Question about running cattle and horses together

[Shorthorn_Junkie]

I am currently looking to expand my herd. 

Unfortunately due to not having a whole lot of land, I have only two cows to my name.  I am running them both on 3 acres right now. 

I talked to a friend of mine who owns 74 acres about possibly running some cows on their land.    They said that they would consider letting me do so, however here is the catch. 

They are already running horses on the land, and told me that I would have to run my cows with their horses.  I am not too keen on that idea, because I have heard for years that cows and horses do not mix.

I do know that horses can sometimes run cows and hurt their calves by kicking them.

I would like to hear some thoughts on this, and I was also wondering if there are any of you on here who run both cattle and horses in the same field. 

Thanks.

SJ

 

[kanshow]

We've occasionally run horses & cattle together in the same pasture - they usually leave each other alone.  However, it is not something we like to do and only do it when there is no other option.    We did have one horse that chased cattle for the fun of it so she came back to drylot.  We've had a worse experience with abunch of curious yearling heifers almost running a couple horses thru the fence when they were turned out. 

A bigger thing to consider is supplemental feed and mineral - you will have to be very careful what you put out for the cattle because a lot of good cattle products have the potential to kill horses.

 

[fluffer]

It all depends on the cattle and the horses.  In our case the horses leave the cattle alone.  I have seen horses that will chase calves and try to kill them, or chase cows, but that just depends on the horse.  If your running your cows with say brood mares, you will probably be fine.  If your running them with yearling geldings that might be a different story.  Also, a bunch of pleasure trail horses are different from a bunch of roping and cutting horses.

As for the mineral, I do not recall having any issues with horses and our mineral.  But it wouldn't hurt to check.  Most horses out on pasture have some sort of a salt or mineral block.  Your bigger problem may be your cows eating the horses stuff.  It won't hurt them, but your friend may get tired of supplying salt and mineral to your cows 

Either way, good luck and I hope you find some ground to run some cows on.

Fluffer

 

[kanshow]

We have some mineral that has Bovatec in it - would not recommend feeding that to horses but I don't believe it will kill them.  Rumensin is the one that is death on horses. 

 

[C-CROSS]

WE do it all the time and have never had a problem in 23 years of marriage.  It is easier to keep me happy that way.  But prefer to keep them seperate.

 

[Shorthorn_Junkie]

Thanks y'all,

I do know that Stallions can be very hard on cattle at times, however my neighbor will not fool with Stallions they tell me.

The horses that are on this land are brood mares and geldings that have been handled and broken.  Most of them seem to be quiet gentle from what I can tell.  A lot of them are quiet old in age also.

I may try my two cows on there while they don't have any calves and see how they do.  I may even see if my neighbor will let me cross fence a few acres and keep my cows separate also. 

Thanks for the input so far.  Keep it coming. 

SJ

 

[Diamond]

we had a Paso Fino gelding who lived with the cattle for over 14 years, he just hung out with them and thought he was one of the herd.

 

[renegade]

I have pics of my bull and our mustang going at it.  They "fought" like no other they were just playing but it was funny.  I have had cattle chase the horses and vice versa. Unless you have a real cowy horse it should be fine - we do it quite a bit (unless the cows are needing grain or whatever)

 

[Rocky Hill Simmental]

Sometimes we have to mix the cattle and horses together. They usually get along pretty well but sometimes our stud horse gets an attitude and bites/kicks at the cows but only when he gets real excited for some reason but he's never hurt them.

We used to have a bull with an attitude who would try to fight horses. Heck, he'd even try to fight the horses while we were riding them. Finally, we sold the crazy bull because we got one that had a brain. We brought him to the sale barn where they ran the cattle with a horse. I thought about going to watch him to see if he was going to pick a fight with the horse rider but I had to go to school that day. lol

 

[red]

We have some mineral that has Bovatec in it - would not recommend feeding that to horses but I don't believe it will kill them.   Rumensin is the one that is death on horses.   

Excellant point Kanshow! also watch iron & especially copper if you run sheep w/ them ever too.

Red

 

[daydreamingacres]

everone laughs when they come to our house. we had a sow with the mini horses and sheep. now we run minis and llamas. and sheep and 3 bull calves. we actually had the mini horses get in with the "regular horses" and the mini stallion dropped my paint stallion to the ground!

 

[red]

everone laughs when they come to our house. we had a sow with the mini horses and sheep. now we run minis and llamas. and sheep and 3 bull calves. we actually had the mini horses get in with the "regular horses" and the mini stallion dropped my paint stallion to the ground!

I've heard those things can be really fiesty! Some animals like llamas make good protection for sheep againist dogs. Of course there is the thought of running a billy goat w/ cattle to prevent ringworm.

Red