miniature horses - opinions please
 

I love horses - have loved them since I was a kid and begged my dad for an Icelandic pony - he said no :( Now that I'm much older, I would still like horses BUT have heard from many folks who have lived with horses all their lives about the downside of horse life - mostly the injuries, broken bones, bruises, near misses. These are experienced horse people with horses that are well broken..accidents can happen.
I cannot afford to be laid up since I'm the primary source of income at home AND, I want to live a long and healthy life. :)
There is a Mennonite family around here who has a pair of miniature horses. I've seen them pulling a cart with vegetables to market.
I think I'd like miniatures - I realize they will require the same amount of care, farrier, vet, etc.
Anyone else have miniatures? What do you think....should I just forget about horses altogether or will miniature horses be the answer for me :)

I'm not much help, but luck to ya.

I'm quite sure that bergere will be along soon and respond. She has minis and is using them in harness so she should be able to share quite a bit of information.

Minis
 

Hi - I have been a horse lover all my life also- But decide to go BIG! I now have 12+ Registered Percherons! But I had to get a pony since i was planning on haveing a baby and he was a good price and sweet natured and somewhat kid broke.... I am currently breaking him to drive and is doing good.... You will need to have at least 2 or a buddy for your pony (like a goat) but they can become very buddy sour (refusing to leave their buddy) and you can never treat them as a Pet - that is one sure way to "Spoil" them, and even a pony can become dangerous when spoiled.... My suggestion is to befreind some one with experience that can help you out on your quest! good Luck!

Lori Volden
Cannon Valley Percherons & Carriages
www.wildwebranchers.com/olsoncenturyfarm
Western WI

I have had miniature horses for a number of years. If you want some very well trained ones, now is the time to buy.

I would recommend mini's with a steady, easy going temperament, more bone than the show ones and very well trained.

Before my accident I was using Maggie for scaled down farm work. But since then I mostly drive her. Or use the Sawbuck and pannier I have, to have her carry things. My mini's are very well trained and know the rules. They are no worse than any other breed in that respect. Mine are polite, respectful and a great help to me.

These folks were doing mini draft work big time.

http://www.miniatureequine.com/luckyhart/teams2.html

Here's Maggie in her cart.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i5...gieincart1.jpg

I have lots of links to safe good quality harnesses,, even buckboards, just let me know if you are interested.

I have minis, too. Getting back into horses as a middle aged person, I have the same fears as you.

I love my minis. They are big horses in a little body and need the same ground training. Mine are not brats. They are pets, but they also know the rules. They know how to lunge, back up, and the basics any large horse would. One of them drives.

Minis aren't inherently bratty- it's how some were treated that give minis a bad reputation. Any cute animal can be spoiled, and minis are very cute. If you treat them like a big horse, they will respect you, bond to you and work for you.

They also love to learn tricks. All the minis I know are exceptionally smart.

If you would like to drive, look for a a mini already trained and with lots of driving miles. Of course, you will need two! :) I had no idea I would love my minis this much. But they are great. If you don't drive, teach them tricks and games. One of mine will run a cone pattern next to me with no lead rope. You can also do in hand jumping with them.

I don't show. But many people get into showing- you should look for a registered mini if you want to do mini shows.

Lori, nice website! Love the horses and the story of the family.

I love to ride horses. So mini doesn't work for me..LOL

what is your passion? To ride? then get a standard horse.


Mini are cool. They are a true horse in all respect other than shorter..LOL

If you want to buggy like Bergere is doing, then sure, go for it.

BERGERE

that is the nicest shot of a mini and buggy. SO COOL and it looks so inviting!

I don't cart----I ride horses.....but wow you have me intersted in just a great use for a mini around the farm!

What kind of cost is your buggy that size? And how much weight can a mini pull over a long day? just wondering and would love more info. Karen

Thanks Karen.

That cost me just shy of $1,600 about oh goodness.. 10 years ago now. Checked the web site I bought it from and it is the same price. Cost extra for shipping.
http://www.countrycarriagesusa.com/vehicles.html

How much a mini can pull depends on a lot of things. Size, build/bone, in good shape and so on.
Maggie... for all her fuzzy winter coat, is 33 1/2" tall and on the more refined side. The CRC I have as it is set up is 110lbs and with my new and improved weight ...is the max she can pull with the hills we have.
Her daughter however because she is taller and a bigger build, could pull more than that easily.

I would recommend B sized minis if you want to do a lot of farm work and or driving.

I ride my Icelandic's too... but I also enjoy driving.

