Do people not have temparement up on their list for breeding traits?

[countrymini]

Everthing I've ever read about mini horses always mentions they're beautiful little natures. I had my stallion's certificate of soundness done by my vet yesterday and he was surpised by his friendly nature and calmness because 'usually these litte horses are unfriendly little beggers'. My mare is even more so than my stallion so I should get some really nice natured foals. Also my farrier was of the same oppinion before he trimmed my horses for the first time. I was gushing about how nice my mare was and he warned me not to trust them because 'they have little horse attitudes'. This goes against anything i'd ever read so I'm wondering if people in my area are breeding little rotters that look awesome.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I think the biggest problem is that people are not treating minis as horses. They treat them as dogs and let them get away with so much more than anyone would let a full size horse! They are still horses and need trained and treated as horses. I try to explain this to all of the inexperienced buyers that come our way to make sure they know that they still can hurt you even if they are small so have to be trained properly. We get the same reaction around here, people are just so surprised that our horses arent mean and let us handle them easily!

 

[Jill]

Wow, I agree with Melinda! That's basically what I was going to say. A lot of people with minis do not treat them like horses, and probably don't know any better. I have a big horse background, as I know many of us on LB do. But lots of people get a mini, and do not have horse experience and have no idea how totally different they are than any other kinds of pets they may have had before. You've got to treat them like horses and handle them like horses. They ARE horses. And though they are small, they are still stronger than any one of us when they are grown. Manners and respect are very important.

... with the above said, I would not breed (or even continue to own) a miniature horse that did not have a good disposition along with all the conformational qualities I like to see in our horses. But there is a difference between the disposition and what may be the correctable result of prior improper handling.

 

[eagles ring farm]

We consider temperment important but we have also never had a nasty mini

maybe because we're lucky and have chosen the right horses and

maybe because we are small and do handle our horses daily

But when we bought our new stallion he was not handled but was scared not nasty or mean

now that he is trained and handled daily he is just a sweetheart

People are always amazed with how friendly our horses are especially foals

but they are just used to being handled. Maybe it is because we come from a big horse background we are used to handling a horse like a horse. Like the ladies above said.

Would I keep a horse if it was just plain nasty NO

 

[Minimor]

I dont worry much about temperament because I've yet to meet a Mini that I didnt get along with. Some I like better than others, some are more stubborn or more incluned to be pushy but not have been bad to handle.

The biggest problem with minis is, I think, that they either don't get handled like horses or they don't get handled at all in some cases. I bought a couple of mares that were not nice to handle; one was quite wild the other just plain nasty about being around people. The one mare settled down a lot with regular handling; the nasty one became friendly with handling. Both have had several foals for us and not one of those foals has been wild or nasty--they all have super dispositions, proving their mothers' attitudes were created and not bred in.

edited because apparently my phone doesn't always type correctly!

 

[Equuisize]

Almost at the very top of my list.

I'd bypass the world's most beautiful horse if it had a rotten mind.

No time, in my world, to have to be watching out for those with a

nasty temperament.

 

[countrymini]

ok, that makes more sense. No or bad handling always creates monsters lol

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Temperament is #1 in my barn. People are shocked to learn my "geldings" are actually stallions.

 

[HGFarm]

I too have had my stallions mistaken for geldings at times. I know a LOT of breeders/owners and all their horses are so docile and gentle and kind hearted.... I have only known of one family who actually just ruined theirs, and they admitted that they raise a toy breed of dogs, and gosh, guessed the horses can't be treated the same way. This was the same family who tried to give several dogs away because they were ruling the household and were actually snapping at them and just impossible to handle. Hmm, some folks just should not have pets. Maybe fish would be ok, lol.

But all in all, I would have to say it's a rarity that I see one that is what I would call 'nasty'.

 

[Sandee]

Same here - my stallion (before and after being gelded) was a real sweetheart. He is the last one of my horses to give any trouble.

But the people on there that say they have never had any problems, you might notice are the ones that have had a lot of experience with horses. The worst acting minis are the ones that people take and leave out in the yard to "just look pretty". They never really "do" anything with them so the horses do not know what is expected of them nor how to act. Think little kids with no manners!

 

[Marty]

I have to agree with Melinda too. They all need time and training from the get-go. Manners are pretty important around here but so is a naturally nice disposition to work with. They need to understand the difference between when its ok to turn it on and when its not, like when I am working with them, and they do. I think these little guys are just like big horses in that they all have been born with different breeding and personalities. I never had a problem with the line I was formally breeding but when I purchased a couple of outside horses to join my little group, OMG I about fell over with their bad nature. Just plain mean and arrogant no matter how much training I put on them. I wouldn't have bred them with a ten foot poll. No place for horses like that here. I have a barn load of sweethearts, including my spoiled little Baby Chrissy who rules the roost. She's a goober but is respectful.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I had one for sure that had such a bad attitude you didn't want to be in the same pen with him. As soon as he was gelded he was perfect. Now he is the perfect youth horse, HOF'er, and National Champion, and multi National Top 10 winner. I guarantee you if he was a stud he would not be any of those things. Other then that if I got horses that just had bad attitudes mostly because of bad handling and they got better with training. One shetland in paticular I had just had a wonderful transformation from being a skittish hard to handle to the perfect child's mount.

