New to mini's, possibly hooked for life!

[horse_apples]

I just adopted two miniature horses in need of a new home. A good friend of mine had a relative/neighbor who had two mini's that her children (now teens) had sort of grown out of. She wanted them to go to a home together so I was able to get them as a gift. I know a little about basic horse care because my father has two horses (a halflinger and a shetland pony) and lives right across the road from me. I have 10 acres, 3 of which are pasture and have a large barn. This used to be an Amish farm. These mini's have totally won my heart and I want to give them the best home possible and have lots of questions!! They are such amazingly sweet and clever animals.

A little about them. They are mother and baby. Dolly, is an 18 year old mare who was at one time registered as Hocott's Party Doll (granddaughter of Shadow Oak's Paul Bunyan) Her daughter, Baby is a 6 year old who came with a filled out registration form with the signature of the person who supplied her Dad to Dolly. Baby's Dad is Double AA Cheyenne Chief who was Kokomo's Little King Supreme grandson - I was told this means they have good bloodlines in case I want to breed Baby one day - which I think I would only do so she'd have a buddy around when her mom inevitably meets her end. How long do minis live? Is 6 too old to breed or what is too old/too young?

Both are listed on their paperwork as "gurllo" but vistors to my barn have referred to them as Blue Roan. They are both very pretty and Dolly has an interesting "tattoo" on her rump of a fox's face. Dolly is 35.5", 280lbs. and Baby is 34", 240lbs. Their personalities are just darling, although they can be quite ornery at times. I never imagined horses would lick, sniff my face, try to pick up any and every little thing I carry around, and jump around like little goats when let out to pasture. I enjoy learning as I go and am glad to have people help me out.

I keep them in a 14"x12" stall during the day and overnight with two two hour trips to the pasture. Our pasture became severly overgrown this summer and I don't want to turn them loose on such lush green so as not to make them sick. I have been brushing their bodies daily, manes weekly and picking their hooves everyday as well. I never knew how much .... mess ... a horse makes in one day if you catch my drift - it's why I'm naming our barn "horse apple acres".

My questions:

-What is the difference between Grullo and Blue Roan?

-Should I increase the pasture trips by one hour each week until they can handle 8 hours a day in the pasture?

-How do I know if they are being playful vs. being mean? Sometimes Baby will run full speed at me then vear off at the last second. She likes our dog, but today I saw her stomp at her.

-Can/How do I register them?

-When/Should I breed Baby (I assume Dolly is too old at 18 though she acts clownish and youthful)

- I saw them licking/nipping each other's necks in what seemed to be a loving gesture?

- How do I give them a bath? Suppose one rolled in her own poo.... yeah she did!

- How long should they live if cared for well?

- How do I know they are happy and like their new home? It's been three weeks now and they seem at ease. They sometimes are a little pushy about being let out to pasture.

Thank you all for reading this! If you want to see pictures, here are a few links:

http://www.brushcreekstudio.com/baby.jpg

http://www.brushcreekstudio.com/dolly.jpg

http://www.brushcreekstudio.com/dollytat.jpg

 

[midnight star stables]

I'm not able to read your whole post at this time, however I have a few things to say. 1) IMO, both of your girls are blue roans

2) I'm going to guess the tatooed mare came from Foxfire Minis. 3) [SIZE=12pt]WELCOME to LB and CONGRATULATIONS![/SIZE]

 

[sedeh]

Congratulations on your two new lovely ladies!!

:yeah And welcome to the forum!

They look like blue roans to me also.

As far as the rest of your questions.....you're going to get a variety of answers!

Your pasture looks very lush! I'm sure the girls love it! Are you also feeding them while they're in the barn? Mini's are very prone to laminitis/founder so need to be introduced to pasture slowly. Were they out on pasture where they lived before? I don't have "pastures" per say, my acreage is non-irrigated and I have seasonal pasture which is worse for the minis than established pastures. For me the new Spring grass is danger city! Hopefully some of the people that have year round pastures can share their experiences with you.

Your 6 yo is very much in the breedable age. I'm not sure what paperwork you have on her and for what registry but the easiest thing to do is call the registry that she's with and ask them what you can do to get her registered. You can always hardship her into AMHA(at least for another year or two.....I can't remember what their cut off date is), but then you lose all her ancestry. Then you have to decide if you really want to breed her. There are so many nice minis out there looking for homes!

