Wild horses and Cattle at Skovsgaard

Here you can find a 245 hectar enclosure where cattle and wild horses live outdoors all year round. This means that they are never given food and are never brought into stables, but forage for themselves, eating the wild plants they can find in nature.

In 2020 the estate of Skovsgaard Gods unveiled a major nature conservation project that aims to combine food production with the re-establishment of natural habitats. Two thirds of the Estate’s 400 hectares of land will, over the next few years,  be transformed into a natural habits by setting out cattle, wild horses and pigs.

50 Scottish Highland Cattle were set out in the meadows at Påø in November 2020 and in February 2021 the first wild horses were released into this area.
The animals are part of a habitat restoration project at Skovsgaard Gods, and they will fend for themselves all year round. This means that they are never given food and are never brought into stables, but forage for themselves, eating the wild plants they can find in nature.

When animals graze an area all year round, they create the foundations for a healthy natural habitat and brings back natural dynamics and processes. The animals help create a landscape consisting of grassland, ponds, wetlands, open woodland and scrub, and they will also provide a basis for increasing the biodiversity of the area.

Remember these 5 points when you enter the horse’s enclosure:

• Keep your distance from the horses – at least 25 meters
• Do not touch or feed the horses
• Refrain from walking between the animals. Always make sure you give them room to move freely
• Leave the foals in peace
• Dogs must be on a leash