# Horses and Cattle?



## rabbitpatch

I know some horses cannot be pastured with cattle due to the horses chasing the cattle. Does any one else here pasture their horses with cattle successfully? Does the type of cattle make a difference? What about horned cattle?

I won't be moving my horses any time soon, but I have a friend who lives MUCH closer to me than where I currently board my horses, so I have been thinking over all of the pro's and con's of moving them there. They have a small herd of dexter cattle and they all have horns but they don't seem to be overly aggressive. But then again, I'm not very familiar with cattle behavior and I have no idea how aggressive (or defensive) they might get when they're off by themselves in the pasture. How dangerous might it be for my horses if they were pastured with these cattle?


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## beccachow

They are all herd animals. My neighbor had two ex-racehorses they kept in the pasture with a herd of cattle, they all did great. Now another neighbor down the road has her horses kept in with cattle, they do great as well.

BUT BUT BUT....PLEASE be careful with mineral blocks and such. We accidentally bought a mineral block that was livestock oriented, but NOT specific to horses...talk a bout a sick horse....he ate nearly the wholel block since it was super soft...I won't get into the poop aspect of it all, lol.

As long as you are cognizant of different needs of the animals, all should be well. I have been doing the unthinkable with one sheep in a herd of goats...and they are all flourishing. Well, cept the sheep eats the grass WAY short...I can see how the cattle/sheep wars started .


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## wr

Back when I rode a dinosaur to ag college, we were always taught that the main reason it's not recommended to pasture horses and cattle together is simply because of the way each species grazes. Horses bite grass and can literally crop your grass too short for a cow to eat so if you're pasturing both species in a small area, it probably isn't a great idea. 

If you're thinking of pasturing bred cows or pairs, it can work well or end very poorly, depending on how your horses behave with calves. Some will run calves literally to death and others are completely disinterested. 

In response to your horn question, I really never had any problems when I did have my longhorns and highlands with the horses when I did need to keep them together but again, the tighter the space, the greater chance of of a problem.


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## rabbitpatch

I'm not terribly concerned about my horses chasing the cattle or calves. My quarter horse would rather stand still and rot than to move around for something other than food. That's one reason I like keeping him pastured all the time, and especially somewhere with hills. Give the fat boy a workout to get TO his food and he stays in better shape! LOL My younger horse isn't quite as lazy, but he also isn't aggressive and pretty much just goes with the flow. 

I guess my main concern really is the horns. The horses sometimes squabble over who gets the best bite of hay or who gets a drink first but it's never anything scary. The worst I've seen them do is my young horse and the one owned by the lady I board with (who is a young horse too) sometimes bite at a flank or something. While I'd rather not have to obviously, I can deal with minor wounds like a bite or a kick. I don't want to have to worry about a horn in the belly though, ya know? I just don't know if I'm paranoid and just being a over protective horse mom....or if it's a real danger that I should consider.


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## wr

Horned cattle are very aware of their horns and if once you have the opportunity to see how they can maneuver them or even scratch a spot in the middle of their back with the tip, you will understand that there is no such thing as an accidental goring. 

Horned cattle offer plenty of warning before they use their horns and most issues are resolved by simply assuming the position and shaking them and the only time mine have every actually gored anything was when dogs/coyotes bothered calves but it also depends on how quiet your cattle are.


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## bergere

wr said:


> Back when I rode a dinosaur to ag college, we were always taught that the main reason it's not.



I bet that was a sight and everyone got out of your way!  LOL


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## copperhead46

I keep 3 horses, 1 donkey and 12 Dexter cows together and the only problem is one mare that likes to run the cows away from the round bale feeder. The cows just wait for her to leave then eat there fill. She never harrasses them but will make them get out of her way. It just depends on the horses, some will chase cows and some won't, only time will tell.


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## freeholdfarms

Our Morgans and Dexters do fine together, and the goats. Pretty much ignore each other.


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## ErinP

We currently have our cattle and horses together (only three of each at the moment). But we're planning to graze them so that the cattle are one or two pens ahead of the horses and have first dibs on grass.

We also don't have a horse at the moment who harasses calves. (DH old cow pony that died a year ago was really bad about it.) But we have a coming 2 year old whose favorite game is to get herself all hopped up, then go tearing through the middle of the heifers to watch them scatter.


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## spinandslide

I prefer not too..my horses are all bred to be "cowy"..Ive watched them harass the cattle thru the fence...I dont my horses hurt and I dont want my cattle ran senseless.


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## wr

spinandslide, the only time we would have the two together would be during hard winters simply because of the logistics of windbreak and water. I do find that when the snow is knee deep and temps drop, ranch horses seem to lose interest in working cattle.


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## ErinP

spinandslide said:


> I prefer not too..my horses are all bred to be "cowy"..Ive watched them harass the cattle thru the fence...I dont my horses hurt and I dont want my cattle ran senseless.


Ours have all been working ranch horses, but for whatever reason, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll harass cattle when they're on their own. :shrug:


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## Rogo

Many of the ranches have cattle and horses pastured together on a lot of land. Some even have a few zebra in the mix.

I free choice feed food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) -- 28 trace minerals -- so no problem feeding all species the same minerals.