Minis have a very dog like personality......but they are horses. You can't let them get away with bad behavior; they're just too smart! If you've worked with big horses; expect the same manners from the minis that you would the bigs. My big horses used to come barreling up to me but I taught them that as soon as I put my hand up they were to stop! Then I would walk up to them and greet them. I do the same thing with the minis. Good luck with your girls. Enjoy them! Minis are a great deal of fun.

 

[REO]

Congrats on your girls and welcome to the forum!!

How long do they live? It varies. I think how well they were cared for in early life have something to do with it. The older ones we lost were 25 and 28.

-What is the difference between Grullo and Blue Roan?

I'd have to write a book!

Your girls are black but are also roan (white hairs) so are called blue roans.

-Should I increase the pasture trips by one hour each week until they can handle 8 hours a day in the pasture? They are getting 4 hrs a day now? Is there any way you can mow down or fence off some space for them outside so they can be outside more? Horses LOVE to be outside! It sounds like they are inside 20 hours a day right now? What else are they getting fed? Hay in their stall?



-Can/How do I register them? It depends on what you were given (paperwork) For Dolly--Did you get AMHR papers and a signed transfer, signed by the person listed on the papers as the owner? You got an application for her daughter to be registered? Too early in the AM for me to think now. Call AMHR and ask them.

-When/Should I breed Baby (I assume Dolly is too old at 18 though she acts clownish and youthful) 18 is not too old to breed. Anf 6 is a good age. But I really think you should try to get them both registered in your name first. And only breed to a registered stallion (same registry as them) or the foals will not be able to be registered.

- I saw them licking/nipping each other's necks in what seemed to be a loving gesture? They were grooming/itching each other!

- How do I give them a bath? Suppose one rolled in her own poo.... yeah she did! Warm water, shampoo, rince, dry!

- How do I know they are happy and like their new home? It's been three weeks now and they seem at ease. They sometimes are a little pushy about being let out to pasture. They sound happy to me! They want to be outside and they long to be outside when they're in the stall, so when you go to let them out, they're like, WHEEEEE!! So hapy to be going out! That's why they're pushy to go. I'm not saying it's good thet they're pushy, just saying why.

I'm glad you're here! Many people are away at Nationals now but this board will be busier later on!

Many nice people here! Ask all the questions you want!

 

[Annabellarose]

I just wanted to say that you sound like a fantastic new horse owner! You have come to the right place for help with your Miniature Horses. There are so many knowledgeable people that hang out here. KUDOS to you for seeking out information and trying to educate yourself!

-Should I increase the pasture trips by one hour each week until they can handle 8 hours a day in the pasture?

That is similar to what I do. When I buy a horse that has been on "dry lot" or that has not had access to grass I build my own dry lot so that it can spend plenty of time outside (horses like to be outside and outside is so much better for their mental and physical health, too much inside time can sometimes result in breathing problems depending upon the conditions of your stall/barn) and then I turn the horse out for an hour twice a day and every 5-7 days I extend it to two hours twice a day, three hours twice a day, four hours twice a day and so on. You are SO SMART and SO WONDERFUL to know that too much time on pasture after little to no time on pasture is bad for a horse!

-How do I know if they are being playful vs. being mean? Sometimes Baby will run full speed at me then vear off at the last second. She likes our dog, but today I saw her stomp at her.

Sometimes it is hard to know and it is something that you can learn. You can learn by watching and you can get a leg-up by reading some of the many fantastic books on the market that explain horse behavior and/or that teach you how to read a horses "signals". When they point their ears back toward their neck they are usually saying something like, "Grrr, leave me alone!" and can follow with a kick.

-Can/How do I register them?

The BEST thing to do is call the registry, they are paid to answer these kinds of questions! You can tell them what happened to you and what you have and they will tell you if you can register them or they will tell you what you need to do or to get in addition to what you have to register them which may or may not involve tracking people down from their past.

-When/Should I breed Baby (I assume Dolly is too old at 18 though she acts clownish and youthful)

6, in my opinion, is the perfect age to breed a mare for the first time, but please think long and hard before you breed and add to the horse population. Is she a quality animal? You can ask other people in the industry to evaluate her. Will her foal better the breed? If you think that you would like to have more Miniature Horses, there are many out there for sale and/or to adopt/rescue. Do you have the time (or the energy) to sit up with her during the night for months waiting for her foal to be born so that you can be there to assist the birth if there's trouble with the delivery? Someone already told you that it would probably be a good idea to get her registered and in your name and then to breed her to a registered stallion. That was EXCELLENT ADVICE!

