My new horse/pony

[jiterbug]

How do you correct him? I took some little baby carrots out to treat the goats and him and he bit my poor little goat so hard he picked him off the ground! I've watched him do this to the other two also. They are terrified of him. What should I do short of separating him. I'm sure he's establishing his authority with them, but I've been watching out the window and he intentionally intimidates them. btw, his previous owner said he's lived with goats before.

jiterbug

 

[Magic]

Since he's hurting the goats, IMO they should be separated. You can correct him all you want while you are out there, but when you AREN'T out there,he's free to hurt the goats all he wants. Maybe the goats he used to live with were bigger, or he respected them, but the current goats need protection.

 

[Bunnylady]

By now I'm sure you know that horses and goats operate a "pecking order" within the herd. I have 4 goats, a mini mule, and a miniature horse in the same pasture. My goats are Alpine crosses, so they are a little bigger, but my mule rules the roost! The mini dominates all but the biggest, a wether named Spike. That goofy little mini keeps trying to play with him, I think I'm going to have to separate them before she gets hurt. Spike would love to push the mule around, but she doesn't hesitate to chomp on him if he tries to give her any sass!

IMO, you really can't stop them from pushing each other around. My goats wouldn't dare butt me,

but I have often been knocked around when they are "disciplining" each other. The mule is so brutal because those pointy headed problem children keep "pushing the envelope" to see what they can get away with today. They don't seem to respect the more subtle signals that horses usually use. If this is the sort of thing your mini is used to, I can see why he's roughing up your goats. I have to agree with Magic, the only way you're likely to have any peace is if they can't reach each other.

 

[HGFarm]

I agree, seperate them. Many times, different species do not get along well together, whether they are grazers or predators, they just dont mix well. The goats are getting hurt if the horse is biting that hard. Seperate them with a fence, that way he can still see them, but cant hurt them.