Another thing people need to consider when it comes to outsiders, meaning not involved with miniatures is many people think these are ponies. when they aren't. I'm sorry but ponies have a bad reputation for being onery and but its mostly because they are just more hot blooded. I have a mare who is 1/2 shetland and if she starts having one of those episodes where she lost her mind I always say its the shetland coming out lol. No offence like I said I had a shetland that turned very nice with the proper training. I've also had similar comments about my guys at vet offices as well.

I would hope breeders breed for good temperament, I know that its not an exact science but should be a goal. However a lot of it comes down to not being handled as a babies and then the new owner is stuck with the new problem child.

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

We get that all the time at the vets. If they have a new person on staff, we hear "Oh, great, Minis..." until our regular vet says "No, it's OK, these guys are trained!"

We had one filly who was a piece of work. She was a Shetland and crazy. Come up to you jaw clapping, then turn and fire with both hind legs. Bullied all my other horses. I finally had enough- she scared me! Traded her to a pony breeder (who loved her, but respected her) for an in-your-pocket filly who is the total opposite. Fancy's problem is that she's always in the way! Wants to help, wants loved on, wants a cookie....but I'll take that! If she wasn't such a big girl, she'd make an awesome therapy pony!

 

[wingnut]

I agree that while there may be the occasional mini who has a bad temperament, the majority of the problem is lack of handling/training so that the horse has no respect for humans. I recently had one of my minis at a large veterinary/equine hospital that is part of Penn State (New Bolton for those of you who know of it...others of you may know the name as it was where they sent Barbaro after he broke down in the Preakness in 2007). It was frequently commented on how well she was behaving. I heard from several people there that the minis they normally see are not so well behaved, at all. I told each and every one that this happens as a direct result of mini owners who don't treat their horses like horses, but like dogs or true lawn ornaments (thus left to their own devices 99% of the time). A couple of my own horses misbehaved when the farrier was here last month. It was a reminder that I hadn't worked with those two horses as much and how quickly they can develop the wrong attitude. I'm definitely working to correct that.

 

[Carolyn R]

I dont worry much about temperament because I've tet rieet a Mini that I didnt get along with. Some I like better than others, some are more stubborn or more incluned to be pushy but not have been bad to handle.

The biggest problem with minis is, I think, that they either don't get handled like horses or they don't get handled at all in some cases. I bought a couple of mares that were not nice to handle; one was quite wild the other just plain nasty about being around people. The one mare settled down a lot with regular handling; the nasty one became friendly with handling. Both have had several foals for us and not one of those foals has been wild or nasty--they all have super dispositions, proving their mothers' attitudes were created and not bred in.

Exactly! One other thing I was going to add, there are always those that mean well, are completely capable of providing for it, but only buy one and can't figure out what is wrong when it is cranky, nippy, and aggitiated. we always have to base things on a horse by horse situation, some are more independant, some are pocket pets, but for the most part, they are all products of what life has thrown at them and how much knowledge and effort has or hasn't been put into them.

 

[Jill]

I agree with what many of you are saying. Minis just generally have very nice dispositions. They aren't born with MANNERS but they are usually born with people loving personalities. I have only met one mini that I thought had a cruddy personality (it wasn't one I owned). I've had a few I personally did not click with, but they did not have bad personalities at all. They went on to be real stars for their new people.

 

[mshasta88]

I agree with everyone so far. With that said, I have had some mares that were stinkers but had amazing tempered foals, but I did have a very rotten mare once that no matter what sweet gentle boy she was bred to, her foals always took after her temperament. I never bred that mare again after foal number 2 came out worse than foal number 1. Sense that nightmare, I pay very good attention to temperament, and like others have said, all my stallions have the temperament of geldings.

 

[Tab]

Melinda has it right! If you encounter a mini with a 'tude it is usually because he was spoiled and enabled to be disrespectful by a person or people. Almost every one of my minis is better behaved than the majority of large horses I have encountered in all my years with horses. Our horses are usually what we make them.

 

[MBennettp]

I know a breeder here that has the nastiest tempered stallion I have ever seen. He passed that attitude on to and I ended up with one of his offspring. He would charge you, bite, kick, rear etc. Just nasty tempered. I had him gelded within days of acquiring him and he is great with people but still aggressive with other horses.

This breeder couldn't believe I gelded this colt, when she asked me why, I told her that he wasn't stallion material, he has conformation flaws and I would never have a horse with that nasty attitude on my farm much less use him for breeding. She said " but he has wonderful bloodlines". I could care less about his bloodlines, I cannot have a dangerous animal, we have little kids around the barn all the time.

The "but he has wonderful bloodlines" drives me nuts, just because a horse has good bloodlines does not make it a good horse.

I did the right thing and gelded him and if that hadn't changed his attitude, he would have had to go.