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 Ditch the Stirrups
Posts: 5369
  
Location: Sorrow Not! Defending against workplace bullies | A shepherd with a grazing lease has camped near our pastures with a large herd of sheep. Our four horses have spent two days so far sweating, racing, staring and freaking out. They are eating very little hay. I am worried about colic. Any advice?
Edited by ninaom 2014-04-29 3:51 PM
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
  
Location: Texas | No advice... but I feel for you. We hauled sheep in our trailer for a mutton bustin' one time, our horses flat refused to load in the trailer for a while. We had to borrow a trailer or ride with someone else until the finally decided that we didn't hide a smelly horse eating monster in ours. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | I'm DYING of laughter - because I have a sheep-phobe also.
The best thing I did for him was put him IN with the sheep (we raise sheep so I can do whatever). Maybe ask your nice neighbor if he's loan you a few to be pasture buddies? Or a friend with sheep? When your horses get hungry enough, they'll eat - even if the sheep are giving them dirty looks and being sketchy.
My gelding COWERED in one corner of an 80 acre pasture for a WEEK because of the sheep. After awhile, he started to relax and get closer and then finally mingled. You still have to take him out of the pasture if we need to move the sheep, because he will go APE**** and through the fence if a bunch are running around like a pack of velociraptors.
But seriously, good luck. Talk to your neighbor and see if he'd mind you using a few sheep for desensitizing. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | My one horse doesn't like goats...it took her a long time to adjust to my neighbors goats. She still every now then comes bolting out of nowhere because the goat caught her by surprise.
I think the best you can do is just wait. Maybe offer them some soaked beet pulp and alfalfa pellets to get water and food in them. Our horses have to deal with elk running through our pastures, I honestly just leave them alone, they get over it eventually.
eta: for the record I agree with your horses, sheep are sketchy LOL I used to clean stalls for my aunt, she had three horses and two sheep (the sheep lived in with the horses). I've grown up raising black angus cows with my family, we've had horses, chickens, quail, goats and pigs but it was my first experience with sheep and they always stared at me like they were plotting my demise or something.
Edited by livexlovexrodeo 2014-04-29 5:12 PM
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  Damn Yankee
Posts: 12390
Location: Somewhere between raising hell and Amazing Grace | You should have seen my horses when they realized I had a 120 pound tortoise....took them a while to get used to him. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | livexlovexrodeo - 2014-04-29 5:10 PM
My one horse doesn't like goats...it took her a long time to adjust to my neighbors goats. She still every now then comes bolting out of nowhere because the goat caught her by surprise.
I think the best you can do is just wait. Maybe offer them some soaked beet pulp and alfalfa pellets to get water and food in them. Our horses have to deal with elk running through our pastures, I honestly just leave them alone, they get over it eventually.
eta: for the record I agree with your horses, sheep are sketchy LOL I used to clean stalls for my aunt, she had three horses and two sheep (the sheep lived in with the horses). I've grown up raising black angus cows with my family, we've had horses, chickens, quail, goats and pigs but it was my first experience with sheep and they always stared at me like they were plotting my demise or something.
Sheep are mega sketchballs - and absolutely spend every free moment planning our demise. We've got hundreds of them, I can never let my guard down, lest a Cheviot attacks!! |
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Ditch the Stirrups
Posts: 5369
Location: Sorrow Not! Defending against workplace bullies | Well last night they relaxed a LITTLE bit but are still hiding in the corner when the sheep pass through. The shepherd does not speak any English so I cant ask him to borrow a sheep. It is really cool watching his dogs work the sheep. One plus is all the horses have run off their hay bellies. |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | Don't mind me, I just popped in to say,
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Made my morning....
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 684
Location: Oklahoma | I used to have one in with a few of my colts. It was funny as heck! When you would feed them, the **** thing would come up and start head butting them out of their buckets. Nothing like a 16hh horse cowering from a little ol' sheep.
The greatest thing ever though was when our boarders (mostly warmbloods and tb's) would go to ride their horses down the lane between all the pastures to get to the cross country jumps....and their horses would notice the horse eating lama in the back pasture!  |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| svincent - 2014-04-29 8:00 PM
livexlovexrodeo - 2014-04-29 5:10 PM
My one horse doesn't like goats...it took her a long time to adjust to my neighbors goats. She still every now then comes bolting out of nowhere because the goat caught her by surprise.
I think the best you can do is just wait. Maybe offer them some soaked beet pulp and alfalfa pellets to get water and food in them. Our horses have to deal with elk running through our pastures, I honestly just leave them alone, they get over it eventually.
eta: for the record I agree with your horses, sheep are sketchy LOL I used to clean stalls for my aunt, she had three horses and two sheep (the sheep lived in with the horses). I've grown up raising black angus cows with my family, we've had horses, chickens, quail, goats and pigs but it was my first experience with sheep and they always stared at me like they were plotting my demise or something.
