Hi again - a few more questions

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

freedomnjustice

Active Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2013
Messages
28
Reaction score
10
Hello everyone,

We've come a long way since my first few weeks with the minis. We are into a groove, schedule-wise, and the horses are doing pretty good. Our barn is almost finished (yay!) and our plans are moving in the direction of making a dry lot for them to be out in most of the time. I have a couple of questions, though.

1. What do you all use for bedding for your horses? I've tried straw and wood chips. I thought I would like the wood chips better than the straw, but it seemed more difficult to maintain. We're back to straw right now, but since the horses are penned together right now, the amount of poop in their pen each day is just crazy. I'm trying my best to get the stalls cleaned every day--at least to remove the solids. Any ideas to make my life easier in this regard would be much appreciated!

2. The younger horse has started losing his hair. He's shedding very bad but there are bald patches near his withers and on his neck. He seems healthy otherwise...eating, drinking, and acting fine. Could the flies be the culprit? I try to use the fly spray every day for them, but they hate it. The other horse's hair looks normal.) They are not getting a good brushing every day and I'm sure that would help, too. justice hair.jpg

3. We live in Ohio--when is the best time to have them gelded? I want to wait until they have their own stalls when the barn is complete, but is there a time that is "too late" (Season wise) to have it done? Any advice on that? Could we have them both gelded at the same time?

I'll try to attach some pictures for everyone....thanks!! snack time.jpg
 
I use shavings for bedding but we make our own so I have an abundance all the time. Cleaning shavings isn't so bad to do every day if you have the right pitchfork. I went with a super cheap one for a few years but just upgraded and it has made life easier.

Looking at your photo, I wonder if you mini has lice? It's not uncommon at all and could be the culprit. Maybe someone else can weigh in on that as well.

As to gelding, I'd check with your vet and see what he/she thinks. I gelded my boy last year in a mild December and he did great but my vets won't geld in really hot weather when there are lots of bugs hanging around to bother the horses. I would think with the fall coming up you'd be fine. And yes, go ahead and geld both at the same time. It's really a simple procedure when both testicles are descended but again I'd check with your vet.

Your minis are beautiful!
 
could be rain rot to, my big boy gets rain rot religiously twice a year and he loses chunks of fur in those spots; be it on his back or his hind legs. I actually just got done combating some. I like using Micro-Tek either the sprays or the shampoo to get rid of it
 
I would give a nice deep cleaning with micro tec shampoo and follow up with some micro tec spray over the next few weeks. Looks like lice or rain rot to me. Look closely and see if you see little brown "thingys" moving around in the bare spot. Shoulders make me think of lice.

On the gelding. I prefer fall personally but don't prefer winter and freezing weather since the vets generally lay them on the ground and sometimes you need to hose the incision. Some folks believe in gelding under "the sign" but I have not followed that rule but there are those that follow the farmers almanac on that, you can google what that means. Nice to be cooler weather to do it and no flies. Gelding both at same time might be cheaper and it is nice if they are both in recovery at same time so you don't have one with energy picking on one that doesn't feel so great. You don't have to wait til they have their own stalls if you do them together.

I put down pelleted bedding and flake shavings on top. I used to try to clean it up every day and that was so frustrating and just stirred things up and it seemed dirtier. I used to use straw but it didn't take care of the pee holes they made and they ate so much of it and got big bellies. I now do cleaning weekly rather than daily, the pellets on the bottom are kind of like a diaper on a kid, very absorbant and my boys can lay down and never get pee spots on them. weekly I move off the clean stuff and scoop up the soaked pellets underneath and pick the poos. My boys are geldings but they leave their bedding like stallions do, one spot for pee, one spot for poo so they still have nice clean place to lay. When I cleaned up daily the stalls actually seemed dirtier and I wasted so much bedding. One bag of pellets and one bag of flakes a week now for my run in shed. (yes I do actually bed my run in shed)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
We use shavings and sawdust (when available) for stall bedding. Straw is difficult to muck out and it does not absorb moisture well. It also harbors parasites such as lice. I use straw in my bird runs outside, but not in the stalls. It sounds like your horse losing hair could either have lice or summer itch. Many horses lose patches of hair in the summer time when it is hot and humid out. It s sort of like a seasonal allergy. If it is lice, you will be able to see the little beggers if you look carefully when combing the coat. If the skin has a greasy feel, and the hair slips out in patches it may be a skin condition. Have the vet do skin scrapings to be sure.
 
