Horses and sheep

Depends on the horses. Most are alright but some will chase them to exhaustion. Friend's Shetland was one and I don't much trust my current pony.
 
Ours do and always have, but there are some horses who hurt sheep, i believe.
We had a very sensible cob mare who was friends with our first three sheep and when only one was left she lived with her in the stable and they hung out together in the field. She then took care of the next three ewe lambs and made sure new horses knew that the sheep were under her protection. One of the ewes decided a youngish mare needed a lesson in manners and we heard the bang from the yard as the sheep head butted the mare, who simply looked confused. We do make sure that the sheep have access to areas of the field that the horses can't get into.
 
My Shetland lost her field mate last year and is now part of our flock.
I wouldn’t ever turn out my bigger ones with our sheep though. Although one grew up with them in his field as a foal (at the breeders), it’s just too risky in my eyes
 
My friend has sheep with her horses with no problems, but one of mine has killed two sheep, by attacking them with his front legs, so my sheep are kept separate!
 
One of mine has grazed on the open forest so seen allsorts. The other may see them as playmates. It was just a thought whilst poo picking this evening. I love sheep but would want to make sure that I had the correct set up/facilities first.
 
We have two that take absolutely no notice and two who would kill them chasing, and striking out at. Have to separate ours, was really shocked and upset when I saw the attack. Luckily the sheep were ok. Both ponies involved are normally, the sweetest natured ponies, couldn't believe it.
 
Mine are kept seperate. The donkeys have been the worst for chasing the sheep, who get far too hot when in full fleece. A friends donkey would pick her sheep up by the ear and swing them around. When she found the first earless sheep she thought that a dog had been at them, until she saw her donkey doing it while she was poo picking.
 
YO often sticks sheep in my field, much to my dismay🤣 my issue is they have no respect for the electric fencing, even when it’s on unless they’re freshly sheared they just pull it down.

lily is horrible to other horses, but she’s fine with the sheep, will chase them off her hay pile though🤣

diva also ignores them for the most part, i’ve seen her chase them maybe twice if they’re already running round but only for 30 seconds or so. i do feel bad for the poor things when she does, it’s usually the lame ones that get dumped in my field and they really don’t need diva wanting to play with them🙈

other than crusty sheep poo getting stuck in the horses manes and their insistence on pulling the fencing down they’re fine, i was very concerned that lily would chase/hurt them because she’s so nasty to other horses but she’s really not interested in them
 
I'm getting some sheep this year

I have 17hh+ horses and very boisterous youngsters so sheep will be separate/ next to the horses.
I would pop them in with some escape routes, however my Welsh D will sniff out any perceived weakness/gap in the fencing so not worth the bother!
 
Years ago I used to have some pet sheep with no issues in with the donkeys.
However, we have had sheep killed by friends pony and after a certain flock came for summer grazing one donkey did suffer from liver fluke, extremely poorly for a while, our vet liaised with the specialist donkey sanctuary vets. So now very cautious what sheep go where.
 
When I bought my previous mare I was advised not to put her in with sheep as she would kill them. She was born and grew up on a sheep farm ….

One of my current horses is terrified of sheep but I do see big advantages of running them through the field that the horses have just come off.
 
canteron said:
It’s like anything else, introduce them to each other gently (adjoining fields for a while) and you should be ok.
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Didn't work for us🫣. We had four horses on a 7 acre field with 4 sheep. Introduced slowly, i thought all was going to be OK. All looked tranquil, then all hell broke loose out of the blue.
 
I have sheep and horses... My mare liked to round the sheep up, so I separated them because the sheep were mighty annoyed at being herded up constantly! New boy is freaked out by them, fine if they are far away, but if they come up to the fence to say hi, he visibly cringes away. It's handier having them separate for me as the sheep pre graze the paddock before the horses go in. Also, not one of mine, but a friend did have a sheep killer, as in he would chase them down and pummel them to death with his front legs
 
I had a big ex race horse who used to find it amusing to pick up smaller sheep and throw them. They had to be moved and he was very sad about it
 
I've had some horses who I am sure would be just fine with sheep.

I've had others who I think would make short work of one...
 
I have run sheep and horses together for over 30 years now. One mare did pick up a lamb by it's ear but only once. My former stallion for some reason took a violent dislike to one ewe on one occasion and I had to rescue her. Another time it was my Wiltshire tup who was a big arrogant alpha male that was targeted. I suspect his hormones were making him a bit bolshy with the stallion. Had to rescue him too. Stallion was picking him up by the shoulders. Those were the only problems I have had though. Ponies are currently grazing with 33 sheep.
 
I’ve kept horses and sheep together. We used electric tape to make sure the sheep could get away from the horses if needed, and we fed the sheep there so the horses couldn’t get at their feed (and they had their own hay in winter). It’s always worked well for us.

One farm I kept horses at had boggy land, so we tested for liver fluke in the horses. Never had to treat them for it but we were aware.
 
Depends how they’re first introduced
I would introduce slow and give out to a horse for trying anything with a sheep
My last tb tried to chase a calf first time he met one. Gave out to him and he didn’t try again but I kept an eye those first few weeks
 
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