- How do I give them a bath?

Can an experienced horse person help you with this the first time or two? They may have never been bathed before and some (well, a lot of) horses do not like a bath (to the point of rearing and kicking and that is dangerous both for you and for them). Be careful not to spray them in the face (you wouldn't like that either) or in or near the ears. Try to get them thoroughly wet, apply a shampoo for horses (you can usually find this at a feed store or at a tack shop), scrub them vigorously (you can use a horse brush to help with this), and BE SURE to get all of the shampoo off of their bodies or you are going to have miserable, ITCHY horses!

- How long should they live if cared for well?

Depending upon how they've been cared for up to this point and depending upon how you care for them from this point forward, they could live to be 20, 30, maybe more. Ponies often live longer than horses and Miniature Horses are really small ponies. There has been the occasional horse or pony that lived beyond 40, 50, or 60, but it's very, very rare.

-How do I know they are happy and like their new home? It's been three weeks now and they seem at ease. They sometimes are a little pushy about being let out to pasture.

You need to set boundaries for them and for their behavior, a lot like you would for your dog (though horses are not like dogs). You don't let your dog pull at the leash, a horse shouldn't pull at the lead. You can stop and make them wait and ask them to be still before you continue forward and hopefully they will learn that the faster they settle the faster they get to go out to play. If you can't correct their bad behaviors on your own, you can ask an experienced horse person for advice or, even better, you can seek the advice of a horse trainer in your area. A Miniature Horse is still a horse and it needs to be treated like a horse, not like a dog or anything else. Miniature Horses are often allowed to get away with bad and/or dangerous behaviors because they are smaller and cuter than "big" horses and that is unfortunate both for them and their owners and any future owners.

 

[targetsmom]

Welcome to the wonderful world of minis and to the LB Forum!!! You are asking some very good questions, and it sounds like you are figuring things out for yourself pretty well too.

I will just add a couple of things to the excellent advice so far.

You are so right to limit their pasture at this time, but do you have an area that you could fence off and let them out on a "dry lot"? Our minis don't get a lot of pasture time, but some are outside 24/7 (with shelter) and the rest are out all day, no matter the weather (also good shelter) on a dry lot. It sounds like your minis are trying to tell you they want more time outside!

I would think long and hard about breeding. I could write a book about the horrible experiences and heartache we have had since we started breeding in 2006. We own good mares, they were bred to top stallions, have the best vet care and we lost every foal until this year. Our vet bills included a week in a veterinary hospital costing several thousand dollars. As you found, there are plenty of minis looking for homes.

Bath time: Some like it, some don't. We have one that had his first baths using warm water from a bucket before he got used to the hose. Warm water really helps. I use Dawn dish soap even on the show horses, so your shampoo doesn't need to be fancy. Just be sure to rinse all the soap out. They will want to roll when they are wet! And maybe run..... Or maybe that is only when you have to keep them clean for a show the next day!

 

[MindyLee]

Congrats on your 1st minis and ohhh are they ever so nice ones at that! LOVE blue roans and I also agree with what everyone has said above. Good luck and watch out for the horsey bug!

 

[AppyLover2]

Welcome to the LB family.

I just wanted to suggest that if you don't have a dry lot for them that you might want to do what I did. That is to get some step in posts and run a hot wire fence around an area they can be turned out in during part of the day. If the grass is high mow it close and those 2 beautiful girls will absolutely love the chance to spend more time outside.

 

[HorseMom]

Welcome from Upstate NY! Everyone else has already given excellent advice.

 

[Sabrina]

welcome from montana!! this is a great site full of helpful people!!!

 

[horse_apples]

wow, THANK YOU so much for all your replies and advice everyone! That is so wonderful!!

About the pasture - we have a 2 acre section fenced off which is where the barn is. Behind it, there is another 1 acre pasture section fenced in. Both pasture grew all summer with only the local deer feeding off of. (Note, I live in rural Ohio and we have deer like NYC has pidgeons.) The girls came from a pasture which was pretty well chewed to the dirt, so I have been giving them time in a collapsable/moveable electric net type fence area around the barn's pasture and have expanded it twice to open more fresh grass and they chew down what is given to them. I don't have the electric on and they don't seem to bother the fence. In case they would get rambuncious and escape, there is, as I said before 2 acres around them fenced in. While in their stall, I give them a little bit of hay, not quite a flake's worth, a salt lick, and for each trip they make back in from outside they get a heaping handful of sweet feed. So far, so good with colic or foundering. I noticed this morning Baby likes apples but Dolly just "pfffffffts" at them.