With cattle, I've only had a herd of one! A Dexter I rode and drove. 

All my stock of various species roam free within the perimeter fence and I haven't had any problems.

I live in a free range state, so any time you're out riding you can run into cattle. A friend's horse was scared to death of cattle. I did a lot of riding my steer around that horse until she was comfortable with cattle.


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## oregon woodsmok

I could never have my horses in with the cattle, because they would work the cattle endlessly, moving them around, turning them on the fence, cutting if they could. Not only did the cows get a lot of exercise, the horses were more interested in moving cattle than they were in eating.

My horses never had any problem with controlling horned cattle. I doubt that the horns are going to give the cattle any protection.

My horses would stand on the other side of the fence and jink back and forth in response to the cattle's movement and try to snake them into moving. The cows stayed far away from the fence.


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## spinandslide

wr said:


> spinandslide, the only time we would have the two together would be during hard winters simply because of the logistics of windbreak and water. I do find that when the snow is knee deep and temps drop, ranch horses seem to lose interest in working cattle.


I can understand the logistics there..thankfully, we dont get that cold or that amount of snow normally..so I can keep them seperate. There is an old gimpy mare I have who probably wouldnt bother them..as she is lame..but Id worry about the rest..



ErinP said:


> Ours have all been working ranch horses, but for whatever reason, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll harass cattle when they're on their own. :shrug:


no, not ALL horses will..but I know mine would. I watched one horse we had run my goats ENDLESSLY..Ive watched them snake their heads and pin their ears if the cattle get to to close to the fenceline..my one mare makes a beeline for any cow on the fence..I even caught it with my camera once..
Being a working ranch horse doesnt automaticly mean the horse will chase cattle when loose with them..many working ranch horses arent "cowy" to the extent like say a show cutter or reined cowhorse would be...and most working ranch horses are tired from a full days work to mess with anything when they are put up. LOL



oregon woodsmok said:


> I could never have my horses in with the cattle, because they would work the cattle endlessly, moving them around, turning them on the fence, cutting if they could. Not only did the cows get a lot of exercise, the horses were more interested in moving cattle than they were in eating.
> 
> My horses never had any problem with controlling horned cattle. I doubt that the horns are going to give the cattle any protection.
> 
> My horses would stand on the other side of the fence and jink back and forth in response to the cattle's movement and try to snake them into moving. The cows stayed far away from the fence.



as I said above, mine do the same thing.

I think its great if you can keep them together..but I personally cannnot.


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## MrsSurplus

We have cattle (some Longhorn) and horses. Generally we don't pasture ours together - in part because the cattle are in the big pasture furthest from the house and we need the horses more often so they're in closer. I think if the pasture is big enough you shouldn't have any problems. As others have said, you may have a horse that's particularly cowy and may want to pester cows, but I don't think that's all that common. (We use our horses to work our cattle but they don't bother them when they're "off duty.") I would be sure to feed in several piles so that everyone has access to hay. While our horses don't bother our cattle, they will drive them away from feed if there's not enough piles for everyone. (To me they just seem to treat the cattle like they would a horse lower down in the pecking order.)


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## ErinP

MrsSurplus said:


> While our horses don't bother our cattle, they will drive them away from feed if there's not enough piles for everyone. (To me they just seem to treat the cattle like they would a horse lower down in the pecking order.)


yep, that's been my observation, too.


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## wintrrwolf

My landlord keeps his stud a leopard appy and another horse in with his cows this is on about 20 acres. No problems I have watched them all share the rounds when he puts them out. NOW there is a 5 acres section that some of the calves go into but it is wired to keep out the cows, this is where I just recently put Snick into, she has never been around cows before, first day she was dancing and playing, she did a little chasing but the calves went to the other side, she did move the calves off the round the first day, come morning she was sharing the round with the calves, and when she would get a flea up her butt and start galloping around the calves just went to the other side.
This ended up being a good lesson for her, for me, and for the calves. But I also monitored the situation for several hours, just as you would with a child and new puppy.


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## fordson major

the horses on the farm live with 5 dexters, the horses run the roost!! my first horses did not live with the cows as they were supposed to work the cows!! (before the time of 4 wheelers!!)


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## fordson major

wr said:


> spinandslide, the only time we would have the two together would be during hard winters simply because of the logistics of windbreak and water. I do find that when the snow is knee deep and temps drop, ranch horses seem to lose interest in working cattle.



one of mine kept at it no matter what the weather!! sure miss my screwball (skewbald) bingo!:awh: bubbles was raised with Angus and preferred their company to that of other equines!! (cept bing!)


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## spinandslide

Im just going to say..Im glad many people can keep their cattle with their horses..I encourage anyone reading this who is considering it to simply tread lightly and observe them together before walking up to the house for the night. I had a horse that would chase ANYTHING in his pen with him..dog, goat, cow..he was a ---- fine cowhorse..but couldnt be kept with other animals or he would chase them..CONSTANTLY. I dont want cows being run and I dont want an injured horse.


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## wr

I strongly agree with spinandslide and the best way to handle the situation is expect the worst and hope for the best but make introductions as you would anything else and keep a close eye on the situation for a while.


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