Just to pipe in, Arabs can actually carry more weight due to the lack of vertebrae that say a quarter horse has. Their backs are shorter and they are very strong. They are exceptional endurance animals. I'm not sure if that applies to minis at all. But I just wanted to toss that in there.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!!!!
IMO that is true... a shorter-backed horse tends to be stronger than the long-backed horse of a similar size.
think about it. take a 1" thick board (supported only on the ends) 8' long and place 100 pounds in the middle. it's GOING to sag. use a 6' board with the same weight, it will sag much less. a 4' board even less...
granted a mini will never have the weight carrying capacity of a large horse, but if he's in good physical condition and exercised regularly, he's going to be much more capable than one who's pastured most of the time and used only infrequently. the same as any other athlete, muscle condition plays a large part in what he will be capable of doing.
a few times on trails, merlin's rope became untied from the saddle without our noticing, but he kept up with the girls just fine. once he passed me and continued trotting on toward the lead mare (his favorite girl) and we realized the problem. LOL that's why we started using him for pack. because he worried himself into a colic the first couple times the girls went away without him.
sometimes having a stallion is a benefit to situations like that... he's trained well enough to know when he's expected to behave or to breed, and I would trust him way more than my girls even, with people unfamiliar with horses. the girls will test the limits of what they get away with regularly. LOL
and all that being said, I came home today to a cute sight... he was standing under his shed (with heavy rain coming down) and a row of cochins on his back keeping their feet dry. LOL they weren't supposed to be out, but the wind apparently blew their door open.