Minis in Delaware???

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Brody

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2014
Messages
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Location
Bald Eagle, PA
HI All,

Just reaching out to see if any of you are in (or know someone in) Delaware. I just accepted a new job in Delaware and will be moving my family and farm near Dover, DE hopefully by my work start date at the end of August. I obviously have a lot of logistics to figure out as I sell my current place, buy another, and safely transition our little farm to a new location. There are a few questions I have for any that might be able to help out:

1 - Any suggestions of Equine vets in the region?

2 - Any good hay suppliers? - I can get my winters supply from the farm here in Pennsylvania I have purchased from for the past several years, but it would be far more convenient to find someone local and not have to haul hay from 4+ hours away.

3 - Favorite driving spots? I have searched and found a few parks and trails that are horse friendly - but suggestions would be welcome as well.

4 - Boarding facilities and/or someone willing to house a few minis for a very brief time ? We will be buying a new property and will keep our horses there - but may need to board for a month or so during the transition. I do have a good friend/ mini owner here local in Pennsylvania that we could board at if needed, but if we do need to board - I would much prefer to find a place nearby where we'll be living in Delaware until we can bring them to our/their new home.

Thanks all - and I hope there is at least one forum member in the small state of Delaware that could help me out!

~Brody
 
I'm in Montana so have no clue what might be in Delaware, but check on the SMall Horse Connect pages that LB provides:

http://www.lilbeginnings.com/breeders/Technically it mostly lists breeders by state, you'll need to click on Delaware from the link provided (left hand column on the page, but hopefully it'll provide you with some useful information. I'm sure we have member in Delaware, you'll just have to be patient while you wait for them to see your post.
 
Thanks for the post Chanda, and thanks to whoever moved my post to the main forum? I guess it qualifies for the main forum! I did look at the breeders and the only one listed is (I believe) selling there minis and either selling or changing the focus of their farm. They should, however, be able to answer or help with a couple of my questions - so I will be sure to contact them. Meanwhile I'll hope to hear from any other members from Delaware on the forum!
 
I am from Maine, a few hours away from CT. I believe there are quite a few mini owners in CT. I will have to check my Facebook friends and see who lives in CT. There is quite an active mini club in that region. I believe Northeast Miniature Horse Club has members from CT and MA and RI. There is a webpage for that club.

Julie

Victory Pass Stable

Maine
 
Hi Brody The ones I know of and also recommend would be Toni Reese at Reece Family Miniatures and Jacque Palermo at J&F Miniatures. Jacque is in Greenwood and Toni is in Clayton.
 
I'm in northern Maryland...Dover is about an 60-75 minutes from me. There is one board member, Bevann who lives in that general area. She used to breed minis but I think has "retired" though she's still involved with the Delaware mini club.

Also, you could look up another board member, Kristin (board name MiniHNF), who lives in the Newark area.

Good luck with the move and the new job!
 
I live in Newark, DE and board in Earlville, MD thats 20 mins from me (like 10 mins from Middletown, DE line) at Hopkins Heavensent Miniatures. She does boarding (field and stall), training etc and I love boarding there; extremely nice people.

A great driving spot I know a group goes to is Fair Hill in Fair Hill, MD which is probably 10 mins from me in DE its where they hold the Cecil County Fair and other horse events

A vet I like to use that has also done my familys TB's in the past is Ruthie Franczeck and I believe her office is in Smyrna, DE which isnt far from Dover. 302-659-1000. I really like ruthie, she is straight forward and doesnt BS or sugar coat anything.
 
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Thank you for all of the messages and support - it has been very helpful! Not feeling quite so overwhelmed now
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I am really hoping that we will be able to transition smoothly into a new home/farm, but it's great to have everything organized and 'backups' in place just in case. I will email Reece family miniatures and facebook Jacque Palermo (found her on facebook but nowhere else...). Also, depending on what comes of that I may contact your barn in MD, Kristin, and see what could be lined up there. Also, THANKS for the vet recommendation. Depending on exactly where we end up that might be very convenient, and I always feel better about a first visit with a vet that comes with a referral.

I feel the same about hay - craigslist is a good source, but I think I followed through with 4-5 different craigslists adds for hay, before I found a supplier that truly had good quality 'horse' hay. I may have to do the same in Delaware, but hopefully I'll find something sooner. We are making a trip down there this weekend, so hopefully I'll have a better idea of where exactly we'll be living soon. Praying we find a beautiful home and property in our budget!
 
Once you know where you are going to be looking at property, you could also find a feed store in that area. Check out any contacts they may have. You might find property that way as well as a place to drive - and also most feed stores will have both vets and farriers posting on their bulletin boards (at least we do in NC).

