Tiny Terror

[nina]

My miniature filly is rapidly getting more aggressive with my cows.  Her kind mind your own business stablemate is off visiting her boyfriend.  I thought being alone I could pair Confetti with some older calves as we've had dog attacks and I don't want her alone in a pasture.   When I put her in with 4 big calves and 1 small 11 month old Zebu, Confetti zeroed in on the poor Zebu and they ran laps around around the pasture. The Zebu is very flighty and goes from zero to fifty in about 5 seconds with a little spotted mini hot on her heels. Moving the Zebu out with a mother cow and her calf worked for a while but then I had to send that cow to the vet to get an embryo transfer.  So now I'm trying her with another calf  as seen in the pictures.  It's not like the cows aren't defending themselves, (except the Zebu)  I've seen Confetti butted over and vulnerable on the ground, only to get up and start harassing.  She is food aggressive, and will also harass the cows when she gets bored or playful.  I believe with people she would get aggressive too if given half a chance, as she is next to fearless when she feels like being messed with.  You can stack all kinds of noisy scary things on her back and pile ropes all over and she doesn't care.    Confetti lifts her feet, leads, and is good with the vet.  How do I make her behave around cows?    Confettie weighs about 150 pounds, the calves are 400-600.  




The second picture is more size accurate.  She looks bigger than she is compared to the calf in the first.

[suzorse]

she will just have to stay in a pen by herself and away from the cows , as some equines do not get along with cows , I had to keep my filly locked up as she thought chasing the cows was fun , my old mare is fine with the cows , and my other mare is fine unless I throw out hay , as she will guard her hay pile if anyone else gets near it

Suzanne

[christybell]

You can only moderate a behavior when you are there. How she behaves when left to her own devices is simply who she is. Confetti is just not a "cow friendly" mini horse. That drive is highly valued in working ranch horses

[canesisters]

Just thinking out loud.. but wonder what would happen if you tied her to a different (bigger) cow for a few hours? Perhaps she would learn to respect them a bit if she was forced to go where they went, stop when they stopped?

[kim'scows]

Oh my goodness, what a cute little terror.  I do like a little horse that won't take crap from bigger animals.

But I'm with suzorse.  In my experience, some horses are fine with cows and some are just too bossy. I've got one horse that will keep the entire herd away from the round bale and the water trough, plus kick or bite if anyone gets in his space.  So, our horses and cows live in different pastures.

[nina]

Aug 1, 2018 7:01:38 GMT -5 canesisters said:

Just thinking out loud.. but wonder what would happen if you tied her to a different (bigger) cow for a few hours? Perhaps she would learn to respect them a bit if she was forced to go where they went, stop when they stopped?

She looks bigger and sturdier than she is in the picture because of foreshortening.  I'm standing right next to her taking the picture so she looks big.  She is really small and fragile in build, but is really full of herself.  Confetti would probably would get killed messing with bigger cows or being tied to one.  Today Confetti and the Hereford calf, (Irma) bickered all day.  As I was driving away I saw Irma trying to lick Confetti's neck.    We have a dog problem and I wouldn't want to put Confetti by herself hence temporarily she needs a cow friend.  I'm more worried about Confetti getting hurt more than anything.  The only cow that actually runs from her is the Zebu and I can't put them together.  I was hoping there was a good training technique other than letting the cow and horse work things out.    

[jerseyrose]

If she is just with the hereford and they are bickering but doing alright I would just leave them be. Your other horse will be coming back? If this is just a temporary thing I would let them bicker ( as long as they aren't hurting each other) as they might both enjoy it!

[nina]

Aug 2, 2018 14:02:12 GMT -5 jerseyrose said:

If she is just with the hereford and they are bickering but doing alright I would just leave them be. Your other horse will be coming back? If this is just a temporary thing I would let them bicker ( as long as they aren't hurting each other) as they might both enjoy it!

My DH invited a family to stay at our farmhouse for 2 weeks so I had to put my bratty mini in with 4 big calves and the poor zebu who is the same size as the mini and delicately built.  I just don't trust people not to mess with the animals or leave the gate open when they drive out.  This actually worked because the big calves like the zebu and she clings to another cow whenever the filly gets nasty.  The cows are grouping together and the zebu is less frightened so the mini brat isn't cutting her out of the herd and chasing her anymore as the zebu found hiding behind another cow is a better anti-horse tactic.  Essentially the cows figured out she can't really hurt them and now just find her annoying, but stand their ground at the feed trough.  Confetti is now relegated to the very end of the feed trough as one calf Daphne is very grumpy and will butt her hard with very little provocation.   Confetti's stablemate Violet will come home Sunday.  Thanks, I had hoped to train Confetti to behave.

[kim'scows]

Nice when they can figure out how to make it work on their own. Years ago, we had a mixed "flerd" of sheep, a goat, cows and a donkey. The donkey had it in for the goat, for some odd reason, but the goat figured out that he could just hide behind our big sweet boss cow, and the donkey wouldn't try anything. I still chuckle when I remember watching him duck behind her whenever he saw the donkey coming.

What was even more odd though, was that the goat had a thing about this one heifer and would chase her with his tongue hanging out (maybe it was love?). Ah well, mixed species herd dynamics can be interesting to say the least.

[jerseyrose]

nina good to hear they worked it out for themselves.

[nina]

Aug 9, 2018 9:20:02 GMT -5 kim'scows said:

Nice when they can figure out how to make it work on their own. Years ago, we had a mixed "flerd" of sheep, a goat, cows and a donkey. The donkey had it in for the goat, for some odd reason, but the goat figured out that he could just hide behind our big sweet boss cow, and the donkey wouldn't try anything. I still chuckle when I remember watching him duck behind her whenever he saw the donkey coming.

What was even more odd though, was that the goat had a thing about this one heifer and would chase her with his tongue hanging out (maybe it was love?). Ah well, mixed species herd dynamics can be interesting to say the least.

I keep wanting to get a donkey for protection, but I'm sort of uneasy around donkeys.  Are their personalities a lot different than horses?  I don't know why I feel comfortable around horses and not donkeys.  My new neighbors have two big donkeys and their heads are so big compared to their bodies it makes it seem like they want to take a big chomp out of you.  Their braying also makes me want to jump out of my skin it startles me every single time, and they are really loud.  I say that living across from a drag strip/race track.     Also I saw that picture someone posted of a donkey with a coyote in its mouth 
. 

[northstar]

Yeah, that's what I was going to mention when you said you were uneasy around donkeys. I love that picture. I wonder if they could do any damage to a wolf.
Marsha

[suzorse]

donkeys and mules are notorious dog haters and that is why they make good guard animals , gelded jacks(johns) and jennys are best but not a herd of them

Suzanne

[jerseyrose]

I would LOVE to have a donkey. I have had 2 mules in the past who would love to kill every one of my goats if possible , but had no dislike for my dogs. So since I run my goats & cows with the horses at times , no donkey for me Maybe someday.