# groundhog/gopher holes in pasture



## jaydee

Any hole that's deep enough for a horse to get its leg in and fall is a danger. Groundhog holes' like rabbit holes' are deep to do that so IMO should always be filled. Horses will avoid them if they're walking and can see them but if they're cantering across the paddock focused on what's ahead they won't


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## PoptartShop

Depending on how deep they are, yes they can definitely get injured. They should get filled I think, because you don't want to risk one of them catching their leg in it. Especially if they're running around & don't realize there's a hole there. Then bam! 

I was on a trail one time, and came out to a field and there were some holes. I had to be super careful and look down almost the entire time to make sure we weren't going to step in any! They were pretty deep too. Definitely should get them filled.


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## tim62988

shoot the groundhog first or it will dig another hole. our pasture has quite a few holes and I just eliminated one more groundhog today. 

it will take some work to get it filled in so I would start with rocks then finish with soil


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## Woodhaven

I was also going to say that if you just fill them in the little critters are still there and will just dig new ones. 
The horses are good at avoiding them if they know where they are but I do feel it's best to fill them in and get rid of the perpetrators.

I remember when I went on a cattle drive in Wyoming and a couple of us had to ride out to the farthest area to collect the cattle, my horse hadn't been ridden since the spring when they took the cattle up to summer pasture and when we headed out he just took off with me and we were cantering across this land and it was riddled with gopher holes, I tried to get him under control but the ground was very hilly and rocky with lots of sage brush, he would just jump the sage brush and carry on, one time he jumped a big brush and I could see a hole just at our landing spot, I prepared to meet my Maker but the horse just twisted in mid air and missed the hole, I thought "he is watching out for them" so I just sat back and let him run and he finally settled down, one thing I found good was there were no roads just big empty spaces so I was able to do that. After that first wild ride we got along just great. He was aptly named Rebel and the daughter told me that I was the only one who managed to ride him, the person in the spring refused to ride him after a few minutes on him.


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## Alder

Thank you for your comments. 
I'll fill them, just for my peace of mind. The farm dogs have chased the groundhogs off, so there shouldn't be any new ones once they're filled.
Great story Woodhaven!


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