Miniature Horse Keeping Questions

Tess said:

...Do I need to till it? Would It be safe to till with the rocks?

...How do you keep yellow jackets & flies away?

...I read somewhere that I could put a little vinegar in the water to keep them away...Is it safe to put vinegar in it?

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In order:

1) Tilling rocks (gravel)? Personally, I wouldn't do it with our tiller. The tiller cost too much. I suggest you wear safety glasses.

2) Instead of fleece blankets (based on the time of year) I would suggest you invest in fly masks. (I have never seen a yellow jacket bother any of ours.)

3) I'm sure I'll learn something based on my comment, but I've never heard of putting vinegar in horse water.

Many people add a cap of apple cider vinegar to their horse's water bucket and claim that it keeps biting insects away. I've tried it yo no avail, as it just made my horses not want to drink....which is very dangerous. Teach youngsters to stand for being sprayed with fly repellent. To avoid bees, keep pastures and barns free of debris and overhangs that provide ideal nesting sites. Gates with holes in the bottom, machinery and equipment heat up in the sun and provide ideal yellow jacket nesting spots. They recommend painting the underside of eaves and roof overhangs or porch ceilings light blue to deter bees from nesting. The idea is that they mistake the blue surface for sky and won't nest there.

We have a 3 Horse slant bumper pull, but for one mini going a short distance, we tend to use my old mini van.

Rubber mats are the best floor covering.

We have often kept a sold horse for free, up to 30 days, while the buyer is finishing preparing for it.

Our dirt paddocks do have some rocks sticking up, but they are too deeply buried to pull out, so we just drag the area.

We don't have a lot of yellow jackets, but for flies I use a horse fly spray and to apply on their faces, I spray it on a wash cloth and wipe their faces.

We have never had a problem with yellow jackets, bees, etc. bothering the horses, even though we have had some paper wasp nests form in the nearby workshop. Maybe because the horses aren't worried about them, the bugs don't react as they do sometimes with people.

The only way I have used vinegar in regard to the horses was as a homemade fly repellent. I think the recipe was apple cider vinegar and water? I don't remember but am sure the recipe could be found on the internet if wanted.

The homemade spray seemed to help a little but was more of a refreshing body wash I think for the horses!

I think we love the feel of fleece more than our horses do! This can be a good time of year though to find some bargains on blankets as folks clean out their barn cupboards for the year. You would then have them in the Fall /Winter months.

Hi,

The ground in the mini paddock gets very muddy when it rains. For drainage would a mixture of dirt and sand work for footing? How about 2-3 inches deep?

Thanks,

Tess

Tess said:

Hi,

The ground in the mini paddock gets very muddy when it rains. For drainage would a mixture of dirt and sand work for footing? How about 2-3 inches deep?

Thanks,

Tess

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Sand is good for drainage, but I wouldn't mix dirt with it. Dirt+water=mud.

Do I need footing at all?

If it turns to mud is there an area where they can get out of the mud? You don't want them standing in mud all the time.

Yes, I have a run into shed. I also have a little deck next to the shed off the ground. There are a few places where the ground is not that muddy.

I read that I could put some vinegar in a spray bottle and spray it on the hooves to help prevent thrush. Is that true?

The shed is off the ground and is about 8" high to walk in, would I need to build a ramp for them?

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is very good for the hoof! Spray it on the bottoms to heal and prevent thrush.

And yes ACV does MANY good things for the horse to put it in their water! It's really good for horses that don't drink enough water because most horses love the taste and will drink more water. When it's put in their water it will ward off flys from getting on the horse, because the flys hate the smell, and when it's in their water it will keep the flys off their poop so the flys won't want to lay their eggs in it. Therefore less flys! You can also dilute it with water and use it as a natural fly spray. I do all of the above with good results! : )

Note!!! This is Apple Cider Vinegar, not just the white vinegar, very important!

Tess, they should manage an 8 inch step up without a ramp, but they might not do on their own. I can lead my horse onto a deck, but it wouldn't be his natural choice, as the footing wouldn't feel "normal". I don't see them choosing to get out of the mud that way. Is the mud there because it is spring, or is the mud there any time it rains? If there is any way to place the paddock,or most of the paddock, on higher, firmer ground, I'd highly recommend it, because any place that is muddy without horses will become a quagmire of mud once horses have been on it for a few weeks or less. If drainage is an issue, I don't think a few inches of sand on top will work for you long term. It will eventually get turned up into the soil. You might need to excavate the soil down a foot or so, and then add something like gravel and stone dust, then sand. I'm no expert, though.

