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[Lisa Almarode <lisaalmarode@yahoo.com>]

My experience isn't very related to your question, but maybe it will help. 

Our place came with a lot of hawthorne of unknown type (my uneducated guess is c. douglassi), thorns but not very bad; more like you can get on plums.  Some big single trees, but there's a north-south row, closely but irregularly spaced (more than 100 trees in less than 200' by about 6' wide), as for a hedgerow.  This row of trees would not have held goats.  Possibly it would keep back deer; deer seem rely on their athletic ability and are less persistantly focused than goats.

The single trees are more dense and spreading, but open close to the ground; but the line of hawthorne is much less dense and tends to have more vertical growth, and there's not much distinction between low and high branching.  They look like they want more sun, compared to the single trees. 

These hawthornes sucker like crazy, both from the root crown and if you disturb roots.  We cut one to 4' and it's turning back into a tree as fast as it can.  But these are very ugly trees with lots of dead branches and ratty looking leaves.

 

Lisa in Lebanon, Oregon