Mixing Sheep and Horses???

[pennypots]

The land owner where I keep my two horses, is talking of getting sheep this spring and putting them on the same fields as I have my horses. I get along really well with the land owner. I do not envisage any problems with this idea, but I may not of thought of every eventuality. Last year he had two sheep in an adjacent field, and my horses didn't worry about them, but this year he is talking of letting the sheep free range more which will mean them having access to the areas that I now graze. I know that sheep can be beneficial to the land, but I have a problem with getting grass to grow because we are very sandy soil backing onto sand dunes.
I would be grateful for any comments.

 

[Bay_Beasty]

I dunno if this will help you but the only experience I have or sheep was when we used them at the yard i used to work at to graze down the jumping paddock. About 30 sheep were in there for about 2 weeks. It went a bit brown (the grass) and was cropped rather short but within 1 week of them being moved off it grew back really nicely, no clumps or little hillock (great for jumping in) and so really did the trick! but dont know what would of happened without the rest!

 

[skye_and_i]

sheep can be very benifiacal to land grazed by horses and can also help clear up potenial worm probs and there ickle feet help tread in the ground ect but there will def be a problem with them competing for the same grass in tough times.

 

[samstar]

mine will be out with sheep in the summer and they will get on fine, friends cob will just move them on if they get to close.

 

[legaldancer]

I believe they're very good bio-hoovers. Good for breaking worm cycles & should help with weed infested pasture. Never seen Ragwort in a sheep field.

A friend had a single sheep with her pony & they became quite friendly.

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

The farm where we keep our horses is also a sheep farm. Sheep like to eat short grass where as horses prefer long - also as some one else has said they help with the whole worm cycle (our horses have an annual worm count done and have all had a zero worm count for years now) the horses pretty much ignore them unless they get to close to their feed/hay when they will move them on. My cob is on restricted grazing from early spring to autumn and will not let them in her paddock! The downside is that your horses will roll in sheep poo and sheep will sometimes pull out the stakes for electric fencing when they rub against it.

 

[Rollin]

I kept pet sheep with my horses when in the UK. The climate in this part of France is not ideal however. I loved my baa lambs and they were very good for the pasture as horses are selective grazers.

My only questiion is how many sheep and for how long? If you want year round turn-out you don't want too much competition. Otherwise it is a good plan.

 

[hannah87]

the only problem i have found is ticks!
when ours went out with sheep they started coming in covered in ticks which had never happened before!
may have been unrelated but its the only time it happened.

 

[flyingfeet]

I borrowed 12 rams lsat summer to try and keep out grass down

Upside: lovely evenly grazed grass and less topping required

Downside: Terriers got addicted to sheep poo and did foul farts

The youngsters and one of my olders ones loved chasing them about, so the sheep did develop a horse phobia. However was quite handy when you wanted to move them.

Otherwise yes sheep poo is icky and will get on your boots.

Also on a side note, do note teach rams to eat polos otherwise they will swarm around anyone who walks in the field!!

 

[Rosehip]

We're sheep farmers, and I keep Melly in with the sheep.
She is actually really selective about poo etc and seems to keep the sheep away from her sleep space so she doesnt lie in poo!
The sheep will eat down ragwort and other weeds as they arent affected like horses are, so Ragwort wont grow where the land is well grazed. They keep the sward even and well tended, and their muck is a brill fertiliser. The worm benefits are the brill too...Going to have melly counted and Im hoping that she will have a pretty low or even zero score.
Only prob I find is that tups will chew tails if the horse lets them....my 1st pony came to be with hardly any tail because of the tups having a good chomp! x

 

[Honeypots]

OUrs horses are out with a large herd of sheep in the summer. No problems at all except sheep poo gets everywjhere and is very slippery...yuk!!

 

[Passtheshampoo]

Our youngster can be a bit of a loon near the sheep when the other horse won't play with her. The sheep know to keep out of her way now but we do separate them near to lambing time and whilst the lambs are young. Did find a problem last winter when I fed the horses hard feed out in the field as some of the cheekier sheep would eat from the horses bucket. My numpty youngster would actually let them eat her dinner (perhaps that's why she chases them around now). The other mare would aim kicks at them and it did worry me that the sheep might get injured.

