A friend is buying a farm that currently has cattle grazing. She is planning to mover her two horses there and the cattle are leaving. Is there anything she needs to consider or anything special she needs to do or worry about before moving the horses? I told her I didn’t think it would be a problem but I just want to tap the COTH wisdom to be sure. Thanks!
Should not be a problem, as long as the fencing is “horse safe”.
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Yes, fencing is the main thing. Make sure no barbed wire, etc. Rotational grazing with different species such as cattle/horses is very beneficial for the pastures.
If there are cattle there at the same time, the flies can be an issue.
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Make sure there isn’t one of those molasses wheel things. Big square metal box with a tire sticking up to lick. Will founder a horse or worse. Dont know the point of it, maybe min/vits for cows.
And don’t tear down the Barn Swallow nests. Besides being entertaining, They eat flying bugs:)
Yes, you wouldn’t want that for horses. The molasses mixture not only have vitamins and minerals but also usually contain urea which cattle can convert to protein but can be toxic to horses in large amounts. These are usually used as a supplement during the winter.
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There is a strand of barbed wire along the top of the fence, but the fencing is woven wire. I’m sure she will take down the barbed wire and replace it with something more suitable. Hadn’t given the molasses wheel thing a thought but I’ll mention it just in case.
Despite what “horse people” tell you, horses have lived in barbed wire for decades. As long as the fence is tight, and the paddocks are big enough that horses have room to move (i.e. several acres and not a small paddock) then barbed wire can work for horses.
As far as grazing, I’d consider it a good thing that the pastures had cows on it prior instead of horses - multi species grazing helps cut down on parasite transmission and weed control because what one species might eat, others will not.
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As far as the pasture itself, it should be parasite free. Not that she can give up fecal tests, and deworming. She might want to give her horses a dose of Quest plus before moving in, to keep it clean for awhile.
The only other thing I can think of is the risk to foals if there is Rhodococcus in the area: generally it will give calves a bad cold but will kill foals or damage their lungs for life if they contract it. So it may be more common in mixed cow-calf pastures if they had become crowded.
Hot wires can keep horses off barbed wire fences rather cheaply. Most horses eventually get into any fence if there is no hot wire; it may take years, but the risk is there.
I know I’ve said it before but barbed wire isn’t always the evil it is made out to be. My two, now one, horses lived in barbed wire pastures for many years with no issues.
However, falling apart barbed wire fencing will not be horse safe and cattle may often just push through it.
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My friend in AZ can’t understand why we don’t like barbed wire in the east–they use it almost exclusively on the large ranches. I explained to her that when fencing hundreds of acres it’s fine because the horses are not near the fences most of the time. Here we might have pastures anywhere from one to ten acres. In that restricted of a space, the barbed wire could be dangerous because the horses are constantly standing next to fences and would probably try to reach through for the ‘greener’ grass on the other side. My friend also doesn’t get the point of trail riding because where she grew up in AZ you get on a horse and go somewhere. I had to explain that you can’t do that in the east because we have fences and private property, as well as highways. I am quite jealous of the wide open spaces in the west. LOL
I had mentioned to my friend that cows were good for weed control because of eating different forage than the horses. I thought parasites might not be a problem but that was one thing I wanted to make sure of before giving her the info. Thanks!
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You might want to ask the cattle owner if he/she has been feeding anything containing monensin/rumensin. Many cattle feeds contain those ionophores, which are deadly to horses.
My show goat feed contains rumensin, and I am uber careful not to cross-contaminate anything that that horses might be near or use… buckets, feed scoops, feed bunks, even a few pellets dropped on the ground, etc.
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Cattle will be leaving before the horses are moved in. I don’t think they supplement the grazing anyway, but a good thing to think about.
Exactly. Or if there is a scuffle between horses, something spooks them in to running through it, etc.
The other poster who mentioned rumensin also makes a good point. If she can, find out what the cattle were fed on the property.
Current barn where I board rotates their cattle around the horse pasture if the horses aren’t keeping up with the amount of grass in that particular pasture. Seems to work out fine, but they also don’t feed the cattle anything but hay and grass. Might be a bigger issue if the cattle have been on certain kinds of grains like another poster mentioned.
