Plan A and Plan B for dehorning our little buck (now a wether) Peter Pan did not happen...and sadly we are now in the situation of having our first born boy having horns...We were able to get his sisters done last week as hers had not grown as large...and the situation for the new 2 girls is in hand.
Anyway, so now we have one goat with horns and 6 without...but I know a lady that could be interested in him as a companion goat for her horse/pony...Before I commit to selling him to her I want to make sure I am not putting the horse/pony at risk.
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I knew Miyagi had a good relationship with his horses as did my "Missy Goat" with Rubik. Glad you posted that!
I had to laugh when you said that Duke thought he turned into a goat! Sorry he got colic from it though. But with your experience with the others don't you think there is a good chance that a goat sold for this reason may not be happy living with a horse and since you are a horse person, how would you feel about possible risk of keeping a horned goat with your horse or a pony?
I do have to add my 2c here that Miyagi and Duke (one of my horses) are really pals. In fact, he is quite friendly with both the horses. They follow each other around the pasture, graze together, and Duke even made himself colic by browsing on trees after he thought he had turned into a goat.
They CAN be good friends. I do believe Miyagi would be okay with just his horses, they play and everything. But he owuld have no one to wrestle and head butt with because they don't play like that.
I kid you not Miyagi will bite Duke's tail, pull on it, then run for the hills when Duke whirls around. But it is funny to both of them- otherwise I don't think Miyagi would still be alive.
Wouldn't be surprised at all if it is not the norm- and the other goats I've had with the horses don't interact with them at all. Also it has a lot to do with the personality of the goat. Everyone BUT Miyagi is quite afraid of the horses- and when Duke has tried to play the chase games with the does they are terrified & it got ugly so I only put the horses with the does very carefully sometimes. Usually they only go out with the bucks. Everything is funny to Miyagi and he has no fear, so they make a great combination
I agree that they cause more trouble when alone, no doubt about it and goat friends are usually best! However I have had occasion to have 2 different goats, at different times without other goats around who were obviously very happy!
The first, I bottle raised, many years ago and she was best friends with a colt! All was great until he had an accident when we were at the feed store, of all things, and was dead when we returned. It was all pitifully sad, because not only did I lose my colt but my little doe stood on top of his body and screamed her head off the whole time we were trying to make funeral arrangements! It was so bad I didn't even attend the funeral across town at my in laws (they owned a bull dozier, yea!). I stayed at home with her instead.
The second was our present doe Marley, who I found following a young man down the road. He had no idea were she belonged and I ended up with her. We had lots of little dogs, cats and a baby raccoon who ran around and played with her. She seemed happier before we got our other goats! I suspect that she may have been raised without other goats since she had been running the roads playing with a large dog. She does ok with the goats now but she isn't as social with them as she should be and is really only very attached to her almost yearling doe kid.
That said: 1) I personally would not want to risk having a horned goat with my equines! 2) I would not want or want to place a goat with someone to be kept with equines, unless there was a willingness to add a 2nd goat if they did not create a loving bond!
BTW Deborah, I am convinced that pigs are the same way! From what I was taught by old timers and my personal experience with 2 different pigs kept at different times also, they get very destructive and crazy without some kind of close company! This is why I want 2 sows and need to find out if a boar can stay with them all the time or not! That one worries me. I don't want to keep him by himself!
I never say never, but it is highly unlikely that the goat would hurt the horse or pony. However, I am not a fan of putting a single goat with an equine. Goats are herd animals and need goat friends. I've received a lot of phone calls over the years from people desperately looking for a second goat after someone sold them a single. One woman discovered that her horse hated the goat and was afraid that the horse would wind up killing the goat. She couldn't keep them separated as the goat kept getting into the horse pasture. There was another woman whose goat kept getting out and wandering all over the countryside looking for a friend and another one whose goat insisted on living on her front porch. I'm pretty sure that one reason goats have such a bad reputation when it comes to fencing is because people try to keep single goats.