Anyone own a miniature horse?

[gumpsgirl]

I am looking to get one for my daughter for Christmas if I can convince my DH of the idea and can find one for the right price. My daughter is 4 and completely horse crazy! She helps me care for the chickens (has her own coop), the goats, and the dogs so I know she would do great with a horse. My question here is, how are the miniatures as far as temperament goes? My sister seems to think they have larger than life attitudes, but has never owned one so I am looking for someone's opinion who has. Would my DD be okay to ride one? Do they require special care versus a standard sized horse? Any advice would be welcome here!

 

[Missouri chick]

I have a neighbor down the road who has 2. It's an older couple that has them for pets, so I don't think they have anyone ridding them, but those horses are SWEET!! Big ole pets.

Good luck finding some.....

 

[Bec]

I have one and she is a handful! She is only 7 months old so I am sure that has a lot to do with it. If you are planning on riding, well not you but your daughter, I would recommend a full sized horse. A small horse or large pony. The problem with the minis is that the kids can only ride them for such a short amount of time, they can only handle up to about 60 lbs or so. And it is that way with a smaller pony as well. The ponies tend to be more of a handful than horses. Ponies and minis are so little that they can;t help that their legs move faster to get them where they are going apposed to a big horse with longer legs that would move slower. Now another idea if you really have your heart set on a mini is to find one that drives. My 5 year old learned how to drive a mini at her horse camp this past summer and she had so much fun! That's why we got ours. She has a quarter horse mare that she rides here, but when this mini is old enough (about 3 yrs) she will learn to drive too! I would be very careful picking a mini. You would have to make sure that you find a really quiet and gentle one. My daughter has an easier time with the 15.2 and 17 hand horses that we have then she does with the mini. I know plenty of people that have minis and they are sweet and gentle so i wouldn't say they are all attitude, as with any horse, they have their own personalities. Mine is full of it because she is a baby and is learning. I don't recommend starting with a baby for your daughter. I would get one that is already there and ready for interaction with little ones.
The good thing about minis is that they don't eat very much and the cost of feeding them is way less than a big horse.

I am sure there are others here that will have more information and opinions on minis as well!

Here is a picture of my daughter and her mini Kahlua when we first got her at 3 months old.

 

[clifonti]

I second your suggestion about getting a small horse instead. Horses generally seem to have a gentler and quieter temperment and are more respectful to children. Especially older horses! Take your time selecting the animal and watch the critter's behavior in different circumstances. Then get some riding lessons with a good instructor. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[gumpsgirl]

Missouri chick - Thank you for your opinions!

Bec - Thank you so much for touching on that. The problem with a full size horse is the having to fence in the whole 8 acres here and I know that won't happen! My DH would put his foot down there. The other problem with the full size is the amount of hay, etc... they consume. I actually had a free full sized horse offered to me and my husband said no way to that one.

If I can get something smaller, I feel like I stand a much better chance with the DH.

I was shying away from a pony because of the attitudes they seem to pack, but maybe that might be a better direction to go if my daughter will be riding it if I can get one young enough to try and mold. The miniature horses are a new thing to me, so that's why I asked about them. I also appreciate you posting the pic of your DD and miniature! My little girl saw that picture and has had a fit over it! She is determined I should by that horse for her. I've had to explain that the horse belongs to the little girl in the picture and she would be so sad if we bought her. Thank heavens she seems content with that answer!

 

[gumpsgirl]

Quote:
Sorry! Can't do a larger horse. I wish I could, because I do know that their attitudes are so much better, but DH says NO WAY!

 

[Bec]

In that case then I would look for a nice miniature that rides and drives. That way she can ride while she is small enough and drive when she can't ride anymore! Kahlua only eats about a 1/2 of a flak of hay a day, if that. She lives in my backyard because I don't want her getting hurt with the 3 big ones. she eats about 1 measured cup of feed a day, now that she is getting bigger and it is getting colder I have up'd it, but that equals about 2 handfulls of grain a day. I pay my farrier 10$ to trim her feet . If a big horse is out of the question then I would find a nice mini that suits what you need. But I do recommend a ride/driving mini! That was your daughter gets good use and time with him/her!!


That is sooo cute !! Your little girl will have one of her own someday!!! Check your craigslist and dreamhorse.com! I am going out to get some pics of my blue hens, I will get some more pics of Kahlua for her!


I also wanted to add that my DH was not crazy over the idea until he saw one drive a cart with dd driving it! They can carry adults in the carts and learning to drive them is pretty easy. Now teaching them I have no clue about, but I am going to try when she is 3!!

