Stupid question. What other NON equine animals live with your equines?

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indie999

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And do they get on well?

OH and me were talking about what else we could put in with my old boy instead of a horse...daft I know but it got us talking...I told him pigs were no no....

We were thinking sheep but I think they are escape artists?
 
Sheep are a pain in the xxxx, you need low fencing which horses will get caught in and they die for a hobby.

I turn out with a couple of cows/calves. Works well and good for ground.
 
sheep appear to have few aims in life. Mainly how to escape, how to die in horrible ways, and how to escape and die in a horrible way.

Id say no to sheep :P

How about a llama?
 
We have sheep. They can be a pain but do get on pretty well with our horses. We did have one which shared a stable with one of the horses (2 old ladies together). I wouldn't think that they are a substitute for equine company though, in the main ours just co-exist, they don't really communicate/spend time together. They certainly are good for the grass.
A neighbour used to keep one horse with 2 goats. The goats just chewed horse's tail and kept escaping. Neighbour now has 2 horses - much less trouble!
 
I thought sheep were a pain. The small bullocks we did think of..! Family member is farmer but knows nothing about horses!

Llama..um..he probably knows nothing. Do they escape..look like giraffe to me!
 
We had goats at one point, and they actually behaved as the horses.... but they too are escape artists... and s*x machines! bought 2, ended up with 5! and then had to sell them.

We've also had chickens.... though the horses and the chickens fights for eachothers food :confused:.

But always said a cow if it came down to it.... but a lady near us sells Shetland ponies for £150, so we thought we'd just get one of them instead :)
 
There is a flock of sheep in the field my mare is in, the only time I have seen any interaction between any of the horses and them was when I was bringing mine in and one of the others still out was not happy about being left out so took her frustration out by chasing the sheep round the field for a bit. Funny to watch as she would canter towards a group of sheep, they would just scatter in all directions and regroup in wee groups and she would then go towards one of them and the same thing would happen again.
 
My horses live with the pigs and chickens :D they're not turned out together often but they get on marvellously when they are, and they all live in separate compartments in the same barn :D
 
We have a mini donkey in field with fat pony, and neighbouring the two warmbloods are a field of sheep and a muddy area with two big ugly fat pigs wallowing in it!

The donk is pretty easy as a companion however theyre supposed to be kept in pairs I believe (not my call to get another, I loan) and you do really need very poor grazing to keep them well and not fat, luckily our grazing isn't great!!
 
A horse down the lane from us is turned out with a Llama! They get on fine together - don't exactly graze nose to nose but seem happy enough. There are problems with some riders going by where their horses haven't seen a Llama before and act like they've seen a Martian :eek: Doesn't help that at this time of year when there are lambs about the Llama gets very protective even though there are no sheep directly in the field. (Apparently they're used to protect flocks by seeing off predators) It runs at the wall and spits at the horses as you ride past!! My lad couldn't care less but last time we saw it that made it mad that the horse wasn't bothered and the Llama was rearing up and bucking as well as spitting!

There is a mouse lives in the wall near my stable, I found it rooting in the food bowl one night - does that count as a companion?!
 
We've had goats and chickens living in with our horses.

Goats - get 2 lady goats have kids then you've got free milk ;). Our goats were fairly well behaved. One of the kids was male so did go to the frosty box once he started becoming a nuisance

Chickens - tendency to crap everywhere, scratch up things you don't want them too - the muck heap is always fair game apparently. If you end up with more than one cockerel you do need to despatch /find a new home, as cockerels will fight to the death

Re sheep - not kept them myself, but I just always remember the revolting mess my horse came in from the field in after being turned out with sheep. Eeuuhgggh not nice lol

Cows - we had dexters (the little cute ones). Hint here - yes they're little but are not cute!! The horses found great delight in chasing them round thr field, and the cows took great delight at aiming poo at the horses.... All in all it worked fairly well ;)
 
Sheep are good grazers with horses but as said you need very good fencing! They do die just for the annoyance of it and you need someone to shear them in the late spring - not always easy if you only have a few. They do make good eating!
You also have to register if you have any farm animals and be prepared for paperwork!
 
 
I dont want any paperwork!! Thanks for the replies I might just stick with the mouse that visits! But I do fancy a wonkey donkey.
 
Not in the field but my old tb used to sleep with the farm cat in his stable every night. It would curl up next to him. In the morning there would be two flat bits of straw. One horse shaped and a little cat one too :)
 
Copperpot said:
Not in the field but my old tb used to sleep with the farm cat in his stable every night. It would curl up next to him. In the morning there would be two flat bits of straw. One horse shaped and a little cat one too :)
Click to expand...

My boy sleeps with the farm cat and then every morning the horse waits for the cat to balance on the edge of the water buckets to get a drink and tries to knock the cat in the bucket. The cat stands her ground and wallops the horse on the nose.

The horse is on box rest at the min, but when he was turned out the cat would wander into the paddock and the horse would chase the cat out again. I am convinced the cat did it to annoy the horse.
 
My filly and a couple of her fieldmates shared their field with a flock of sheep for a while last summer. They weren't particularly bothered by them, to be fair they didn't pay them much attention
 
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