Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I finally decided to chance the divorce and took home a couple of nice big Leiscester-cross woolies from a friend's farm (he knows about it!). I expected this, and it is improving, but do non-sheep exposed horses generally get over the fright having to live near sheep? They aren't sharing quarters, but can see each other freely, and I am now housing them in the barn kind of in their faces to help the process. Any suggestions, affirmations that it will be okay would help. The husband is getting over it at about the same rate as the horses, which he had exposure problems with as well, but now he's on THEIR side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Debbie - I don't know what it is about sheep, particularly the "big, fluffy" ones but our two Thoroughbreds are terrified of them. We ride past a couple of places with sheep. The one flock, which is a group that belongs to a hand-spinner and are heavily-wooled, just puts both horses into dead-stop, won't move, "I want to go home now" mode. The other flock of sheep, which are smaller in general and less-wooly, provide hardly any reaction after the horses have seen them once or twice, even when they get in the road and run away from the horses. I do think that, with some time, the horses will get over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 We have a horse that lives with our sheep. He moved in with them when his companion died. He was kept next to them for about a month before he moved in with them. We did have a lamb get kicked at first, but no problems after that. Red had been pining for Bonita, so that is probably part of the reson that he took to the sheep. He watches over them now, and doesn't like to seperated from them. In fact, the fist black lamb that we had in our flock was terrorized until he was two months old by Red who must have thought the lamb was a intruder. Subsequent black sheep/lambs have had no trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgt Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I've had a couple of horses living on and off with our 40 or so sheep for quite a while. No problems from the horses' point of view, I think. I've had one ewe get a broken collar bone from a kick. Once a horse stepped on a lamb, which made me rethink the wisdom of my arrangement. (The horse let up on the pressure as soon as the lamb went down and no harm was done, which is kind of surprising when you think about it.) And the horses will sometimes pick the sheep up with their teeth and toss them out of the way when there is some good food to be had and the sheep are crowding in, but generally it seems ok. Having said that, I have seen horses who have gotten very spooked by sheep that arrived without warning (that's another story) so you may have to keep an eye on things for a little while. charlie torre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBP Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 It took my horses one week to get used to the sheep. The sheep are in a large pen in the horse pasture so they were able to watch each other all day without having to be "in each other's space". Then when I turned the sheep out to work my dog, my horses handled it fine--continued grazing. These horses work cows regularly so were used to some stock prior to the sheep's arrival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Debatable Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Nothing like riding a spooky horse up a high-desert wash, in the fog, and having some of the "boulders" transform themselves into range ewes. Hi Yo, Silver! Horses do get used to sheep, and will chase them with evil intent if sheep somehow get into the horse corrals. Adding a dog to that mix may not be the best idea, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 I would be careful mixing the two. I'm sure it can work, but it can also have disastrous results. The fellow who delivered a couple of sheep to me yesterday evening said they had to separate their horses from the sheep because the horses were chasing and harrassing the sheep. One of my border cheviots was given to me after she was apparently stomped by a mare to the point of having either a broken pelvis or hip. She had to be removed from the mare's paddock (it seemed she had been chased there by a loose dog) in a wheelbarrow and dragged herself around with her front legs for weeks. She is now walking again and seems to be completely healed but was given to me a few months ago because her owner didn't want to risk her being bred, in case of nonevident internal injuries/scarring. Then again, folks use donkeys as guardians, so apparently not all horse (or similar animal) and sheep interactions are risky. But if you are keeping horses with sheep, best to keep a close eye on things. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hastyreply Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 One of myhorses will chase the sheep till they are out of the pasture. It's like she thinks she's a border collie. She'll get upset seeing the out grazing in the yard. I have friend whose sheep run with her horses and they sheep will go hide under the horses. Can make it tricky for the dogs to bring the sheep in because they have to manuver them out from under and away from the horses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke Posted August 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Good info, my intent is not to mix them. They are adapting to each other from their spaces. Ha! I wish Clinton Anderson would use a sheep or two in his videos! Now THAT would be desensitization! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 I don't pasture the horses continuously with the sheep, but they do graze together from time to time without problems. Every so often, if we don't keep a close eye, Gren will try to pack 70 sheep in our 3 stall horse barn while we're mucking out - they, thankfully, take this all in stride too. We also move the sheep on horseback, without problems. Probably took about 1 week for the horses to "get used to" the sheep - we simply pastured them side-by-side. Our horses were used to deer when we got them (could this help?). Don't know what would happen if they were penned together and the horses got bored, though. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 I was looking through a box of junk today and found this picture. The horse in the photo is "Lady", our nosey horse - she'll check anything out. I think the expressions on the sheeps' faces are priceless. The ewe in front is a former bottle lamb and the unshorn sheep (also in front) are that year's lambs that I kept as replacements. Boy, wish my grass looked like that this year! Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke Posted August 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 I wish I had a picture of the barn cat/sheep stand-off we had last night. The sheep looked at the B/W cat (a "Border Cat") and decided it might be a problem, the cat has been giving the sheep the tail-puff posture all week. Priceless...the sheep stomped the cat off, so I guess I have a weak Border Cat, or these sheep are tough. Wonder if I can get the cat to learn a grip. Great picture...don't you just love pictures of grasses of days gone by? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailrider Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 My horses pastured with the sheep and in the barn also. No problem. The sheep(150) followed the horses in the pasture. The last horse died two years ago(age 34), and since then I`ve lost sheep(2 legged coyotes I think). I think it really depends on the horses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted August 7, 2005 Report Share Posted August 7, 2005 Debbie, You should've seen my lambs the first time they met my bantam hens. Talk about a hilarious reaction! At Susan's trial I was standing at the exhaust waiting the exhaust the next run. There were four horses in the pasture next to the exhaust. They slowly worked their way over toward the sheep, egging each other on to walk up and check those odd critters out. Finally one got close enough to put its nose up to the sheep. The sheep jumped a bit, and the horses took off, tails flying! It was pretty humorous to watch. You could almost see the horses saying to each other, "I'm not going any closer. YOU go!" J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke Posted August 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Hey, it is official. It takes one week. Now, if I add a black one, didn't somebody say it takes time to get over that too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 All I can say is don't do it at dusk. I bought a black Corriedale ram and tried to introduce him to my (then) all white flock late in the day. He was running around obviously thinking "girls, girls, girls." The "girls", on the other hand, were scattering over and through my electonet fence away from the biggest "border collie" they'd ever seen! In retrospect it is funny, but that night it was a disaster. Edit: Or did you mean a black horse? Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke Posted August 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Definately a black sheep, although horses can fright themselves over the silliest things. I had a great old hunter-type who could handle anything until he saw a two-wheel thing chasing a little pony real fast around a track at a fun show once. You know how you can feel their hearts pound under you when they get that kind of fright? Scary. He never saw a horse in harness before. I have a Dorper cross ewe at my friends' farm; she's mine whenever I can go get her and have sheep to keep her with, which I do now, but expect that the horses will freak over again at her blackness. Great idea about not doing at dusk. Makes great sense. Another funny anecdote-these sheep never made much noise til they got comfortable, and once they did, sheep noise in a metal sided pole building was another trauma! I love it. Animals make life worth living! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley-dog Posted September 25, 2005 Report Share Posted September 25, 2005 The big 6-horse hitches always frighten the horses at the fun shows, but I think the funniest thing I ever saw the hunters spook at was the spinning reiners. They looked at those horses spinning like tops and thought they were possessed or something. They wouldn't go near them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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