Do you keep your mini's seperate from the big ones?

[MelissaAH]

I always see videos of mini's and full size horses together but I have been told they do not recommend doing that. One cow kick and good-bye mini.

Anyone keep them together or seperate?

 

[Bluewater Minis]

SEPERATE!!! All it takes is one well-placed kick from the big horse and...

When we got our first mini, we had to board her for 2 months while working on our new place. Found out they were turning our 32" mini mare out with big Warmbloods and TB's! After raising caine about it, we found out they continued to turn her out with them behind our backs. When we pulled her from their barn for this reason (and others), the facility owner wanted to get the mare from me because "her TB mare that nobody got along with had bonded to our mini mare during these turnouts and was a nutcase without her mini friend". Apparently, they had a good personality match (our mini was bossy and her TB was very high strung). I just won't chance it because just like little dogs, these minis don't always realize how little they are and will challenge the bigger horses and can end up being seriously hurt, if not killed.

 

[MelissaAH]

Thanks. I guess it's just common sense.

I will have a big horse turn out and a mini turn out. I have so many neat little plans for stall/barn/turnouts.

 

[New2Minis]

I agree, I would not chance it. I have a friend that turns her Mini out with her 30 year old QH....but she is 30!! And they get along great. But the thought of it scares me....so my biggies are kept seperate. Better safe than sorry

 

[susanne]

I've always felt that the biggest danger is not when they DON'T get along, but when they DO. I see the kicks my minis give one another in good-natured play and would not want that coming from a big horse, no matter how good of a friend.

 

[Magic]

Another vote for SEPARATE! And as Susanne said, the potential for injury isn't just if the horses DON'T get along. A mini's head is at a height that is just far too easy for a big horse to connect with when just romping around and playing. My brother in law had a mini out with his herd of Paint mares as a teaser and the horse was fine for years, but one day he was found dead from a kick to the head.

And that was when he was in with just one other horse, a biggie who was his buddy. Not worth the risk, IMO.

 

[maestoso]

Horses of similar size can do a fair amount of damage to each other, add a big size difference and you probably have a dead horse!

 

[Leeana]

Separate deffently, only big horse here is my fathers TN Walker Gelding and he does not go out with the minis or my ponies, he has his own pasture and stalling area...there is no way i am going to risk any of my horses life when its so simple to fence in a separate pasture for the biggie.

 

[Matt73]

I look at it this way. Even the most gentle horse can have an "off" day and kick at someone. A big horse can injure a 300 pound man easily. Most minis are 300 pounds and under and have MUCH more delicate legs than a 300 pound man. So, notwithstanding anything else, a broken leg is very plausible when turning a big horse out with a mini.

 

[Boss Mare]

I have owned numerous Miniature Horses and full size horses and the pony sizes in-between for many years and I still currently own a Quarterhorse and over a handful of the mini ones.. I do separate them and I am all for it.. AT LEAST in my situation..

I have a near bomb-proof, well mannered QH who is just as easy going as ever.. for anything and everything, except other horses, especially the minis. He can share a fenceline just fine, but I have had them in the same area before -when I was there, while cleaning areas, etc.- and this taught me, he does not respect them, so they are separated.

However, I had a 13.2 hh. pony (now deceased) he was in his 40's and he couldn't handle being turned out with my full size horses or even a smaller weanling or yearling full size.. so I bought him his OWN mini mare.. they were the best friends.. she stood beside him as he was put to rest.

Add to that, I also ran all of my stallions together, breeding or not.. all 3 of them.. and they LOVED the company of each other AND they were pastured beside mares and fillies of all ages with NO problems.. No flames..

I judge everything from what I experience.. but a majority of the time, I say NO to full size and minis together and stallions with stallions..

Added.. my stallions were raised together since weanlings and two of them were never used for breeding.. Unfortunately, two of my stallions passed away (along with some of my mares) when we had an unknown illness sweep my farm.. I can honestly say.. my stallion was happier with his buddies..

More so than the mares..

There are risks in everything.. but use common sense.

 

[midnight star stables]

Yes we always separate.

 

[HGFarm]

When I still had the big ones, absolutely seperate!!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I am someone who has had biggies in with Minis and I would never do it again.

It is like worming with Moxidectin...I did that and never had any problems.

But I know someone whose horse it killed.

And a friend of mine had a mare, in foal, killed by a playful- NOT aggressive- kick from a 15.2hh.

Stone dead, ruptured diaphragm, end of story.

So, I have no biggies anymore, but, if I had, they would be completely separate.

 

[mayflowerfarm]

I think it all depends on the horses involved. We have our Belgian, yes a 2200 pound Belgian, out with our 37" and 30" minis. However, I won't turn him out with my 25" mini (who is also a squeally mare), just because her head is so close to his feet. I know he wouldn't do anything on purpose, but I'm not going to take the chance of an accident. I have had the other minis turned out with the Belgian for 12 years now and have never had a problem. You have to decide how your horse personalities get along and make your own decision.

The Belgian and the larger mini are best friends - they stand out in the pasture all day together grooming eachother. All the mini can reach is the Belgian's knee, but he seems to like it just as well! LOL

 

[Bonny]

I keep my mini with my big mare. I got my mini to keep my Paint mare company. My Paint mare is a bit high strung personality, but tends to mother children, especially those with disabilities. She protects my mini from the horse neighbors. IMO a mini is in no worse a situation being with a single standard size than a standard size foal would be.

Now I would not recommend a mini in with a group of standard size horses. But one on one seems to work out wonderful for us. I also dont have a tiny mini Bonny is 35 inches, my paint is 15.2.

I think it depends on the personality of the horses.

Bonny likes to lay down and rest and no matter where she does, my Paint is right there standing guard.

Here Bonny is resting with the herd. The other horses are my neighbors, My Paint (ShyAnne) is right there watching as usual.

 

[targetsmom]

Separate!! But adjoining turnouts, separated by horse size round pen panels.

I was reminded of the reason we keep them separate last week when they were all playing, running, bucking and rearing - on there respective sides of the fence of course. The 22 year old big horse reared up quite near the fence (and the minis). I kept thinking about what could have happened if the fence hadn't been there. They were all playing hard, so no one was paying much attention to where anyone else was. But it also shows how they can enjoy each other without being in the same enclosure.

 

[Jill]

Personally, I would not ever keep my minis with my big horse. Too much of a risk to the little ones.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I do both... I tried putting my two studs together and they played too roughly (big guy picked up the lil one!) so that didn't work. My ponies do go out occassionally with my friend's gelding... they get along wonderfully!

 

[CKC]

We have a small QH mare(large pony size) that I used to turn out with my miniatures during the day. They were all running and playing one day and our QH mare kicked out in fun and I saw her connect with one of our miniature mares. It was a total accident. I've never let them out together again. That was a long time ago. I don't recommend it as my little mare fell to the ground. She was very lucky that she wasn't injured.

 

[JourneysEnd]

I have one client that runs 2 mini mares with 2 QH mares and they do fine. Another client has a mini gelding with 2 large geldings and they do fine. They put the mini gelding with the two big mares once though and he almost got killed. (Bad kick in the face )

It just seems to depend on the horses, the space (larger the better) and the genders.