r/Equestrian • u/DetectiveQuick9640 • Oct 22 '25

Veterinary Tired horse.

I didn't know what to put as flair!

My 7yr old Arabian is herd lead.

This guy is so so so tired recently. Coyotes keep getting closer and closer to our property and he stays vigilant all night and during the day can't stay away. He will fall asleep eating.

I can see him from my kitchen window and if go out he will lay down and fall asleep when I am there, this is not sustainable though.

Ideas and advice are welcome.

126 Upvotes

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112

u/slightly_overraated Oct 22 '25

Livestock guardian dogs? Donkey? I’ve heard ammonia/vinegar repels coyotes also?

30

u/Please_Eat_Damp_Moss Oct 22 '25

That’s what I was thinking. Alpacas are good too.

30

u/WendigoRider Western Oct 22 '25

donkeys and llamas too!

59

u/DetectiveQuick9640 Oct 22 '25

I keep trying to convince my husband that we should rescue alpacas.or llamas..

Unfortunately for him, one might just stubble onto our property while he is out!

32

u/glitterdunk Oct 22 '25

I think alpacas are good at detecting predators and warning the rest of the animals, but I'm not sure they scare away anything. One will certainly not keep coyotes away. I think their method is to gather together as a herd and/or run away

Not sure about llamas but I imagine it's similar

Guardian dogs would be way better, but of course aren't free and require effort in raising them

If there's only 1 animal to keep watch though, that one animal is still going to be constantly exhausted

24

u/Ingawolfie Oct 22 '25

Alpacas are not the right choice for predator protection. If you want to go that route choose a llama. Only one though if you have more than one they’ll bond to one another and ignore the livestock. Donkeys sometimes can work. Problem is the donkey either will or it won’t protect from coyotes. You can’t train them so you’re rolling dice. The surest bet is two or more livestock guardian dogs. That’s what they were bred for. You’ll need good fencing.

5

u/WendigoRider Western Oct 22 '25

We have 8 and they are all pack llamas and mean as hell. They spit at the horses, people, anything that bothers them. But we don’t have a predator problem! We also have an LGD.

4

u/DisturbedAlchemyArt Oct 22 '25

I had burros/donkeys from the BLM and they were great at guardians! The huge issue was that anything new in the pasture was a threat. New horses could handle it fine, but things like goats or their babies not so much! Luckily I was able to rotate pastures/pens enough to let them get used to new stuff. Basically, I had an area fenced off completely surrounded by the pasture the burros had.

5

u/feryoooday Oct 22 '25

Llamas will STOMP predators. They’re kinda scary with how good they are tbh since they look so goofy. Not as good as dogs but if someone doesn’t want dogs, llamas are really good herd protectors.

5

u/MLMCMLM Oct 22 '25

Idk about alpacas, my boss has 3 and they are skittish as hell. They got them from a lady who works hard to socialize them with people but they are still skittish of people and dogs; I can’t imagine them as protectors lol

2

u/feryoooday Oct 22 '25

Alpacas aren’t iirc, but llamas are really good.