There is no one size fits all with anything when it comes to animals. It is a good lesson to not believe what other people tell you, even if many people believe the same thing. Our own personal experiences can tell us something totally different than what the masses believe.
Rocky and Sunshine are both wethers. This means they are male castrated goats. If there is a health issue concerning a goat, the first thing a good vet asks is about their diet. They want you to tell them everything they are eating. Many horses eat alfalfa in pellet form and/or grass/hay form. Wethers can get bladder stones and die from too much alfalfa. Some people will tell you otherwise. They will tell you there goats eat alfalfa with no problem. Many blogs will say the same thing. Here is the same lesson about not believing what others say unless you really check the source. I have asked a number of good vets and they all say the same thing about alfalfa. I have also talked to a vet that treated goats that people killed for meat who didn't know about alfalfa and wethers. Obviously, this type of vet may not have experience with goats that are going to be living that long anyway. Be careful. I have asked university professors who teach about goats, they also do not recommend alfalfa for wethers. Make sure you do your research from top notch sources. The World Wide Web is full of contradictions when it comes to goats.
Try keeping a goat away from a horses' food. Lots of luck. They are foodies. There are other ingredients that are also not good for a goat. A goat doesn't need oil, vinegar, horse minerals, and grain. Grain can also cause bladder stones in wethers. Some horses get this in their feed during certain parts of the week or day. So, obviously you can understand the hazards of having these two different types of animals together.
Another important factor is that some horses are unpredictable. They are also very big. They can get a horse fly on them and run around like a mad person. Or, some can just be moody. Sunshine is small; he can easily go into a horse's pen. As a foodie, he is only concerned about what he can find to nibble on. I have seen him get chased out by a huge horse that had been calm just the moment before. The little goat came running out of the stall, but might go back in another day, not remembering the horse's unpredictability.
Sometimes, goats are not safe for some horses. I have heard about someone putting barbie doll heads on the ends of a goat's horns in case they have reason to butt a horse. I have also heard of tennis balls with a hole cut out also for this purpose. My goats only butt if it is really necessary, but I have heard of other goats that butt if a horse gets too close to them, especially if the goat is busy eating. It is important to understand these possibilities before just blindly believing what others tell you.
I am sure some people have had really good experiences with their goat and horse living together, but it is not a one-size-fits-all concept. It depends on the horse, the goat, the feed, the size of the stall, whether they share the same space or not, etc.
The main lesson here is to really do your research before you just believe something. Reading a number of blogs does not mean you are researching important information. It just means you are gathering stories from different people's experiences. Talking to a number of good vets as well as information put out by university professors is a trustworthy source. But, make sure those vets and professors are from modern times. New scientific information comes out that is totally opposite from facts that were believed many years ago. I have also used information from different goat associations, but I still had to check those sources.
In short, do your homework and know what you are getting into. There are different types of goats that might respond differently to horses, and vice versa. You might be wondering why the goats I care for are around horses. It is because they were rescued by an organization that rescues horses. It is my goal to buy goat zoned property so that these goats can live in an environment that is completely designed for goats only.
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