I haven't found a bedding that I can say I like 100%. I've done just about everything but newspaper. I haven't tried layering one type over another, like putting pellets under with shavings and straw over. I'm going to give this a try this weekend.

Congrats on what you've accomplished thus far!
 
Hi from a fellow Ohioan!

We use shavings only, straw is too hard to clean. When a mare foals, we just bed in hay. It is nice and soft, safer for baby's eyes.

As for the bald spots, if it is lice, worm with Ivermectin and that will kill those buggies. Rare in Ohio to have lice this time of year, that is usually a winter problem.

We geld after the bugs have been killed off, have even done it in the winter, but oh, the guilt for hosing them off in freezing weather.
 
Sand, sand, sand. We use deep sand for bedding. I got the idea from a dairy. It's easy to keep clean doesn't pack down, and gives plenty of relief on pressure points while the horse is laying down. We use blow sand. It's worked for us so far. However, our horses stalls open up to runs so they don't usually pee in the stalls. They usually go out unless the weather is really bad.

As for gelding, the only time I wouldn't have it done is if it was really really hot out. I would just make sure that when you do get it done you have a workable area to exercise your boys so the swelling is kept at bay. If it gets out of hand it takes a really long time to go down. I speak from experience.

As for the bald spots... are they bald to the skin or just to the shorter coat? My mare gets bald patches along her chest, hips, and wither every time she sheds. It's from her rubbing on things because she's itchy. If it's down to the skin or the skin looks bumpy or irritated then the posts before me have given great direction.

Good luck with your two cute boys!
 
Well, I've looked more closely at the younger horse and it doesnt not appear to be lice. His fur looked a little thicker today, so maybe it was just shedding/scratching. I turn the boys out for 4-5 hours (at least) every day and it never fails---as soon as they are back in the pen they both poop and make a mess. Why don't they go in the pasture?? LOL The straw is definitely not working--they are eating it. Someone told me to try sawdust--that was all she used for bedding, even in the winter. The horses are fun to have--they whinny when they see me and once they've been turned out for awhile and they see me in the pasture, they usually come to me because they know it's time to get back in their pen. Plus I usually give them a small apple or a mint when they come back as a treat.
default_smile.png


I've got a question about the barn we've built. We've still got to finish the individual stalls, but the "floor" of the barn is just ground. Right now it's covered in weeds. I'm thinking that once they start peeing and pooping in them, they will become muddy holes that will never dry out because the sun won't get to it. Am I right? I know a lot of barns have wood floors, but I've never really thought about stall floors. I would think the urine would rot the wood?? And has anyone used those stall mats with the holes so the urine can drain?

The pitchfork I have I bought at TSC and it's in the shape of a shovel but it's forked. It seems to work ok, but I just can't shake the straw out of it. It's just all nasty and clumps together.

Thanks everyone!
 
All my barns and shelters have plain dirt floors. they do eventually dry out, how long it takes depends on temps and moisture. My barns all flood at least once a year, depending on our spring weather and summer rain (if we get any). I use pelleted bedding in their pee spots covered with pine shavings.
 
First of all, I hope you mean shavings and not real chips of wood.

Second, as you just found out, they will eat the straw and many times its loaded with sugar or has some content of sugar which is a major no no. Remove it. Bad, bad and all kinds of bad. Its also hard to dispose of, dripis of urine and stinks to high heavens. Yuk.

Thirdly, next summer shave those horses down for relief. Right now they are shedding and itching all at the same time and agreed, they probably have lice or rain rot both so just cover all your bases there, bathe in something really good as suggested above, and de-worm with ivermectin. Then groom the heck out of them daily.

Now and going into fall is a great time to geld. No flies and you'll have to keep them walking about for drainage. Sometimes the vet will give them something to clot, so if he does, no hoseing the incision in that case. Ask to be sure.

Flooring: no wood floors.

I'm thinking that once they start peeing and pooping in them, they will become muddy holes that will never dry out because the sun won't get to it. Am I right? YES YOU ARE!

