Gear and weight for mini horse riding questions!

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Sister was here last Thursday with her little baby daughter. Mini Kasia was very nice and sister sat her kid up on her for pictures. Baby can't be more than 15# and it'll be awhile before she can even sit and hold reins on her own.

I'm wondering how much weight a mini can hold for once in a blue moon of a little toddler riding her on lead line?

Are there any little saddles that will fit a mini? Or a bareback pad with little stirrups?

In her last home, the 6yr old daughter rode her in a fancy saddle, looked like a real and heavy one. I don't want my sister's kid riding her past the age of being able to ride a real pony, so maybe just toddler and a little older to where she understands what she's doing up there and can then go on and ride a larger horse.

She'll then also start grooming and handling the mini while getting used to a larger horse.

I don't have kids, don't plan on ever having any. So I can't really judge what and when and all that is too much or still safe. Thus I need you guys to help me out in setting limits with all of this.

Oh, and a mini English saddle would be nice, but I've never seen one. Most are all western and I have no idea about western anything, I've only ever learned English riding.

Forgot to add the pics.

 

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Looks like 20% of horse's weight, minus saddle weight, also works for minis. Also found a site with tons of mini saddles.

 

[paintponylvr]

How big is your mini? A smaller than 34" ?

Here are links to tack sold by mini stores that advertise right here on Lil Beginnings -

http://www.runningcreekminis.com/catalog/Saddles_Bridles-16-1.html

http://www.tackforminis.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=50&zenid=5222a1fa6c154d64648ca351201fb352

http://www.minitack.com/saddlebr.htm

http://www.ttminihorse.com/tackstore/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=7

http://miniexpress.com/saddles/cat_22.html

http://stores.minihorsefeathers.com/saddles-bridles/

http://www.starlakefarm.com/saddles.html

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They have some "toddler" western saddles meant to fit a smaller mini with an 8" seat (western). For our purposes - the saddle was too small for both the mini/pony meant for and for the children. Even a toddler needed more room than what that little saddle could provide in the seat and yet the stirrup fenders were also way, way too long. Never could figure that out.

If you check out the various english tack makers, there used to be several that did a "lead line" saddle that would fit a shetland and a toddler. These were not meant for riding in once the child grew enough to ride w/o a lead line - but by then the toddler would have out grown a smaller mini.

We had/have shetland ponies - some of which are in the "B" section of the Mini (AMHR) size. Here are some pics of our daughters and some other children with our two Shetland mares that were only 2.5 yrs old when they first started being ridden.... Stuffy, as a 2 yr old, was about 35" at the withers. Now as a mature, teenage mare, we just measured her at 37" at the withers. She is almost 2" shorter measured as a mini now due to having somewhat "knifey" withers. There have been times that keeping any saddle from rolling on her was difficult. Both with western and english saddles, we used a crupper on these two smaller mares. Shado, as a 2 yr old was about 34.5" at the withers. The last time she was with us, she was about 36.5" at the withers as a 9 yr old. The western saddle pictured on these ponies is the same one - a 10" seat older, western saddle. The english saddle is also the same - a 12" "cheapy" that lasted many, many years for us - after I purchased it well used.

The 2 pics below show the same saddle. I honestly don't know what Patty officially measured out at other than "TINY" compared to our measured 45" stallion. Sierra had just turned 4 yrs old in August 1997. 1996 pic is about 1 year before we got our first helmet that actually FIT the girls (Skye, now 24, and the mother or our 2 granddaughters, still wears a medium sized children's helmet in 2 of the brands!). YES, that is a section of garden hose that I taught the girls to use to encourage forward movement. 'Dira's boots are barely on - her heel is above the black line on that boot, LOL

These 2 pics - Stuffy is just a little over 2 yrs of age (born May 1996) and 'Dira (orange) is 5 1/2 yrs old. Sierra is 10 months younger (she'll be 5 in August 98).

More pics next post...

 

[paintponylvr]

Shado is 2 yrs old in 1st pic. Think Tyler is 3.5 or 4 yrs old. Carolyn is less than 5' tall. Same western saddle as Sierra/Stuffy above. In 2nd pic that is same english saddle as 'Dira rode in (orange above) w/ Sierra as an 8 yr old.

On the left - April 02 and Shado is 5 yrs old. The little boy is a "bigger fella" - but have no idea how much he weighs OR what size that saddle is. This pic taken at a show while Shado was leased by this family - and she is a little "light" in this pic. She came home later that fall. On the right, the western saddle is again the same (our 10" one). Shado is not quite 6 yrs old. I want to say that Sage was 5 yrs old, but I don't remember. She was one of the children I worked with - baby sitting while her vet tech mom worked for our vet...

Our daughters started riding at 5 yrs, 32 and 22 months of age in June 1995. I have no idea what any of the weights were on any of these children during this time frame - but I know that our 3 daughters were considered borderline underweight for many, many years.

Part of the weight issue with minis/small ponies is also the body control the toddler has. I noticed that several of the children I worked with over the years could be heavier in weight, but if they sat/"rode" balanced - the mini/pony did fine. A much younger, but heavier child w/ little to no control of their body (one who plops down after learning to mount, one who flops around or "slides" back and forth even at a walk) - the minis/ponies do not like. I had a boy ride our 45" stallion one time. He was 1/2 the weight of our daughter who was also much older (shoot a 1/4 of what I weighed - and I got on him several times when he was being an ignoramus) - but AJ would have nothing to do with that boy. The 2nd time he wanted a lead line ride, AJ sat down like a donkey (scared me 1/2 to death as the boy flipped backwards out of the saddle into the grass!) and refused to get up until the boy left the area... I used the "excuse" that the ponies needed a break and checked my boy over very well. He'd never done it before nor since - but I was a lot more choosey over the size/body type of child I allowed to ride our ponies after that when we went to various functions...

 

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She's 34in right now at roughly/guesstimate 1.8yrs old, so she might still grow taller.

 

[paintponylvr]

and here are some other pics for comparison...

AJ was 3 yrs old in these pics. He measured 45" (or thereabouts - he matured at 45 1/4" - and stayed that height until his death 17 years later). This is the girls' first rides, I'd owned him 2 weeks and I'd worked with him pretty hard before doing this - over each weekend 2x daily. Madira and Sierra grew up in this saddle - riding in it and one other for many years since their thighs, bums and length of legs stayed small/short for quite some time before they both suddenly sprouted... Skye turned 5 in March 1995. Madira's Bday is 1 october 1992 and Sierra was born 20 August 1993. (yep, she'll be 21 in 2 days -

)

I wish I had pictures of them riding Patty in 1995. I don't or if I did take some, they didn't turn out... I have some video of the girls riding her bareback in the round pen - they each fall off...LOL.

 

[paintponylvr]

I would think a 10" seat western saddle or a 12" seat english saddle would fit her fine...

They now make many size girths for either one. For the english saddle, sometimes a Wintec dressage girth works best for a mini that size. When the girls started riding Patty and Stuffy in 1997 - I had custom made little leather/sheepskin girths made for them. One was 18" long, the other was 16" long. Buckle on each end (similar to the english ones) as it was less bulky to put the buckles into holes in the girth straps than to tie a cinch knot. Cost $5 each (buckles cost more than that now!!) then...