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Riding a mini

3K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Jessabel 
#1 ·
Ok, I would not ride a mini. I'm too big, I know that. But I was curious if I could put a child up on a mini. Say a 40ish lb toddler/preschooler.
If not what is a good size for a small child?

FYI: I do not plan on getting a horse of any sort in the near future. In fact, by the time I am able to my children will likely be able to get up on a regular sized horse no problem. I'm just curious since I don't know anything about minis except that they are small. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
I wouldn't put more than 50lbs on a mini. I know there are a bigger "type" of mini's, for lack of a better description, that could probably hold more. However, you run the risk of injury since you are not able to saddle break a mini, since you yourself can't get on and ride.

I've heard that horses can carry 10-15% of their body weight.
 
#4 ·
You can find trained lead line minis. Though, for the money, you'd be better off with a shetland pony trained for lead line - kids will get more rides out of a shetland (be able to ride him more years) I've used minis for lead line for little kids, and they do fine, though
 
#7 ·
I have a 12.2 shetland mare who can only carry up to 110 pounds. She is very very little, but shes great with children (on a lead line) ive been givig lessons to my lil cousin , and it work effectivly.

Im not saying all small horses/ponies are good for children, its just... well.... better.... closer to the ground lol. Im also not trying to say that all are easy to ride, it depends on the curcumstances.

So all in all, yes you can ride a mini, but putting a child on to ride i would not recomend.
 
#8 ·
I don't see anything wrong with a small child riding a mini. It depends on the horse's size, though. A horse can safely carry about 20% of his body weight.
 
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