companion animal help

[rabbitsfizz]

Since he is actually a colt FOAL and not a stallion or a stud, I would let him in with the gelding. At this time of year my mature stallion (ie six years old) two yearling colts and two mature geldings all run together and are no problem at all. They have a field about 3 1/2 acres. This is not big enough in spring, they have to be separated, but I would say your colt will be OK with a gelding for company until he starts to breed.

The biggest problem with goats is that they do not speak "horse" and so do not understand the postures for "play" and "anger" so you could easily end up with a dead goat. I used to have my two milking goats wandering through the horse pastures until I saw one horse getting angrier and angrier as it said quite plainly "this is MINE. Go AWAY" and the goat, who had no understanding of what was being said, ignored him. He would have hurt the goat, of that I am sure. The goats offered no companionship whatsoever, neither did the donkey- that was how I ended up with two goats and two donkeys- they were lonely, so I had to buy them company of their own species! I have known of donkeys and horses making good buddies but, again, the language is different, maybe just a little easier to learn.

The best companion for a horse is another horse, you just cannot get away form it.

 

[ErikaS.]

I have and still do keep goats with my minis- my horned fainter buck and my huge dehorned Nubian wether(he's the same size as my minis). Both goats grew up as kids with the minis. During the summer, my fainter does share the pasture with the minis. Noone bothers anybody. They don't eat the minis tails or manes either. When I had pygmy goats, however, my herd queen was a major pain in the butt and did all of the naughty things you could think of. All would depend on your fencing- if it was goat proof. Otherwise, goatie would be spending more time eating your landscaping than spending time with his horsey buddy. Believe me, I know.

 

[Double T]

Another mini would prob suit him better. FYI, I've had a goat with my horses, he got BIGGER than the mini's, os the deal of them hurting him wasn't there. But he was also impossible to contain, and got into everything, woudl eat with the mini's then the regular sized horses, and go steal dog food. He was a pest. lol But I never had any trouble with him chewing manes or tails, he just ruined my fence that was net wire, by rubbing on it, figured out how to open my car door and get in there, and the list goes on and on. lol

That said my father did have one that ate his colt's tail off several years ago, this was a regular sized horse, and not a mini but yeah it can happen

 

[Wings]

I actually don't run my stallions with anything.

One of my boys was raised with a gelding friend and ran with one here for awhile, but coming into his second breeding season he turned very rough towards them and rather then have it build into true aggression I separated them. He is content to have geldings or mares sharing a fencline and so that is how I keep him company.

The other stallion either wants to be in with his mares or within sight of the other horses, he is quite content on his own as long as he never feels like he is completely alone.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

We had two goats, the boer/nubian cross was the SWEETEST guy and never got into trouble. His Lamanchan friend was the biggest PITA I EVER saw.

I think it would depend on the breed you chose, too. But personally, I'd go for a gelding. Especially since a goat would be JUST a companion (unless you got a bred nanny, then you could have milk) but a gelding could be taught to drive and other fun stuff and not just another mouth to feed!