I know a lot of barns have wood floors, but I've never really thought about stall floors. I would think the urine would rot the wood?? RIGHT AGAIN

And has anyone used those stall mats with the holes so the urine can drain? NOt ME

First, all my stalls have a thick layer of gravel base about 6--8 inches deep. Then topped with a generous supply of sand like a french drain effect, like about a foot of sand. Then we ran over it a million times to get it "set" and then the horses came in and done some packing of their own. In about a month, we then added another layer of sand. Shavings on top of that for bedding. We never left the sand exposed because they'd be eating it and I don't need sand colic. So by all means, don't forget your shavings. And don't lock them up without ample hay or they will eat your shavings too.

Some of my stalls have rubber mats. Then shavings on top of it.

Good luck. you're doing great. Really you are. Best wishes.
 
thanks for the replies! Marty, yes they are wood shavings-sorry! I buy them at TSC. We just went yesterday and bought the pellets and put the shavings over top. I like the idea of gravel to aid withaid with drainage. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about gelding. We both work full-time and I'm afraid we won't be available as much as we need to be to monitor their recovery. We will still get it done, I just hope it won't require several days of vacation or anything like that. When it comes to shaving them, is it basically taking a pair of clippers and shaving all of their fur? Is that something we need to do once every summer? What exactly is rain rot? Is it bad for the horses to be out in the rain? I try to bring them in when it rains because they usually don't come in on their own. Thanks again for all the answers! It will be nice when I will feel comfortable enough to be on the flip side and be able to help others on here!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am a big fan of rubber mats for flooring. Our soil here is sand, and I lost a horse to sand colic several years ago. So I am, right now, putting shavings in a pile in a corner of my weanlings stall (12' x12'). He likes to lie down on the shavings, and I keep their feeding areas separate and sweep the sand out that they track in (almost daily). My mare and gelding prefer to lie down outside, so I do not put shavings in. They each have full time pens to run and pee and poo in. It is much easier to poo pick on the sand versus picking the stall with shavings.
 
We built our barn last summer before we got our minis. The flooring throughout that we put in is called crushed blue stone. Then we put the really heavy duty rubber stall mats on top of the stone. In the stall I like the pine shavings that I get at our Tractor Supply. I thought I might fill in the tack/storage area this spring with cement flooring but I like the rubber mats. There is about 2 inches around the perimeters (of the mats) to allow for air to get in which keeps everything nice and dry. Everyday when I clean the stall out I rake through and take out any wet shavings/manure then rake all the dry shavings in a pile and let the mats dry for an hour or so. I put in fresh shavings daily as needed to keep a nice thick bedding! The pine shavings always smell nice and clean and my barn doesn't smell even on those hot, humid days!!
 
Even if you work full time, don't worry about gelding. They will be fine. It's as routine as spaying a dog or cat. You don't need to take vacation days. As long as you can check them once or twice a day and give them a few minutes of care (whether your vet recommends hosing or running them around) it will be fine. Do both at once.
 
- Bedding depends on what you like and what you are doing. I've used sand, mats w/ no bedding, clean bagged shavings, shavings directly from a processor (sometimes very dusty), saw dust, peat moss, different straws (love Midwestern oat straw) and newspaper shredded at different levels of fineness. Personally, if they aren't penned in the stall or barn (sounds like yours may be - at least sometimes) they don't need to be bedded at all. For big horses and dealing w/ a lot of stalls - I LOVE sawdust! EASY to clean, the biggies didn't eat it. Don't know about minis - thru this forum I'm reading that the smaller minis seem to eat things that our larger Shetlands and big horses never touched. Newspaper - it clumps and can be dusty but if not shredded too fine it's no different than using shavings. I like it as a way to recycle our trash and newspapers - need to get a heavier duty shredder.

