Horses and Elk

Elk are totally awesome to see up close. They are magnificent and have a wild look in their eyes. I feel really fortunate to live in an area where I get a chance to see them so close, but there is a downside too. When they hang out around residential areas they lose their fear of humans. That isn’t really a good thing. There was a time when I merely had to go outside and they would fade into the woods, but now they often stand there and stare at me as if to say "do you have any hay I can take from you?". At one time I had to carefully creep up to get a good look or photo of them. Now, if I want them to leave, I've taken to running towards them waving a big broom in the air, screaming and yelling while looking for a place to duck out in case they decide to attack. I have wondered about the wisdom of this.

The horses and elk usually get along okay but my old mare, Lady, was gored in the forehead a few years ago. She was locked up in her pen when an elk wanted her hay. The elk can jump the fences almost like they aren’t there. Now Lady hates elk. She will charge them and turn her behind towards them and try to kick. She hasn’t been gored since that time and usually manages to discourage them. She is 41 now and can’t kick very well, but she is still fearless and very aggressive to elk and subordinate mares. My fjord is the only mare she can boss around now. A neighbor’s horse was gored in the shoulder several years ago. That was a more serious wound because it penetrated fairly deeply and required veterinary care. The wound in the forehead was only skin deep because there is so much bone there. It healed well and can hardly be seen now.

My fjord is very curious about the elk. She sometimes approaches them out in the open field. They don’t seem to have attacked her. She kind of hangs around them and eventually they get uncomfortable and leave.

We have been here in the Jemez Mountains for about 24 years now and haven’t had much trouble with the elk. We keep the hay and grain in a semi-trailer so it isn’t a temptation except at feeding time and they don’t hang around that much. We only see them on occasion. As long as they don’t hurt the horses they are okay.