Meet my mini's!

[MaggieSims]

Well, the story was they've been happily pastured with a couple big horses for years. But, at the same time, the previous home was almost too stable. They had no change, only been hauled twice. Once when the owners moved 8 miles away, and once to my house, 100 miles away, and they did the hauling, thankfully. Then I pen them up next to the neighbors fence, in a new place, with new people and scary big horses next door. Go figure that I NEVER saw their horses on that stretch until I got mine. So all this is new to them so I haven't judged any of the weirdness. These are my only horses, fortunately. And now fenced away from the others. I have 10 acres, trees and rolling pasture, so they can't see the bigger ones until I get them out and about.
I just came in from... I don't know what. Halterd both, and jogged around. So, exercise? Training? I don't think they learned anything but i get tired fast but we kept going until they were tired and I could start to smell horsey sweat but didn't see it yet. We went over brush, through tall grass, around all my various animals, I ran down my long driveway, I learned Pistol has a nice fast trot, and Jazz is a slowpoke. Took them down to the road and waited for traffic, the one that drove by ended up a log truck, so nice and loud on a bumpy dirt road. neither one spooked or really seemed alarmed, so that was good. Went to the pond, no water for them. They wanted no part of my shenanigans. So we trotted back up and visited with my father in law neighbor (he stays in a motor home outside) and his weenie dog. Nothing really seemed to bother them while on a lead, so that's good news.

 

[Bunnylady]

Sounds like fun! I think it's Clinton Anderson who says, "the more you scare a horse, the less they are scared of." Obviously, that doesn't mean you fill their world with more jump-scares than a horror game, but exposing them to lots of odd things under controlled conditions is how you build a bomb-proof horse (at least in theory). With that thought in mind, BB2K and I created an obstacle course in one part of the yard. There are elements like this:

and this:

lots of things to go under, over, around and through. Syd usually works through it with no issues:

I keep trying to think of new things to add; one of Syd's biggest problems has always been things that flap (like flags). As you can see in the pictures, there are water elements that reflect and have frogs that jump in and splash unexpectedly, but I don't ask the horses to walk through them; I'm still trying to figure out how to make a water element with a firm, non-slippery bottom that I can walk them through because Blondie in particular tends to avoid puddles . . . . Also a work in progress.

 

[MaggieSims]

I like your course !! I have young kids so I thought I should try to expose my boys to as much as I can, so kids being kids shouldn't be new stuff to them.


I 'measured' the bigger one this morning, his last mane hair is 41". I'm pretty sure both parents were registered mini's. His brother is a couple inches shorter, but both have good build, and from what I can see, decent confirmation. What's your take on light riding, for small kids? My biggest is 45lbs. My daughter, who wants to ride more than anything is 30lbs. She rode a camel at a zoo and got her camel's drivers licence, so she says she's ready for riding a pony. I didn't buy them with the intent to saddle and ride, but more to teach my kids horsemanship and handling with a smaller animal. But I'm thinking they are built for a light ride, much bigger than other lead line ponies I see around here. It might be a bonus?

 

[Kusanar]

I like your course !! I have young kids so I thought I should try to expose my boys to as much as I can, so kids being kids shouldn't be new stuff to them.


I 'measured' the bigger one this morning, his last mane hair is 41". I'm pretty sure both parents were registered mini's. His brother is a couple inches shorter, but both have good build, and from what I can see, decent confirmation. What's your take on light riding, for small kids? My biggest is 45lbs. My daughter, who wants to ride more than anything is 30lbs. She rode a camel at a zoo and got her camel's drivers licence, so she says she's ready for riding a pony. I didn't buy them with the intent to saddle and ride, but more to teach my kids horsemanship and handling with a smaller animal. But I'm thinking they are built for a light ride, much bigger than other lead line ponies I see around here. It might be a bonus?

Ok, I may get lynched for saying this, but, I have a 32 inch mini, and when I weighed around 120 pounds I've ridden him with my feet dragging the ground... we even have video of my brother at around 15o pounds and 6 feet tall trying to ride him. Now, I'm not saying heavy riding, but I did walk him and trot him a little bit (because I didn't have a kid that knew how to ride to test him out for me) and I have hopped on him and walked him across the field to find the other horses. He seemed to be fine, but I wouldn't put that kind of weight on him often, I've had him for about 7 years and ridden him maybe 10 times.

And yes, use the kids, actually, there is a fun game you could teach the kids and minis that would possibly be helpful later. It is a Clinton Anderson thing he actually did with a whole stadium full of people at one of his tours. He taught the horse that the pressure would leave when she dropped her head, then he had the entire coliseum full of people yell, scream, wave arms, beat on things, and then when she dropped her head to STOP and not make a peep, the first time she freaked out pretty bad, but within about 30 seconds she dropped her head and everyone shut up, by the end she was actually turning it into a game to see how high she could get her head without everyone screaming! And, the way that this could be useful is that in an emergency or scary situation, kids are inclined to scream, if you teach the minis that when the children scream, that the correct thing to do is to stop dead and put their head down (a horse can't be scared with it's head down), then if something happens and a kid freaks out, rather than the horse heading for the hills, it SHOULD lock up all 4's and calm down.

