Tell Me About Minis :)

I am not new to horses, but can't have a full sized horse at the moment, so am considering getting my first minis. We have 10 acres and a 12X24 stall, so plenty of room for two minis.

• How tall do the fences have to be? Right now we have t-post and electric poly rope up, 3 strands, with the top strand being about 4 ft high.
• Any special nutrition requirements? We usually feed an RB with local grass hay. The pastures are set up so we can dry lot them if needed, or limit their grazing.
• Hoofcare. Any tips on finding a farrier who is good with minis?

Feel free to add in anything else relevant (or not relevant ) that I should know.

Well I can't say much coz im in the midle of school (on laptop) with a teacher that will chop my head off if she sees me but one thing is They are very good at getting out of there paddocks haha so mae sure you have good fencing

Lol yes we will be making sure they can't get out of the fence :p Anyone else?

How exciting to get some of these little cuties! I am no help, but reading bc I always wanted one as well.

I have heard they only stay in a fence if they WANT to. Most mini breeders around here use goat wire fencing on top of other fencing.

Here is my stupid question for the day, (don't laugh) but when you are referring to your feed, you say RB~and this would be exactly what type? I am sure I will laugh at myself, and realize my age is showing (blushing now).

I am new to the forum, but not to horses, though I have not been in any competitions in SO long...thanks.

It stands for ration balancer :)

Hi RedneckCowgirl! I like that name, BTW! Just wanted to say I completely know how you feel. I grew up riding and showing. We bought a house on an acre with a 3 stall barn and I just NEEDED a "horse fix" but did not want the big bills associated with a big horse. I now have two minis and get such a kick out of them.

I really don't have any advice...I am sure you will get lots of info on this board. Just wanted to say hi and welcome!!

Dont minis cost the same as full horseS?

Nope. Feed bill is next to nothing, don't need shoes and my farrier charges less to trim minis than he does full sized horses. I don't show them, can't ride them off property, so I get the bare minimum of vaccines. Don't need tack.

Definately since you said you are experienced with horses I can't think of a better home for some minis. ^^ I always see people who have 0 experience with horses wanting a mini just because they are smaller and some people think they require little to no effort. [Not true, minis need love, too. Aswell as training.]

Minis can pretty much do anything a regular horse can do, but on a smaller scale. Thusly, they often cost less. They can not be ridden, or at least are not supposed to be ridden, even by a child because they are not "built" to be ridden. They can be trained to pull a cart, and also for little tricks, which I think would be awesome. I know shetlands can pull double their weight, but the shetland and mini are completely different horses.

But they probably would take a little bit more effort in the mane/tail care deparment, considering the more traditional minis often have a thick and beautiful mane. It doesn't stay thick and beautiful on it's own. If it get's too tangled it'll just end up thick and matted.

For fencing, you might want to put something like chicken wire on the bottom so they can't just sneak under. With their thick coats they could probably just walk right through a taller fence.

Good luck with your decision. ^^

Dirtymartini - Regular horses don't need shoes, either. My horses always are barefoot. Some people just decide to put shoes on them, but it's really not nessisary. Wild horses have harder hooves than domesticated ones, so it's often to keep the equine's hooves safe from too hard of surfaces.

yeah true