Thanks for the replies! I fell last year and fractured a number of ribs, so I don't particularly want to ride horses now. A good number of my neighbours have draft horses, which I love, particularly the Canadians, but again, I was not raised around horses so I'm leary about the size and potential for injury that someone inexperienced like me could suffer.
That's why the miniatures seemed like a possibility and from what Bergere has posted, I think I'll look into this more seriously.
The farm work that I would be doing with miniatures, might be to help move square bales of hay, or perhaps help move portable fencing around when I finally get my.....shetland sheep [yep, want my sheep small too!!] :)

Thanks for the info and link, Bergere (love love those buggys!)
My interest is peaked.

When we first got back into horses I was pretty fearful of them after years of being off of them and the first ones we got were a couple of mini's. They were so much fun to work with and easy to handle and greatly helped my fear working with horses. Now we're back up to the full size horses, but I still love the mini's and they are a blast to drive.

I had neighbors with miniatures. They were the most worthless, miserable creatures I ever dealt with. Nasty little beggars. I want nothing to do with them after that. Best of luck to you, but they look like yard ornaments to me, capable of little real utility.

I love my mini's. They cost less to feed than full size horses, so it's easy to keep 2 so that they have a friend to play with.

I'm working on teaching mine to bow.
I would love to teach mine to drive, they could be a big help around the farm.
Could even teach them to pull fence posts out of the forest on my property ;)

The nice thing also about having 2 is watching them play together.
I can see mine from the kitchen window, they usually keep to somewhat of a a schedule, so if I stop for coffee around 11am, I most of the time get to watch them have a blast playing together:cool:

Horses are the best therapy when it comes to those blah, sad, or quiet days. No matter the size of horse, if you take a walk to the barn for a bit, you'll always come back to the house with a smile on your face :)

I've had to "downsize" because of age and old injuries and while we do still have 3 minis from DHs "show mini" days, I went to a Haflinger for farm work. She's about 14 hands, very quiet and was Amish trained when I got her to do everything you can do with a horse in harness. Sensible, respectful (as long as you remind her just who is alfa occasionally) and never puts a foot wrong.

I think the minis would probably be the same, if you got them well trained, although I do remember once, one of the younger mini mares (not well halter broke) spooking and running, managing to trip DH up in the lead rope and leaving little mini hoofprints in various parts of his body!

Some photos on my blog about draft/work horses here: http://kaleidoscope-animalfriends.bl...ft-horses.html

Bergere, when you post pictures of your minis toting you around, it always looks like so much fun!

It is.

Maggie also has done Scaled down draft work...and in shape they can surprise you how much they can work.
She also has a saw buck and panniers and she is my extra pair of hands when I need it.

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i5...ier2Asmall.jpg

They are great small multi use horses, with a heart of gold.;)

i rounded this one up about 6 months ago, during the drought, tryed to find the own but no luck so i kept him, when i first got him he was wild, couldent get within 40 feet of him, only been workin with him the past few weeks and almost got him broke, with the help of my 7 year old brother. hes come along way in a few weeks, would consider him green broke. got him loadin in a trailor can pick up his hooves. can throw ropes all over him, dogs can run by him. lol when he gets scared he likes to try and hide behind you and hides his head under your arm.

El' Diablo
http://i45.tinypic.com/1hulw.jpg
dont worry i dont have all my weight on him.
i wanna trade him for a full sized horse.

I would not recommend to anyone, to even try riding an A sized mini. Their body just can't handle it and damage can be done to them.
A Larger B sized mini with a small child under 50lbs is OK for some of them that size, just depends on the build.

One time my sister accidentally took a brief ride on one of my goats. She was straddling it and it took off as goats will do. Well goats tend to have BIG bellies and that grabbed her legs, and so Amy was dangling on top of the goat and then fell off. It was brief so the goat was ok. There have been goats killed by kids riding them. They cannot take it, it will break their back.

runestone, i can probably point ya too some breeders and owners of minis, Canadians as well! we've found that being able to do a basic trim plus having a good horse vet were 2 of the major things to keeping our horses well! a trained mini would be a good starting point! or an older cheval canadien! this site gives you some good links!
http://www.mapleridgefarms.ca/

Thanks ford major :) That's exactly what I was thinking...If I could start with minis and become comfortable with horses that I could manage - later I might be comfortable with something the size of a Canadian.
I've already convinced DH that the minis would be useful around the farm :)

there is also the newfounland pony, bred too be very strong and reliable! http://www.newfoundlandpony.com/
if your heading down too the valley here, there are many breeders of all kinds of horses!
there was someone that was converting implements for garden tractors to use behind minis/ponies, think it may have been farm show.

