Keeping horses with goats

[Pidge]

My horse has allways been with goats and my friend keeps hers with goats too...only issue is feeding... if your horse is usually calm but has the potential to be a hot head then make sure you pen up the goats when feeding...

When I fed one day I didnt lock up the goats because they were on the other side of the pasture....when they realized the horses were eating they came running an got in the buckets... I grabbed a whip to shoo them off but my horse beat me to it... he grabbed one goat by the shoulders and litteraly tossed him six foot up in the air...

Other then this one incident they have always lived perfect together! Just keep up seperate at dinner time! Lol

[sillybunny11486]

Goats are great with horses. We have sheep and llamas as well. Just becareful some goats really like to eat tails! And they are good at escaping.

[BaliDoll]

I think it depends on the horses, too. Our stallion is in a pen with alpacas and has never hurt them... not many stallions you could do that with! :) He's amazing!

[janxaee]

I have 9 pygmy goats and 1 fainting....They have been with my mini, QH, and pony and everyone did fine. You do have to separate when feeding...I would suggest maybe putting them in a separate pasture or stall while feeding to make life easy...I'm lucky now that I only have my 1 mini at home who is a blimp and doesn't need grain. They eat the same hay. They are excellent weed eaters--but be careful of poisonous plants AND flowers or trees....they eat EVERYTHING!! We have a high fence to keep deer in on our deer farm, and I always have to check the fencing to make sure none of my goats are stuyck in it (I do not de-horn). Also, goats can be tricky to keep in a not-so-secure pasture....I have wooden post and rail fencing with hog pannel all the way around plus electric wire around the bottom to keep them from pushing underneath....haven't lost any so far!! Good luck...goats are TONS of fun!! I have 3 new mothers ready to give birth any day now! Love this time of the year!!

Edited to add: Becareful...maybekeep a tail bag on any horse's tails you don't want eaten! My mini looks like a toddler took a pair of scissors to his! Ick!

[jen]

I also have 2 goats with my ponies, and agree that you MUST separate them at feeding time. Our mare wll grab the goat by her scruff and throw her in the air if she tries to take her food. The other goat is a tail chewer, cropped all tails to stumps over 2 days, so he is not running free with the ponies now. Pity, because they run together as one happy herd. Our female goat prefers the ponies to her goat friend, and would like to be with them all the time.

[Tyler]

I keep my six nubians with my horse 24/7/365. I must warn you that the goats may eat the horse's tail, so you'll have to counteract that (one way, I've heard, is by putting Tabasco sauce on the horse's tail...). :roll: Also, the goats and horses will most likely become inseparable.

[whiskeynoo]

We had a billy goat that we thought would make a good companion for our mini, he was really rough and kept head butting her so they had to get separated. I dunno if a nanny would of been a better choice