On Thursday, December 21, a farm mom shared an irresistible video about some of the animals they have on their property. In the clip, she shows a herd of horses galloping across the wide open pasture, but upon closer there’s an unexpected member of the group.
This honorary horse is actually a very sweet cow who loves to spend time with the horses. Luckily, she’s a pleasure to have around and they welcome her to the herd with open hooves!
@amberp0904Bama moo loves her herd ❤️ #jarafarms #bamathemoo #lovemycow #cowpony #auctioncows
Oh, this is just adorable! This little cow named Bama “has no clue” she’s not a horse, according to her mom. While these two species do look similar from a distance, there are a good number of differences that separate them. Bama doesn’t seem to care, though!
Related: Woman Shares Why Everyone Needs a Pet Cow and Each Point Is a Good One
Cows are incredibly friendly and don’t do well as solitary animals, so we aren’t surprised Bama wanted to make friends with the horses. Plus, the similarities between the two species made it easy for her to infiltrate the herd!
Horses and cows make a perfect match for interspecies friendships
Bama’s ability to fit in with this group of horses isn’t too surprising for those familiar with the two species. On many farms, horses and cows intermingle in a pasture because they compliment each other so well.
They have similar eating habits, meaning they can share a grazing pasture. However, what truly makes a partnership between cows and horses beneficial is their dental anatomy makes them go for different maturity levels of grass. A horse has incisors in front of their mouth to bite and cut food, meaning they can graze closer to the ground, whereas cows don’t have incisors and have to rely on longer grasses they can grab and tear with their tongue.
Furthermore, horses are a bit more picky about what grass they eat and may avoid certain areas. Cows are not choosy and will readily eat the grassy areas that the horses ignore. When you combine these two considerations, more grass is eaten by the horses and cows when they graze together and less mowing is needed.
Another benefit of allowing cows and horses to co-exist together is that the parasites that might cause harm to one species won’t affect the other if eaten. The kind of parasites possible in cattle wouldn’t reach full maturity in a horse, and vice versa, meaning the parasites would die before causing any harm to the other animal.
Despite all these similarities, we are still very impressed with how seamlessly Bama adapted to being the only cow in a herd of horses. Soon enough, she’s going to start neighing instead of mooing!
