I have the opportunity to move my horse into a large verdant Texas pasture (yes I know it sounds contradictory!) which also has a large herd of longhorn cattle and exotic elk.
WWYD? I am a bit worried about cross-pests. Worms etc.
I raise longhorns. I will turn everyone out together through out the summer and have never had any issues. It actually helps make the pastures healthier by having multiple species on it.
Thanks SouthernYankee! Do you have any qualms about the elks?
ruminant parasites don’t like horse guts - rotating species is actually a great way to clean up a pasture.
I do know a mare that had her nose broke by a bad horn swing from a highland steer but she was one of those horses (walking vet bill) and they were stuck in close quarters - so I suspect it is pretty unlikely out on pasture.
I can’t speak specifically for longhorns or elk, but the body language of other grazing species can be somewhat different than the body language of horses, so in closer quarters or where the animals are sharing feed there sometimes can be issues related to that. Also, some horses are just lacking in common sense and are more prone than others to get into trouble/ get hurt and you need to watch out for those ones. Speaking very generally, though, horses tend to be much more dangerous to each other than other species.
I would tend to say that if there are other well adjusted horses out in this field that are suitable herd companions for your horse, and the longhorns and elk are accustomed to sharing space with horses, things would likely go well. Perhaps ask about feeding and how the animals are separated for the feeding of any supplemental grain, if any. Another thing that can be an issue when different species are sharing a field is fencing–what is suitable for one species may not be suitable for the other.
And others are right, parasites are not an issue–it’s actually extremely beneficial for horses and ruminants to share pastures.
I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of anyone turning horses out with Elk but don’t see why it wouldn’t work as long as there was enough space for everyone to get away from each other if they wanted to.
I’ve got cows with over 60" spreads and the horses push the cows around. The cows just stay out of the horses space and we’ve never had any issues. Granted we keep them separated when the calves are small.
I know of one Morgan horse breeder in Canada who got out of the horse business because the wild elk were tearing up his horses at the round bales, and he could do nothing about it. In his area it was illegal to drive the elk out by hunting. I would not keep a horse with longhorns or elk if I had to feed them together. I also know nothing of the behaviors of domestic elk and have had no experience with longhorns except wonder how in the heck they ever ship them anywhere without getting eyes poked out. (I do also marvel at their beauty in a well kept herd. It does not sound like you should have any problems as long as the horse is familiar with ruminants of some kind grazing in the same field and as long as they do not have to get into close quarters. I also know that Elks can carry some singularly weird diseases (some kind of wasting or Crutzfeld disease), not sure. Game farms and hunting preserves were having some horrible problem in Wisconsin because elk were being shipped in (this was several years ago).
There is a danger of impalement by the long horns on any other animal. I have a friend who has learned this the hard way, several times, with yaks. The injuries, when they happen, are quite horrific. And can be fatal quite easily. Depends on how deep the impalement goes, and it’s exact position on the horse’s body. I have helped care for some of these injuries, seen them up close. Yikes. It’s not a risk I would take with my horses.
I have a friend who has a horse that received a cut to the inside of the hind leg from a horn of a deer that was either rutting or something so its something to think about.
Bull elk in rut are formidable beasts. I live very close to a state park with small managed herds of elk and bison. The paddocks are small enough that the herds can be continuously viewed by park visitors. In rut the bull elk have been known to go after the bison when they come too close to the fence. The rest of the season both species are rather peaceable with each other and with the people that come to feed them through fence.
If you drive down route 22 in Keswick, VA you can see a couple retired show horses out in the front field with a couple of longhorns at Cismont manor! It seems to work well there.
A couple of longhorns with retired show horses at Cismont Manor (lots of big pastures and stables for the horses), is a far cry from a herd. It all depends on the husbandry situation but I still would not risk it for my horses.
Clamber, this is how we ship our cattle… open sided cattle trailer. Not a stock trailer. The larger cows have to be hauled in their own box stall. They do know exactly where their horns are and are very careful to keep them inside the trailer while it is moving. I have yet to get knocked ‘accidentally’ by any of their horns, even when feeding them by hand or out of a bucket.
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/mstout2/Cows/iPhone7996.jpg
http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/mstout2/Cows/iPhone7997.jpg
I will add that we do not keep the horses and longhorns together during the winter when we feed hay. Each has their own dry lot, mainly because they do not eat the same hay. In the summer when we occasionally feed hay (squares not round bales) the horses will chase the longhorns off the hay, and the cows will wait to clean up the scraps that the horses would have wasted. My cattle are VERY docile though, I wouldn’t have anything on the farm that I couldn’t walk out in the pastures with. However my dogs know they cannot go out in the pastures with horses or cattle, it is not safe for them. But I don’t have a coyote problem. We have had the cattle for a little over 2 years now and have yet to have any injuries.
I think your horse will have the deciding vote.
Some horses are terrified of cattle, and/or deer type animals.
Some horses are aggressive and try to herd or bully them.
If you are very lucky you have a sensible horse who will ignore them.
You say the pasture is verdant, That’s great as long as the grass holds up, but what happens in the winter? Where and how is hay fed? I would worry about the close quarters around the hay.
Is it horse quality hay?
Will they ever feed grain to these animals? Grain for ruminants often contains antibiotics that are fatal to horses.
How is the water provided? Large pond, small tank? Any chance it might go dry or freeze? Again I would worry about close quarters around the water.
I boarded at a place where one very tame pet longhorn steer was kept with a large herd of ponies in a BIG pasture. No issues. Ponies were easily above the bull in the pecking order, he was very timid and held back. He was, however, huge and he had big formidable horns. I could see where a bad in injury could happen even by accident.
Not bull, STEER. He was gelded.
Zero worries about worms as you don’t really deal with cross species.
Horns is more my concern…
What’s the fencing and how do you get your horse out of the field? Most elk are kept inside 10’+ fencing, usually high tensile wire. So look into that. And I, personally, would not be going out in a field full of longhorns and elk unless I knew the cattle were tame and the elk were non-aggressive and not in rut.
[QUOTE=Calamber;8996202]
I know of one Morgan horse breeder in Canada who got out of the horse business because the wild elk were tearing up his horses at the round bales, and he could do nothing about it. In his area it was illegal to drive the elk out by hunting. I would not keep a horse with longhorns or elk if I had to feed them together. I also know nothing of the behaviors of domestic elk and have had no experience with longhorns except wonder how in the heck they ever ship them anywhere without getting eyes poked out. (I do also marvel at their beauty in a well kept herd. It does not sound like you should have any problems as long as the horse is familiar with ruminants of some kind grazing in the same field and as long as they do not have to get into close quarters. I also know that Elks can carry some singularly weird diseases (some kind of wasting or Crutzfeld disease), not sure. Game farms and hunting preserves were having some horrible problem in Wisconsin because elk were being shipped in (this was several years ago).[/QUOTE]
Chronic wasting disease, it’s a prion disease, it’s only been seen in deer, elk, and moose. So no problem with transmission to horses. Other such diseases, Scrapie in sheep and BSE (mad cow) in cattle, exist, but again, only contagious among similar species. CDC cautions not to eat brain or spinal cord matter from above animals, but it’s not something I’d worry about in the herd situation. (Crutzfeld Jacob Disease is a prion disease in humans and can possibly be caused by consumption of such infected tissues.)