Sheep are mega sketchballs - and absolutely spend every free moment planning our demise. We've got hundreds of them, I can never let my guard down, lest a Cheviot attacks!!
bahahahaha!!! omg the cheviot attack!! LOL.
we raise several hundred in several different breeds. this MADE my morning!
to the OP - we mingled 'em to acclimate my mare. they'll get over them eventually ... sorry it sucks in the mean time! |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | ninaom - 2014-04-30 9:25 AM
Well last night they relaxed a LITTLE bit but are still hiding in the corner when the sheep pass through. The shepherd does not speak any English so I cant ask him to borrow a sheep. It is really cool watching his dogs work the sheep. One plus is all the horses have run off their hay bellies.
Good working sheep dogs are THE COOLEST!!! We've been blessed with three phenomenal border collies and they still amaze me. |
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The Resident Destroyer of Liberal Logic
Location: PNW | lindseylou2290 - 2014-04-30 11:01 AM
svincent - 2014-04-29 8:00 PM
livexlovexrodeo - 2014-04-29 5:10 PM
My one horse doesn't like goats...it took her a long time to adjust to my neighbors goats. She still every now then comes bolting out of nowhere because the goat caught her by surprise.
I think the best you can do is just wait. Maybe offer them some soaked beet pulp and alfalfa pellets to get water and food in them. Our horses have to deal with elk running through our pastures, I honestly just leave them alone, they get over it eventually.
eta: for the record I agree with your horses, sheep are sketchy LOL I used to clean stalls for my aunt, she had three horses and two sheep (the sheep lived in with the horses). I've grown up raising black angus cows with my family, we've had horses, chickens, quail, goats and pigs but it was my first experience with sheep and they always stared at me like they were plotting my demise or something.
Sheep are mega sketchballs - and absolutely spend every free moment planning our demise. We've got hundreds of them, I can never let my guard down, lest a Cheviot attacks!!
bahahahaha!!! omg the cheviot attack!! LOL.
we raise several hundred in several different breeds. this MADE my morning!
to the OP - we mingled 'em to acclimate my mare. they'll get over them eventually ... sorry it sucks in the mean time!
We raise Horned Dorsets and Cheviots. Cheviots.... I swear they are the top-level predator in the sheep world. You can just see them bouncing through the grass with their ears pricked and ready to be naughty. The Dorsets are much less rambunctious - except the stinking bucks... My border collie has had to bite more than one in the face several times... They are just buttholes. So are the Cheviot bucks too... I once saw one scale our ten foot cattle chute in order to get away from being shorn. Who does that? Idiot. |
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 The Color Specialist
Posts: 7530
Location: Washington. (The DRY side.) | I just ignore them. I don't have sheep, but I do have HUGE goats. I've gotten mares in that thought they were horse eaters. They ALL got over it eventually. I do NOT mix horses and goats as I have a mare (and her 3yo son) that don't take kindly to them. She is NOT afraid, she is a goat eating horse! (And her son isn't any better.) They do share a fence line though and the goats like to drink the horses water. (Tastes MUCH better than their own apparently. LOL) |
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 Potato Soup Queen
Location: Alabama | Careful just putting one or two in the pastures with the horses to "make them get used to them", that could back fire and send one of more horses through your fence and a huge vet bill. They'll get used to them over time...my horses eventually got used to the neighbors llama's (at least over the fence...unless they got close.....LOL) |
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 Get a Clue
Posts: 1228
Location: A Higher Elevation | None of my horses like sheep either. I can't hardly go by the neighbors 3 acre sheep pasture on the road... One horse just flat refuses.
The same horses have no problem being pastured next to ostriches...
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 No Tune in a Bucket
Posts: 2935
Location: Texas | Last year at the Jr. High National Finals Rodeo in Gallup, NM, someone with infinite wisdom decided to put the goats for the goat tying in a pen at the end of the arena they were using to run poles and barrels. The arena is not super long and the end pole sits close to the goat pen. They have a tarp covering the goats, but some of the horses were cutting thru the poles, I am guessing they were not wanting to run close to them. My granddaughter was not worried because her pole mare lives in the pen beside the goat tying goats. lol |
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 Expert
Posts: 1898
| This reminds of the old Looney Tunes cartoon! MOO MOO BAA BAA!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PARTaeE28q4&feature=kp |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | Oh please.... I seen horses jump in terror at the sound of their own poo hitting the ground... Horses old enough to know to expect that sound.. |
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