Horses and cows have quite different behaviors in terms of grazing. Horses don't damage shrubs nor small trees, they only grazes pasture and they like acorns too. Our farm is repleted with Holm oaks, so there are a lot of acorns; these nutritious fruits are used to feed pigs in the past. Also, horses are respectful animals with the fences and with other existing infrastructure.
I don't think cows were good as grazing animals. They provoke a harmful impact on the vegetation and compact the soil too.
I've been observing their habits this summer. They used to follow the same paths everyday due to our farm have some dense forest areas and it's difficult for them to move around. They choose different parts of the farm along the day in order to find the coolest place every time. They eat during the night because the moisture content of the pasture is higher so they drink less. During the day, they choose the north side and almost don't move. One thing that surprises me is that a horse eat four times compared to a cow!
Maybe it could come up an agreement with the owner to extend his business selling the horses, probably in a near future, not now because of the downturn...
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