 

[Bunnylady]

They are horses; the general rule of thumb is to limit the load of rider and tack to about 20% of the animal's body weight. Obviously, animals with sturdy legs like your boys can probably carry more of a load than one with a lighter build, but then, the body mass would be higher, too. When BB2K was smaller, she rode Syd (it was just round-pen stuff, since they were both so green, but it was important lessons for both of them because Syd used to attack children . . . ). My weight limit for Syd is about 60 lbs. It has been years since BB2K was that small, but Syd has done some lead-line pony party stuff. When I think she needs a refresher, I have a "dummy" that I use; I took an old pair of jeans, tied the ends of the legs shut, and poured about 40 lbs. of fishtank gravel in the legs. We just saddle up, tie the legs in place, and there we are . . . If she decides to get spooky and buck, well, the dummy doesn't get scared or hurt, and it doesn't come off, either.

I have done leadline stuff with my 32" mini mule too, but though Blondie is taller (35") I don't let kids ride her; she's built like a deer and I just don't think her frame can take it. Besides, she's a little bit roach backed, but I bought her for her personality, not her conformation. She will probably make a good driving pony; I'd just need to get a cart her size.

On occasion, it may be necessary for a larger person to ride a smaller animal, I can understand that, but the conformation of the animal needs to be taken into account. A long back is not as strong as a short one, bigger leg bones have more surface area in the joints to spread the pressure out than a more refined frame. Also, a fitter animal can balance the weight of a rider better. What burns my bacon is seeing teens on YouTube saying things like, "My mini is so spoiled. I ride him. He hates it, tries to bite and buck, but I do it anyway." Ummm - ever think about the possibility that the reason he hates it is because it hurts? When you see a 150+ pound person sitting on a pony and it is pretty much dragging its feet while trying to trot, that's way too much weight and they should know that. You may see tiny little donkeys carrying huge loads in third world countries, but donkeys have denser bones, so they can usually carry more, the material of which the load is composed isn't very heavy, and if the donkey breaks down, they'll just eat it and get on with their lives - not something most Americans want to do with a pet pony.

 

[Kusanar]

This is my mini, he's a chunky little guy, I'm hauling his head up in the pic of him being ridden because otherwise he bucks... he's just not saddlebroke, and the kids don't know any better than gripping with their legs which just makes him hump up and buck.

When I rode him, he had plenty of bounce in his step and he can actually canter with me, as he proved by taking off with me a few times, but I try not to push my luck, and I've gained weight, no way I would get on him now.

 

[Kusanar]

This is what he does most of the time for work though, if he does anything at all...

 

[MaggieSims]

@Bunnylady and @Kusanar
Wow! You two are very informative! Thanks so much for all the input, I have things to do for sure! I like the Clinton Anderson training tip, I'll look into that one for sure, since I can see how that would help in a hectic situation with kids.

I feel like my two boys are built sturdy for their size, and I have been looking into finding some used tack to start them. What am I looking for when purchasing tack? Obviously small sizes, but should I measure my horses first? What size saddle pad? I figured that would be first to introduce.

 

[Kusanar]

@Bunnylady and @Kusanar
Wow! You two are very informative! Thanks so much for all the input, I have things to do for sure! I like the Clinton Anderson training tip, I'll look into that one for sure, since I can see how that would help in a hectic situation with kids.

I feel like my two boys are built sturdy for their size, and I have been looking into finding some used tack to start them. What am I looking for when purchasing tack? Obviously small sizes, but should I measure my horses first? What size saddle pad? I figured that would be first to introduce.

I would suggest looking though Minitack.com and see what is available, I don't know if you can find it cheaper anywhere else, mini equipment is kind of specialized. But they would have a good selection of everything mini. I have harness for my little guy, but nothing else, if he is ridden it is bareback.

 

[Bunnylady]

I have one little problem with teaching the horse to

stop dead and put their head down

. . . .

Ever been on a horse that did that? It's FACE PLANT time, folks! Yes, the child won't get run away with, but the ground comes up mighty fast and hard . . .

(Just click in the middle of the video window where it says "watch this video on YouTube"; it will open another tab to YouTube and play the video). And unfortunately, this little boy has hands like a brick, so I don't know that Ed is entirely to be blamed for acting up like he does.)

You don't have to go with mini tack - a lot of pony saddles will fit a 9 or 10-hand pony (which is what your boys are). Both of the saddles I use are pony saddles/youth saddles, with 12 inch seats. Not a lot of help on the blankets/pads, I'm afraid - I made my own.