 

[milliepops]

[ QUOTE ]

Downside: Terriers got addicted to sheep poo and did foul farts


[/ QUOTE ]

Lol

We also have sheep out with our horses, pretty much all year round. They do a nice job on the grass and worm burden - we've never poo picked and my girl always has a 'negative' worm count (we do still worm for encysted redworm and tapeworm just in case). They can roam all over the grazing because we only have electric fencing, with 'sheep height' bottom strands. As others have said, their tiny feet are also useful for leveling out poached ground and also the sand school!!

The only problem I have is that my girl likes to chase them, which is OK until lambing time - not so good then

 

[martlin]

We have sheep grazing together with horses, the only little problem is if you want to put paddock buckets or any other type of supplement lick for horses out, they contain copper which is harmful to sheep.

 

[Hels_Bells]

My OH got drowned in sheep one evening when he kindly offered to retrieve my boys for me! They saw the bucket and he stood no chance!

On a serious note I live on a sheep farm and have had my horses out with sheep for 20 years and never a problem (except the sheep poo can make horses feet a bit smelly sometimes but does no harm).

However there is another lady who has a lot of unbroken, seldom handled (and very bad mannered) horses in a nearby field. Her hooligans caused 3 deaths earlier in the year. I'm sure your horses won't be such thugs in which case they'll be fine!!! but it is one other "eventuality"!

 

[Cahill]

do not pat the sheep on the head(it`s a butting sign.lol)

we have had sheep before with no problem.
i do not like sheep wire though with horses

 

[Chex]

I've not had any problems with sheep, except they drain the water buckets as soon as they're filled (they have access to a river!), mob me if I take a bucket in and mean I can't leave certain licks in the field. But they keep the grass down so are sort of useful.

 

[nicnag]

We keep sheep with our horses, cleans up worm burdens in fields. This is the only problem we tend to get!

 

[Ingramah]

We keep ours with sheep too. We've had a couple who masqueraded as sheepdogs for a while but they soon tired of that game. Was a bit worrying at the time as they picked on my brother-in-law's precious Texel lambs but no disasters in the end.

Great for keeping down weeds such as docks and ragwort. Tried separating them during the summer last year and it was noticeable that the field looked more tired at the end of the season. Lots of hummocks of grass and the buttercups seemed to have taken more of a hold.

We are trying to adopt a more organic crop rotation at the moment and the sheep are second to none on the fertiliser front.

Ticks haven't been a major problem for me, in fact, get more problems when the deer are down from the forest.

Would second the comment about buckets of horse supplements ad lib in the field - some can be fatal for sheep.

PS Also tried cattle as grazing companions and you don't want to go there on the poop front! Sheep poops are a doddle in comparison.

 

[Aru]

Some horses bully sheep chase etc so not a good idea with pregnant ewes and lambs..ie iv heard of a gelding that was seen pick up lambs and throw them!!but if they seem to get along it should be ok...also just watch where you leave you licks for the horses as copper can accumulate and be toxic to sheep esp breed like sufffock..

 

[pennypots]

Many thanks to you all for your response to my initial thread. I guess i shouldn't have too much of a problem. My main concern was that they get along together. I beleive there are possibly only going to be about 6 sheep and they will only be there for the summer, so i don't think the poo issue will be of too much concern. I am not sure at the moment if my two girls will even be in with the sheep, as one is in foal at present and i may end up putting mare and foal in another field. Will have to play the whole thing by ear at the time. But at least sheep and horses are not enemies. Now pigs could be a different story i guess???

 

[clipclop]

Mine live with Sheep, Cows, chickens (Share their feed with chickens) and also share their field with pigs although the pigs are in a pig pen.

If you don't make an issue out of it, they won't.

 

[Tharg]

If I ever have land of my own I would love to keep sheep with horses.

 

[hussar]

The land I rent is also rented to a farmer for grazing (landowner on a nice little earner but let's not go there!). The farmer usually puts sheep into the fields which do a wonderful job for the quality of the pasture (we have virtually no weeds at all) but they do compete with the horses when the grass isn't plentiful. My big problem ATM is the sheep stealing the horses' hay - the farmer doesn't hay them.

Last summer the farmer put cattle in and that was a nightmare as they poached the land dreadfully - I still can't push a laden barrow through the field.

 

[merlinsquest]

Merlin likes sheep..... so much that he likes to chase them

I got fed up with the leccy fencing being itched out of the ground and having no grass if there was a dry spell

I am glad they are gone