- Flooring - is again a personal choice. Right now - we lease our property. The owner keeps saying he's going to pull down the barn. You can bet we aren't putting a lot of money into the flooring or building anything permanent! We also very rarely stall ours indoors. Our big barn has 1/2 of it where they can run in. Of course, they use it for potty - so it has to be cleaned. Because of the rain and flooding (1st time since we moved in 2004), part of the flooring is now covered with feed sacks and heavy army tarps - keeps you from sinking in the muck. Eventually, we'll dig out all the muck. One of the best barns I've been in in this state had several layers of different products (I can't find the email she'd sent me personally when I was asking about it) - with the top one being several inches of packed limestone. The ponies (they breed Welsh section Bs and Xbreds) can't dig, the urine doesn't make a lot of holes (yes, the weight and the urine will eventually wear into it - then they will need to re-do it) and they bed with shavings over it. Theirs are slanted so that they naturally drain out the back of the stall into a drain that then pulls running urine into a septic system. Makes rinsing the stall walls nice after a sick horse or a foaling mare has been in them, too. I've seen barns with conveyor belts running along the back - a stall cleaner can scoop up whatever and dump it on the conveyor belt and the belt carries it out to dump into what ever they are using. Arab barns often have cement floors - some of them also have the drain somewhere thru the line of stalls that can have at least wet swept into it. If I get to where I can afford that - that's what I'd love! A woman that I've purchased hay from about 20 miles from us (she ships Timothy in from NY) bought a place with the barn already built. The stalls are done in the rubber brick pavers. IT IS AWESOME. Personally, I like a good wooden floor, too. There are still barns in the Midwest and in New England states that have beautiful barns with wood floors that are much, much older than me. All barn floors, regardless of the choice of product, need to be maintained. Even cement and rubber matting develop pits, holes and waves due to pawing, standing in the same place and urine. Of course, with small minis, no matter what type of flooring you choose - it will be longer before you should have to do major maintenance - due to smaller size and less weight. Horses in general, no matter the size, are destructive and the smaller the space they live in and the longer they stay in that space - the more damage they cause to their environment AND themselves. Many stalled horses, including minis, develop serious vices (bad habits) that range from digging holes deeper than their withers, pawing, biting at themselves so bad they open wounds that never heal, weaving (causes wear & tear to their joints, damage to the stall), cribbing, wind sucking, chewing, spinning, kicking the stall walls. You also have to balance the bad with the good for your individual horses.

Rain rot - is a type of fungus that most horses may have living normally on their skin. When they are stressed - lots of rain, too much humidity/heat, loss of weight, gaining too much weight/IR/sugar sensitive, weaning of foal, stresses of showing, major transport, illness - it develops. Not every horse develops it (just like not everyone exposed gets the stomach flu or a sinus infection just because they've been around it). You've gotten good ideas already. We had 1 pony and one horse develop it IN THE BARN, when I had them stalled for a two week period. Of course, with the high humidity, it "rains" in my barn on a regular basis! With all the rain this year, I was expecting it to hit all of mine and I was worried (I currently have 37 head in pastures/paddocks - all outside). This is the first year that most didn't develop it - so maybe the rain was a good thing. We've had hoof issues instead (several of my pastures were under water and we couldn't move the ponies to different pastures due to sex, size/alpha context or foals etc...) - lots of absesses and thrush. One of my pastures obviously once had a major trash heap on it. We've had a lot of broken glass wash up out of the sand and due to the way the water flowed it affected the 2 pastures below it as well. And ponies/horses being the loveable but contrary beasts that they are - some of ours chose to stand in the flowing water and in the muck! My farrier is completely freaked out right now.

Clipping - there are many different types of clippers on the market and many different types of clipping that can be done to make horses comfortable. Everything from a basic "pretty clip" (bridle path, coronet bands & feathers, jaws & "goat" hair), trace clip, high trace clip, saddle clip, hunter clip, blanket clip, full body clip, full show clip. When we moved from MT to NC in 1997 we headed out with one stock trailer and one "home made" stock trailer w/ 2 pony sized horses, 1 yrlg filly that would eventually mature at 15.2 hh & 3 shetlands. The first day on the road, there were predictions of a snow storm and we were expecting to make it to ND before stopping for the night. A flat tire on the stock trailer changed that and we stopped in Lewistown, did get the tire replaced (as well as getting the others checked). No one had predicted that that snow storm would become a major blizzard that would cripple many states in the northern mid-west for months. We made it to a brand new Super 8 and thankfully got an extra large room with 2 king sized beds. Good thing - the trailers didn't move for the next 5 days as we slogged thru waist deep snow to carry water to the trailers, give them hay and feed and sorta clean them out. Even in MT, hotel managers freak out over horse manure - we were told NO to unloading in the new parking lot, yep buried under the snow, and to "dumping" the manure. The wind chills hit -70 below!!! 14 days later, we straggled into the vet clinic that we had leased 5 acres from 8 miles from our house in NC. They were having an early season heat wave in mid-April - it was 110 (all Fahrenheit). The vet worried about our dog first (she was most affected and wasn't shedding her heavy undercoat) and then the ponies whom had all started shedding monstrously somewhere in KY.... After we got the house set up enough to live in it (it was vandalized while on the market - what brought me back to NC), Larry back on a plane overseas (Saudi - trust me, my southern boy hubby couldn't get out of MT or the mid-west fast enough and since 1997 he's never been back!), Skye registered in 1st grade - I turned to clipping the ponies. First time for everything - several were body clipped - the rest - I worked my fingers to the bone grooming them... Acclimating to those massive temperature changes seemed to be easier for the ponies than it was for me, the 3 girls and Blaze (our dog). I learned one thing - simple body clipping is often easiest and when hot, the ponies sure do enjoy getting all the itchy, heavy hair removed. Not showing - clipper marks don't matter. Just remove the hair w/o nicking or burning the horse (no matter the brand, clipping thru heavy hair makes clippers get hot enough to scald/burn if not paying attention)...

