promtly went under/over/thru the fence and back into the yard to eat my purposeful plants. I have a round pen for horses but they will probably go under it.