About to get my first mini!

I wish you luck finding the right horse, he/she will come along eventually! The biggest piece of advise I can give you is to treat a mini like a regular horse. Make a point to discipline him 100% of the time with consistency. I can tell you from experience that minis will be the first to take advantage of a lapse in discipline.

Do you have any pictures of the 6-8 m/o? We could give you more of a critique with pictures.

I wont be able to get pictures until I work at the farm again. I don't have my own ride, and I rely on my best friend for transportation on the weekends.

Honestly I'm seeing a lot of Red flags here, a 6 month old without having any medical care being sold for $200 - which is far more expensive than any unregistered mini foal should be in this market (honestly that's a rip off). I don't think I'd feel comfortable with this trade - but I understand that when you love a horse you'll deal with any situation - but have you shopped around? Why not go check out some local rescues just to see what else is out there?
This guy you're getting him from, from the little I've heard sounds really shady. I would be concerned buying an animal from someone like you've explained. At least with adopting from a rescue or buying from a reputable breeder you know the animal is healthy - considering you're not rich I wouldn't risk buying an unhealthy foal.
I'm not trying to dissuade you from buying a horse you love- I have paid more money than I should for horses I love.

As for clicker training, I haven't found a horse yet that hasn't done fantastic with it! You absolutely need to be consistent with your reinforcement. They should never, ever get a treat for mugging - personal space and respect is vital. Personally whenever my horse gets a click+treat I feed the treat behind her chin, so she has to back up a step to get it - this reinforces the space boundaries. If she does what I want, but then comes and invades my space after the click she does NOT get the treat - if she gets more pushy than she should I'll walk completely away. The removal of the reward is a great punishment for rude/unwanted behavior, of course only once in a while for an extreme act.
Typically I teach my horses the only way to get a treat is to turn their head away. My horses do NOT mug people ever, but you neeeeedd to be consistent about it! If they get a treat even once while mugging they're going to keep trying! It's incredibly rude and even quite dangerous for a horse, even a mini to be willing to invade your space, be nippy or paw or strike for food. That's a big No-no!

I'm very excited for you to get your pony You're going to love him/her no matter which you get! What color is the mini you're looking at and what are do you live in?

Yeah that's why I asked for opinions. I thought it was a bit much, considering he said they don't have their shots.. I was gong to look for other rescues/breeders but I had no idea where to start.

I would love a flaxen mane and tail.. Mare or gelding. Color won't really mater I guess. I live in Spring Hill, Florida.
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Well there's always petfinder.com :) I found this right away in florida, if you and your friend are BOTH adopting these two look awesome!
Petfinder Adoptable Miniature Horse | Miniature Horse | Morriston, FL | Chico and Lobo
Of course one's older and one's very young, but both have 15-20 years left on them :)
Just look up local horse and miniature horse rescues near you, I'm sure there are a bunch! There are rescues everywhere :)
You can also check your local SPCA, are you in South Florida? Sorry I don't know Florida's geography but they have some ponies:
South FL SPCA Rescued Horses for Adoption

This one has an adorable little bay mini :3 He's precious!
Adoption

There are tons more :) That's just what I found in 2 minutes searching!! Just shop around, don't buy the wrong horse just because it's easy - find the perfect one, at least if you shop around and you do go back to him, you won't have any regrets.

I wouldn't pay more than $75-100 for the colt unless he's gelded already. If he's gelded, I might pay just a bit more.

If he hasn't been vaccinated at all, then there are a LOT that he has missed, making him at risk. He's missed his first Tetanus Shot, his first EEE (Encepalomyeltis sp?), his first dose of Strangles, and first Rabies shot. If he's 6 months old, he's due for a second shot NOW of all of those as well as his first vaccination for Equine Herpes Virus. I believe that Rabies and EEE are mandatory, at least in your area, and all of the others are a VERY good idea. I'd atleast make sure he gets the strangles of the optional ones though. Its nothing to mess with. If he's 8 month old, he's overdue for his second rounds and never got his 3 month old vaccinations.

I posted that to show you just how much money has not been spent on him that you will have to spend on him yourself. I have a miniature mule filly who is 7 weeks old, and I've already spent well over $250 in vet bills on her- and I only paid $125 for her in the first place. She's out of two registered, vaccinated, healthy parents too. I'm about to spend another $150 on shots as well, when she is due for her 3 month vaccines, and I even give some of the shots myself. It will likely cost you more than that if your vet has to make a farm call. I trailer mine up to the vet to bring costs down. Gelding him will be another $100-200, depending on your area. Again, some vets let you trailer your horse to them to make it cheaper.