Not just a Tractor Supply or Farm Supply store but an actual feed/tack store or even a milling company. The Tractor Supply stores in NC have bulletin boards, too, but they are much smaller and more general in nature...

Let us know what you come up with when you take your trip this weekend.
 
There are several great vets serving the middle and lower 2 counties.I use or have used Brenford Animal Hospital or South Governors Animal Hospital.Both have excellent equine vets and we have an emergency clinic which has an equine vet on call after regular hours and holidays. There are several farms who grow and sell hay in the area.Our state is very small and most of the horse and pony owners know each other.I think it will be very easy to find a place to board near Dover. Property taxes are low and travel is easy and quick.I am no longer breeding and have just 3 older Minis, but am still involved with the Delmarva Miniature Horse Club which hosts 2 Mini shows(May & 4th of July weekend) at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington,DE which is about 20 miles south of Dover.There is also a show circuit for all breeds Eastern Shore Western Horse Show Association which has classes for Minis including driving.There is also a Delmarva Driving Club and several areas where people go to drive in state parks.Nice horse friendly area.Lots of feed stores and several Amish harness shops.Dover is less than 2 hrs driving to New Bolton Equine facility teaching hospital for U of PA veterinary hospital for severe emergencies(hope you don't need that)I also have an excellent farrier who prefers doing Minis over big horses.Come visit when you come down here.Welcome to the area.
 
Thanks for the further information and suggestions. All the names and details you provided, Bevann, are VERY much appreciated! I do now have a couple names of places to contact about boarding, however, if you have anyone specific to recommend Bevann that would be appreciated also (whether its a formal boarding facility or not doesn't matter to me - just that it is a good place for my horses). I have a total of 4 minis - a gelding, a mare (with her 1 month filly), and a yearling filly. They are all very happy living together in a small turnout and I would like to find a place where I can keep them together in a similar setup versus in stalls. Also, it will only be temporary boarding - at most a couple months! We are currently selling our home/property in PA, and expect it to take a few weeks between selling our current home and completing the purchase of a new one in DE. On that note as well, if you know of anyone in the area there selling a home on a few acres, or a small farmette please let me know we are searching high and low right now (the Felton/Magnolia areas seem to appeal to us, but we haven't actually been there yet)! I will definitely come and visit you once I get the chance. We were going to come this weekend to house hunt and look around, but had to postpone our trip to next week. Apparently there is a big music fest in Dover this weekend and ALL the hotels, campsites, and everything in the region were booked solid. So, we will wait until the festivities are over and then come search for our new home/farm! I am also very excited to hear you comment on how horse friendly the region is there - a BIG plus!!!
 
I will keep my ears and eyes open, but I must caution you that small acreage with horse suitable facilities are hard to find.So many people are moving here from other areas due to low property taxes and no sales tax on anything.I have 1 place in mind and will check it out this week.Felton area is only about 20 minutes from where I live.Travel times in DE are short due to the small size and small population of our state.Welcome to Delaware.I am a native and love it here.
 
Places I sent message about is on road about 5 minutes from main highway which runs up to Dover area and about 10 minutes from where I live.Nice quiet area and nice horsey neighbors
 
Thank you so much Bevann - I sent her an email and will give her a call tomorrow as well. Thanks a TON to everyone else as well, I heard back from a couple of the other suggested contacts as well, and things are looking more positive. At this point I can say that at the very least I'll have a nice home to keep my minis at while we transition - now we just have to find a home for our family to stay in! We'll see what house hunting this week brings!
 
How did your search go for property in the rainy weather we had this past weekend?Hope you are finding the perfect spot for you and your critters.I am a native of Milford, Delaware and think you will find the people(especially horse people)very welcoming and eager to help newcomers.Let me know if I can help you in any way.Horse shows almost every weekend somewhere here on the Delmarva Peninsula.Big Mini-shetland show this weekend at DE State Fairgrounds and our state fair is last week of July with all kinds of horses and farm critters and BIG Mini classes on Thursday July 30.Keep in touch
 
I plan to be at the Fairgrounds this weekend for the AMHR show - PM me if you think you might be there and we can meet.
 
I will be there parts of both days.I am usually sitting somewhere up near the office and sometimes help with ribbons and trophies.Not sure about this weekend.I have very short very blonde hair(new dye job) and lots of wrinkles I am a VERY AGED MARE Many of the horses born here on KNOLLAC FARM will be competing this weekend.Several of my friends now own them and I can just go watch and brag and don't have the stress or do any of the work.Look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at the show.
 
I usually show with my red/yellow/black/white bright combination show shirt lol you cant miss me in the ring; I usually stall with the rest of the HHM horses when im there.
 

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