We have a great barn and land, but my husband and I haven't gotten farm animals til just now, which is why the pasture over grew so much. (we had some disappointing luck with chickens and a raccoon problem) My parents gave us two baby cows to keep the grass down, but they kept breaking out and running back to my mom's farm across the street! THOSE are ornery, ornery little animals. I do have a lot of time to spend with the horses - I work as a photographer so I pretty much set my own hours.

Someone mentioned Minis have personalities like dogs and I was thinking that exactly! They whinney and neigh at me just like my dogs whimper and bark when I have been away for a few hours.

http://www.brushcreekstudio.com/tiara2.jpg

Here's Baby posing as a real life My Little Pony (yes, I'm an 80's child, hehe)

 

[lilfolks]

Welcome from Little Folks Farm in Connecticut with 8 miniatures at present. Sounds like everyone has given you good advice so enjoy them and you will love the minis. I have been in minis for a long time, bred, showed and am now cutting down from a herd of 32 at one time.

Joyce

 

[Julie/Azariah]

Enjoy your new kids

They will give you more joy than you can imagine, and some days you will wonder if you are crazy... I guess we all are in a way !

The folks here are so helpful and give good advice. You may hear conflicting advice, and maybe to some questions there is no one answer, so just go with the one that works best for you or a combination of things that work.

Feel free to email me or PM me anytime or get on this forum and learn, learn, learn!!!

 

[candycar]

Welcome from Kentucky

Where in Ohio are you? There are plenty of folks from Ohio (and me in KY near OH) on here. Sounds like you are on the right track. Your first great move was joining this forum! You have some very pretty girls! Love the blue roans!

Is there any way You can let them come and go in the barn attached to the small pasture out back? When they eat down or you mow down the small lot, then they would have a great place to play outside without so much to eat and access to shelter when needed. Other than that read everything you can on these little guys and horses in general and enjoy them!

 

[~Dan]

Hi welcome to the board

The horses look real nice. and yes, the one with the brand is Fire Fox . I would buy some step in posts with electric tape, and you can then cross fence the pasture, graze in rotation, and mow down one side. Congratulations on your new additions.

Dan

 

[Ashley]

I would be giving them more hay and switch the sweet feed to senior feed. They both could stand to gain a few pounds, and fill out some.

 

[Windhaven]

Hi and welcome to the world of minis

Your girls are beautiful. I would definitely try to get registration papers on them.

As for breeding, it is not for the faint at heart. It can be very rewarding but it also can be very heartbreaking. Stick around here and you will read many post of both joy and heartbreak next spring.

There is a lot of people here that would help you out if you decide to take the plunge and breed your mares. But there are so many minis, starting from weanling age to adults that you can easily pick the one you want, with your color, sex, and attitude. It is always fun to shop for minis. Just be sure to ask lots of questions and get LOTS of pictures if it is far away.

As for a dry lot, I also highly recommend that. Most minis don't need to be out on pasture 24-7 because they get to FAT. Also a horse is happier with 24 hr turn out with a warm dry place to go if the weather gets bad. They also are healthier to. My mares are out 24-7 and on pasture only during the day.

One word of caution, if you decide to MOW your pasture or make a dry lot, make sure you wait 4-5 days before you turn them out on it. The clippings should be dry before you turn you horses out on it other wise it can cause colic.

It looks like your horses have a wonderful home. Enjoy them.

 

[shelly]

Welcome from Maine!! Your minis are gorgeous

:wub I can't really add anymore to the excellent advice already given so just ENJOY!!

 

[wingnut]

What beautiful girls!! Congrats and welcome from a fellow newbie owner from Maryland!

 

[AshleyNicole]

[SIZE=12pt]I wanted to warn you… They are very addictive. I got my first mini that happened to be unregistered last year. A few months later I got a registered mare to go with my gelding. This last month I got two champion broodmares at least one of which is in foal so that I can start showing the foals and another mare that I plan on showing. Now I'm looking for the "perfect" stallion to buy within the next 6 months or so. (I'm stopping there I swear, until I get a bigger place) We went to the AMHR show this weekend and if that doesn't make you want just one more I don't know what will. (Luckily, I didn't have the trailer or I'm sure we would have doubled in size again)

Your two minis are beautiful but like I said watch out they are addictive.

[/SIZE]