Tess said:

The ground in the mini paddock gets very muddy when it rains. For drainage would a mixture of dirt and sand work for footing? How about 2-3 inches deep?

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This: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drain

I'm not sure of your location or amount of rainfall. If you have mud, you have water and dirt. Water either evaporates or drains; it has to go somewhere. You can toss a couple inches of fill out there, and eventually you'll still have mud. The water has to go somewhere. I wouldn't bother putting down 2 to 3 inches of anything. Before you fill, you have to do something for drainage.

Tess said:

Yes, I have a run into shed. I also have a little deck next to the shed off the ground. There are a few places where the ground is not that muddy.

I read that I could put some vinegar in a spray bottle and spray it on the hooves to help prevent thrush. Is that true?

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Based on my observations, horses never do what you want them to do. If you make them a nice little area or a deck or whatever; they're not going there. They'll do something silly that screws up your plans like standing in mud ...then peeing in it so they get a really nasty, stinky case of thrush. To prevent thrush, in my opinion, keep their hooves out of the mud, and especially keep the hooves out of muddy areas that have contaminants, like horse pee.

There's several thrush treatments off-the-shelf (that stain vigorously.) Thrush smells so nasty, I would go with one of those, vice experimenting with vinegar just so I wouldn't have to smell that odor.

Hi,

We only get some rain in spring and a little in fall. We very rarely get rain in summer. We get a lot of snow in winter.

There are places in the paddock where there is no mud. But when it rains there is a lot of mud near the back corner of the paddock.

The shed is near the front of the paddock/near the gate. We are putting the food and water tubs in the front of the paddock.

There is only very little to no mud near the front of the paddock. Because their food, water and shed is near the front would they stay by it most of the time?

On the food / water tubs, should I build a little covering over it just to cover the food/ water from rain/snow? Or should I put the food and water in the shed (that is 8" off the ground)?

Thanks,

Tess

If I build a little ramp up to the shed how would I make it non-slip?

Thanks everyone for all the answers and advice.

I have a large deck next to the fence for my girls. The feeder is on it. Keeps there feet dry when eating. And great dry place for them to sun bathe. My black made likes to sun bleach her hair there.lol

If it's only a small place that gets muddy, you could put pea gravel in that area. 4 inches deep would allow for loosing some in the mud, or put road textile down before the gravel. It will need to be replenished every 2 years or so depending on how much mud you have. My dry-lot has a muddy spot also, they stay out of it when it's real bad.

If your shed is big enough and they get along when eating, try putting their hay inside it. If it doesn't work, then you could build a cover outside. A cattle panel and tarp shelter would work well and is cheap to put up. If you build a wood ramp, put furring strips, across it or a nonslip mat. You could just make a dirt ramp also. Try it without the ramp first they will probably have no problem with the step. When do we get to see pics?

pics would be GREAT!!

There are so many options now for feeding hay/grain that are really inexpensive. If you and your hubby are at all building inclined or "crafty" - you could even make these hay tubs out of a blue/white/black/"red" food grade barrel that range in our area from $15 - 50 each...



or this type -



If you search the internet - there are many other ideas out there. I'm looking at these myself - I free feed coastal/bermuda hay here in NC in their pens and also out on "pasture". I like the bottom one, too, as we are looking at doing some free choice alfalfa pellets or cubes again and that looks like a great way to do so...

My OLD horse trailer was chest high on a lot of our ponies - when I left it out in the pasture and left the rear door open and the emergency door open as well - we often found the ponies sheltering in it. For some reason most preferred the trailer to the trees or the 3 sided, roofed shed.



It had a canvas roof - strapped on above Stuffy. In 2001, we redid the canvas roof - but the new one didn't last nearly as long. In 2009, we completely removed it and since getting my new trailer, we haven't replaced the canvas roof. The foals below - jumped right up into the trailer with their dams - this pic was taken after arriving at our destination for the day and was the first time they'd officially worn halters and led and were trailered as well. It is parked in this pic so that it was lower in the pic for the day - but often it is much higher when loading/unloading.



I personally don't see a problem with them learning to step up to your "floor"/deck. OR you could build a ramp - giving you a couple of different ways to "play" with your horse(s).

These are great ideas. Thanks

Hi,

Okay, it just rained today. I went outside to see how muddy it was. It's okay but I think I would like to use some gravel in the bad spots. Thanks for telling me about using gravel.

Also I have never used a shedding blade before. What kind should I buy? Or does it really matter?

Thanks,

Tess