Gelding - is fairly "natural". Care depends on both your vet's protocol and your horses' reactions to the procedure. My first vet here in NC never prescribed antibiotics or pain meds at the time of castration. Neither did vets when I was growing up and we had ranch horses (treated totally different than minis, BTW. I have to "fight" to remember that, many people consider my view of horses to be "barbaric" because I still consider minis to be livestock not pets. Just prettier and more loving than other animals, IMO). Honestly, the last 3 male vets that I had geld my ponies didn't either (2010). Dr. Eaton, a woman, who is now my vet - it's automatic and it's on the bill! Unless your horses develop a problem, just checking them in the morning before you go to work is fine. Even if they have to be medically treated - the main thing about meds to remember is they are prescribed to be given at equal times throughout a 24 hour period so that the drug level remains the same. No-one says they have to be given mid-day - they could be given in the evening or throughout the night if desired and that works for your schedule. IF you have/want to cold hose - there is no reason why you can't wait until after work. The only time this changes is if there is a problem in the morning - same as if you, child or a small animal is sick before you go to work.

Really, horse care isn't all that difficult and you will find it gets easier as you learn more. There are basic needs that should be met and the fact that a horse is an out-door grazer, that is a prey animal in the wild, should be taken into account in both care and handling/training. Different areas of the country have different types of soils, grasses/hays/forage and capability of supporting horses - requiring different care right there, but it's still basically the same.

Love on your guys lots and enjoy them as you learn! They can be lots of fun!!! And maybe you will find that your boys aren't the right type of minis for you... Sometimes personalities don't mesh, special care doesn't work with work schedules you and your hubby have, or since you are "newbies" (beginners in every sense of the word with equine) you may need to get lessons or even find minis that are already properly schooled so that you and your husband don't get hurt! Personally, I've found that sometimes a mini can do lots more damage in an bad situation/injury than a big horse can/will. Those little hooves and those little teeth often pack as much power into a much smaller space than a large horse has/can. Just something to think about... And if you need to switch to another horse for any of the above reasons, it's not a shameful decision.

thanks for the replies! Marty, yes they are wood shavings-sorry! I buy them at TSC. We just went yesterday and bought the pellets and put the shavings over top. I like the idea of gravel to aid withaid with drainage. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about gelding. We both work full-time and I'm afraid we won't be available as much as we need to be to monitor their recovery. We will still get it done, I just hope it won't require several days of vacation or anything like that. When it comes to shaving them, is it basically taking a pair of clippers and shaving all of their fur? Is that something we need to do once every summer? What exactly is rain rot? Is it bad for the horses to be out in the rain? I try to bring them in when it rains because they usually don't come in on their own. Thanks again for all the answers! It will be nice when I will feel comfortable enough to be on the flip side and be able to help others on here!
 
I've used straw (hated it -- not absorbent at al), shavings (hated them -- not absorbent enough), and pellets (love them). With a Fine Tines manure fork, the pellets act like clumping kitty litter, allowing you to remove the wet clumps with very little waste.

Around here, with the Oregon rain, fall is ideal for gelding, as the bugs are gone but mud season has not arrived.

We had a dirt floor in the run-in at our old place and never had a problem with wetness or mud. We put down a super thick layer of pellets in the beginning and just scooped the wet and solids, then added more pellets, so the pee never got through.
 
I luv wood pellet bedding. I soak the pellets before putting them down. It is a much easier clean up with the minis. I have 9 stalls
 

Latest posts

Back
Top