 

[helmstead]

Our neighbor (a single lady who obviously wished she'd had kids and has more money than sense) bought our daughter a mini colt for her 1st birthday. He was 6 mos old on delivery.

Until his hormones kicked in, he and our DD got along great. Then, he got studdy, and DD couldn't go near him until we could have him gelded (which, BTW, was just this past March, because he didn't drop until then).

He is a little monster, still, but MUCH gentler than he had been. He took right to having a saddle on, no bucking or anything, and allows short bareback rides, too. We're training him to drive, so that once he's outgrown for riding he can still have a purpose.

I don't trust ANY pony with kids under 6 years old. Nada. Leadline, period. Only after some formal lessons on lead and lunge with a kid over 6 do I feel unassisted rides are possible. Therefore, minis are fine. It's the people that tack up the ponies and let their 4 year olds go it alone that wind up with dirt darts...completely avoidable. Ponies are smart, they KNOW they can get those munchkins off!

If you DO get a mini, get a LARGE mini (10 hh+). Ours has matured to 30" - WAY too small. I'm challenged to even find a girth that will fit him.

As far as care is concerned, it's the same as a large horse, just less of it. You have to watch not to overfeed, and be careful of spring and fall grasses...but everything else is the same.

 

[Julie_in_PA]

I am looking to get one for my daughter for Christmas if I can convince my DH of the idea and can find one for the right price. My daughter is 4 and completely horse crazy! She helps me care for the chickens (has her own coop), the goats, and the dogs so I know she would do great with a horse.

HA ! You sound just like me ... LOL ! I have a 4 yr old daughter who is completely HORSE CRAZY to - and we also have goats, chickens, dogs, etc. Which she does help me care for as well.
We have a "mini pony" ... the ppl we got her from said her mom was a mini and her dad was a pony. So she's larger than a fb miniature, but still small - like a shetland pony. My daughter is actually taller than her - at the pony's back/withers.

She has grown a little since then (both the pony and my daughter) ... but they're still about the same height to each other in comparison. If ya know what I mean.

ANYWAY - "Star" (our pony) is a wonderful little gal ! She CAN have a lil attitude now and then ... but nothing to bad. We had her ever since she was 6 months old, so she was "green" when we got her. Since then we HAVE put our daughter on Star's bare back ... and lead her around a little, and Star did fine with it. It could be another story when we go to put a saddle on her ... but we havne't tried that yet. We need to buy a pony saddle first.
She can get a little nippy sometimes ... but not in a dangerous way. And it can be corrected pretty easily with her. She's a smart little pony !
I have had full size horses, TALL horses, this pony, and my cousin has a mini horse. Honestly - I truly prefer Star above ALL of the others for our little girl. The full size horses we had were very gentle and well trained horses that were older and wonderful ! But I was always worried about their size, etc. that if they were around Jasmine and didn't see her for instance and got into running around the field or something (you know how horses can carry on) - that they wouldn't see her and mistakenly run into her or worse yet run over her, etc. Or that being her size she would come up behind them and scare them and she would get kicked. I had fears like that about the full size horses, so we sold them and got this pony. I will NEVER regret it !!! I loved my horses, but I feel SOOOOOO much safer with this pony !!! Yes, she could kick (even though she's not a kicker), and yes, she could also run into Jasmine - but there's alot less chances of that happening because she's Jasmine's size, and can ALWAYS see Jasmine, etc. So the mistake is alot less likely to happen. Jasmine just loves Star ! And Star loves her back ! I keep saying that MAYBE when Jasmine's older (like 10 or something) that we'll get a full size horse or two again. But on the other hand ... I dunno ... I do like Star, and hubby is fearful of the accidents that can happen with a full size horse as well ... so who knows ... perhaps we'll just stick to the ponys & minis

Good luck in whatever you decide ... imo a mini/pony that's your little girl's size is the best bet. As for the fb mini's - my cousin's fb mini sure does have an attitude ! But since he's getting older he's mellowing out a little. So if you get a fb mini - get an older one that's been handled alot. Ponys can have attitudes as well - so either way, just be cautious when you go to look at one you might be interested in. Ask questions, see for yourself how the mini/pony is hands on, etc. Good Luck !​

 

[luvmypoultry]

Miniature horses are only as gentle as the amount of time you spend with them just like regular size horses. I told my neighbor yesterday how minis love kids because they are small too!
I will forever have etched into my brain my 10 year old granddaughter having tied the three mini babies to separate trees and going from one to the other bending down kissing them on the noses!
I think I've got mini pics on the puter, I'll post them if I can find them.
Found them. Here are two for your daughter to look at: