Background: So the place I board at is a fairly low key, older facility. Has its ups and downs, but generally, I have felt it is safe, and frankly, it is the only thing I can afford in my area for stall board. Owners/managers are older, we boarders do a lot of our own care to help out. I have two mares, one retired, one that I do dressage with. The barn does some things I disagree with, and have poor pasture and arena management techniques, but there’s not much I can do to change it. My horses are doing fine under their care.
This began last week - a wandering sheep turned up at our barn. No idea where it came from, and no one has claimed it. Looks like she is a meat sheep, and had a tag at one point but has since had it ripped out (looks healed). She has so far been uncatchable, and resists any attempts to be touched.
However, she loves the horses. Particularly, my horses. She sleeps outside one of my mare’s stalls, and when they go out, she stays in their pasture and hangs out with them all day.
Here’s where the trouble begins: When they come in to their stalls for dinner (which is always earlier than I would like, they come in and are fed around 3:30pm), the sheep follows my mares in and goes right into one of their stalls. They seem fine with it - totally chill to let the sheep hang out underfoot or sleep in the corner with them while they eat their supper. Sheep relaxes and seems at peace with them. We have allowed the sheep to stay in with one of them for a few hours, but not very long.
I suggested putting up a stall guard to allow the sheep to leave when she’s ready from the stall. It’s only been a few days, but since they keep letting the sheep go into the stall with my horse, someone needs to make sure the sheep leaves before nighttime. A stall guard gives her an escape route if my horse decides she’s at her limit of tolerance, or if she lays down and there’s less room for the sheep. My horses don’t seem to have any limit to their tolerance - in fact seem fond of the sheep, and look for it when it wanders away. I have not had sourness issues yet - once my riding mare saw that the sheep had left her stall, we have been able to get in our normal training.
Barn owner is completely against the stall guard, doesn’t want my horses to bond with the sheep any more than they already have. I understand that, but then, why allow the sheep to stay? They find the sheep amusing to no end, and have said they don’t want to get rid of it, but can’t seem to decide how to manage it. Despite my protests to not liking the name, they have also named her Eunice. Ugh.
What would you do about the sheep? Allow it to stay with your horses? Use a stall guard to allow it to get out? Tell the barn owners to allow you to care for it, since it is hanging out with your horses? Get rid of it before your horse thinks it’s her foal? Is there such a thing as sheep sourness? Call animal control? How does one tame a grown sheep? Oy vey. :no:
tl;dr: Sheep has adopted my horses. What should I do about it?
