Coyotes and horses?

If this isn't in the right place please move it but I'm not sure where to ask. My neighbor just told me that he found one of his cows tangled in his bob wire, partially eaten by coyotes. This happened a couple weeks ago and he buried what was left of the cow but they're digging it back up. He said he thought they drove it into the wire on purpose. I know there are coyotes around but I didn't think they hunted in packs, or that a lone one would go after something the size of a cow. For anyone who has any practical experience of coyotes, do they hunt in packs and would they try to bring down a horse?

We live in an area with coyotes and in the 13 years that I've had horses(and goats) i've never seen one, our horses are out 24/7, maybe the cow got tangled in the fence somehow and the coyote smelled the blood and took advantage of the fact that it was trapped, I can't really see one going after a healthy cow or horse, but I can't really say for sure, I mean I guess if one was hungry enough it might try

Yep, they hunt in packs. With a ton of acreage behind our barn, we get coyotes all the time. Last week we heard a pack take down a dog near us. Tried to scare it away with no luck. We've never had any run-ins with the horses, though, and for that I'm grateful.

There was a horse in Rhode Island that was recently killed by coyotes. Not sure if it was one or several. The thing with this horse was that it was outside in a small paddock, so not really any room to escape. I would think that in a larger paddock, it would not be a big concern since there is so much room to escape.

I ve seen coyotes running in packs so I imagine they hunt in packs but I've never heard of them being a danger to horses except perhaps to newborns, But even that is doubtful.

We have coyotes round here and our horses are very curious about them but not really afraid.

We had a pack of coyotes kill a foal here about 20 years ago. Since then, we have not let any mares foal very far from the house. They have killed all of our chickens, ducks and geese and we tried to keep them several times.

They kill calves every year around here but are harder on sheep and goats. A lot of stockmen keep guard dogs or guard donkeys out with their stock.

Husband and son shoot several a year around here. Husband dropped one a few weeks ago. He was huge and had dog teeth that were 2 inches long. He has a 22.250 with a 12X scope. It gets them at a 1/4 mile.

Coyotes always hunt in packs when it comes to large animals (and a calf would be large to them). Atleast 2. It could be that the calf just got stuck in the wire & they came along & saw it as easy pickins or else they could have pushed him into it.
Coyotes are extremely cowardly & so they tend to "torture" or terrorize their prey. They put it in a corner & take turns darting in and out at the animal, wearing it down with exhaustion before one will finally finish it off.

They also like to lure dogs out to be eaten by the pack. This actually happened to my uncle's chiawawah (spl?) who was a little too cocky for his own good & thought he was a rottweiler.

I've never heard of anyone in my area having an issue with coyotes & horses though& I believe the only ones that would be in risk would be young foals. Wolves wont necessaily even take down a fullgrown horse unless they're incredible starved.

My aunt's hubby actually purchased 2 Akbash dogs to keep on their property (they bred Paints) & keep the coyotes away. These dogs are specificall bred to guard livestock from coyotes & if you have more than one they will actually hunt coyotes. My aunt's took off for the trees everytime they heard the 'yotes howlin.

People here use Pyrenees dogs and I think the other ones are called Anatollian Shepards. They will go after coyotes and strange dogs. The donkeys do a pretty good job, too.

I think it's odd to call Coyotes "cowardly" That is really anthropomorhizing an animal. They do what they do in order to make a kill. No bravery or cowardice involved. I suppose the reason they work that way is that they are relatively light boned and to try to take on the animal before it is worn down would risk injury to themselves. It may look like premeditated cruelty or cowardice to us, but only humans have that sort of moral judgement.