Now that would be really neat!! Implements that fit the horse :) I can certainly see all kinds of useful tasks that the little horses could do for me.

We have a mini .
hes got great temperment and has never failed to do anything asked of him other than stay in a fence .
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...icture1272.jpg

He costs less to keep than a dog, and unlike a dog is quite content to weed eat and mow the yard . Hoof trimming is rather simple just need a hoof pick a file and a pair of large end nips . we have never had any need to shoe him.
we put a saddle on him at age two it was on for less than an hour before putting the child on. never balked one bit even though he'd never had one on before . when we got our cart he was harnessed up first time he'd ever had a bit in his mouth. pulled the cart like a champ (no previous training) even backed it up with out so much as a shudder . He's ten years old now and shows no worse for wear
we keep him wormed and his shots up, trim his hooves. Other wise hes pretty much a pet.
This is not to say he doesnt have a few bad habits.
He hates being stuck in a fence and will test every post until he finds some lose enough to work over . Electric fences arent a deterent either for our hard headed houdini I have watched him step up against the electric fence shudder at each jolt and then walk right through it ( keep in mind this was a 25 mile weed burner charger ) . The little booger also will not stand for a dog barking at him or attempting to chase him. He has stomped coons to death in the chicken house and broken dogs ribs as well as taking a chunk out of a couple dogs .
All in all though he's been the easiest animal animal we have ever had the pleasure of keeping . He leaves all his piles in one corner of the yard .
I wouldnt trade our Mighty Mouse for a sea biscuit clone

We have had mini's. Wonderful animals, lots of fun to drive. They definitely don't see themselves as little. Our mare held her own against the big horses we have. We now have an adorable red leopard mini/POA cross. He is 10H. Pulls a cart and my little ones ride him. Sweet as can be and hardly costs a thing to maintain. I say go for it!

I have min's yet to this day. One but that is enough.
I have shown mini's in the past and if you look at my avatar you see what you can do with those little guys.
And if you click on my picture link you will see them in the house.
I even hauled that mini mare in the avatar over 350 miles like that in the back seat to a horse show in Central Iowa. Game away with a few 2nd place ribbons too.
The show was judged by 3 judges at a time. So triple the show points. Cool. The cost is way less then a full sized horse because of the fact they eat very little.
i have 50 pound hay bales and it takes around a WEEK for my little guy to eat that bale while feeding him 2 to 3 times a day just small amounts.

Subbing for the same reasons as OP.
And asking too, fencing. Let's say goat fencing/hotwire, is that enough to keep them in and predatory dogs out? Or is wire a huge no-no?

And how do you find a decently mannered one? What do you look for? All I've see here are the puppy mill folks who've branched out into minis.

Anybody have a book rec?

If you really want to learn about mini's here is the best forum site on the net.
Close to 6,000 Members from all over the world talk about miniature horses, miniature donkeys and a host of "horse related" items mostly all connected with the miniature horse.
http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/ "Little Beginnings"

Ya beat me to it. LB site is the best one for gleaning lots of info and they even have a sales board.

Little Beginnings

I have had full size horses my entire life. Yes, accidents can and do happen. I have been stepped on, bit, kicked and fallen off, never a major injury but plenty of bruises to show.
I purchased a mini 3 yrs ago. He is a handful. Total attitude. I have him broken to ride and hope to break him to cart this year. My full size geldings are very calm, much calmer than him.
I do have a question though, has the term pony, been replaced by miniature horse? Many minies I see look a lot like the ponys I knew a few years ago.

I'll admit as a little stallion ours was a handfull but after having him gelded he calmed down quite well . Of course he was also handled quite often and kept in the yard .

No it is a Size thing only. under 34 inches is a mini. Which btw many mini's do have shetland blood in them.
Now the other registry AMHR under 34 is Class A mini. 34 to 38 is a Class B mini.
The other registry AMHA is only mini's under 34 inches.
Now with both those registries, you do not measure on the top of the withers like full size horses.
Nope you measure the Last Hair on the Mane.
The Pony then is over 38 inches up to 58 inches or 14.2 hands.

Calling them "Miniature horses" was a marketing ploy of a number of Shetland breeders back in the 60's. Way of selling their animals for more money and it worked.
Genetically.. they are still pony..abet.. some lines have been very refined over the years.

Because I use mine for work or to pull... I like mine to have more bone to them.. more like the older type Shetland.

Mine have a strong/very smart temperament but much more steady than any riding horse I have ever owned.