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Riding a mini

5995 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  artistic cowgirl
I was wondering if a small child could ride a mini?
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Depends on the type of mini. When it comes to miniature horses, it really seems to be more of a type then a breed in some cases. True "Falabellas" I'd say definately not. They are extremely fine boned, delicate and tiny. But often you get horses classified as miniatures that are actually part Shetland and while they're small, they're extremely stocky.

Small children can definately ride the latter. The average miniature really shouldn't be ridden by anyone though - they were designed as pets, not as riding animals. They're great for driving though!
The issue actually comes in with ponies having better bone density and joints. They're designed to carry larger weights - often a 12hh pony will have no problem carrying the same amount of weight the average 15hh can handle. True miniatures aren't ponies, they're horses and have the same refined structure.

You could actually get a mini and a Shetland that are the same height, and yet the mini can't properly handle the weight while the Shetland can.

DisneyCowgirl - I don't think you have anything to worry about. If that's them in the avatar, he can easily handle carrying her for pretty much as long as she wants to ride and for several more years as well.
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