I'm not trying to scare you away from him, honestly. I know what its like to have a horse that you've fallen so much in love with that nothing else matters. I just want you to be aware of the costs that are going to come with having a baby, or any horse for that matter. They're aren't cheap animals unfortunately! XD

I'd try to talk this man down, if I were you. $200 is just rediculous for an unregistered, unvaccinated miniature foal out of a most likely unvaccinated mare. By all means buy him if you think he's the one, but make sure that you go in with your eyes open! Good luck and definitely post pictures when you can!

By the way Punks, that bay mini is ADORABLE. A bit pricey though for a rescue O_o that's almost what I paid for my registered, cart trained, fairly well bred four year old xD granted she's a sourpuss though...you couldnt pay most people to take her!

ABSOLUTELY!!! That's a ton of money and lots of time and energy to get all those vaccines and everything! Thanks for listing those out. I would be seriously concerned about a foal coming from such a wary situation. I personally am not a fan of over-vaccinations and my horses are seriously under vaccinated - but my horses have had everything they needed to begin with and NEVER leave my property. I do this out of my own choice because I'm more afraid of the vaccination side effects and other issues. But Horses need at least a base level of protection, especially if you're planning on having him travel anywhere.

Another factor is that buying a foal is a whole lot of waiting, when buying a 2-3 year old you can really get to playful work with them! Not have to wait for them to mature and have longer attention spans.
You're right, some rescues can be pricey - they put the high tag to dissuade people with negative intentions, but often will figure out an appropriate prices for appropriate homes. At least that's what we do at my rescue.

Mini Mule?!!! Why have you NOT posted a million and a half pictures of this adorable little creature?!

I can definitely respect that, I have a few friends that don't vaccinate except for Tetanus, and EEE, but they don't show and keep theirs all on their property as well.

I'm sort of in the middle. The vaccinations that I listed are what my vet recommended to me, but like I said, only two are mandatory. I plan on vaccinating Honor (the baby) for EEE, Tetanus and Strangles right now but I'm holding off on the EHV vaccine because I've heard some rumors about it not being safe for mules for whatever reason. I need to research it some more.

As for Honor, I have a few pictures of her from the day after she was born, but no more unfortunately D: Clutzy me dropped my camera a few months ago and got dust in the lense so it is now permanently broken...and with all of the vet bills and such I can't afford another one. The pictures that I do have are from a friend. I'll post a few though!

She's getting her winter fuzzies ON TOP of her foal coat, so she's insanely fluffy now...I wish I had pictures xD the fluff 'dies out' right where you'd think eyebrows go so it looks like she has bushy old man eyebrows. It entertains me xD







OP, okay, back on topic xD PunksTank made a very valid point. Babies are exactly what they are. Babies ;) my mare really only started having an attention span of more than 30 minutes in the last year or so, and she still refuses to let me play with her hair or groom her for more than 15 minutes or so xD It IS fun to see them progress though as they get older! I started working with my mare when she was 6 months old as well, and she was the ugliest little thing...she's really developed into a very nice little mare though with time and LOTS of...um...anger management lessons from me ;) she takes being a mare quite seriously.

OH Dear God!! I think my heart just melted a little, that baby is the cutest baby in the world!! May I steal her?!!

My horse and pony both came with all there vaccines done. The only thing I update is the rabies every couple years, I don't do the booster - if I heard of anything in the area I would get the booster, but there's been no mentions of it and I am vigilant. I keep Tetnus up to date - I would do strangles if I kept them at a big barn or something, but they just sit in my backyard, so I'm not too concerned with it. :) But they've all had their full loads a number of times before I got them too, which I'm sure is still protecting them.

Tell me about it! Babies with short attention spans!! I have a colt (stud till he was 1 when we got him) gelded him immediately and he mellowed out alot but still has some issues with rearing and biting that are being worked out. But honestly, you can't do anything near or with him for more than 5 minutes without becoming a chew toy and having to defend yourself and discipline him. While we try not to set him up for failure his attention span makes life pretty tough, especially when we have to clean his stall around him!! He's so helpful -.-''

I'm so glad I posted here before telling the owner I wanted him. ): It's kinda heart breaking but I just can't afford all that. I'll talk to him about it. I doubt he'll budge too much... but I will try.

None of the Mini's on petfinder really catch my interest. ):

I live about an hour north of Tampa. In hernando county spring hill/brooksville area. It's off the west coast