Miniature Horse Naughtiness!UPDATE: Ed left today to get gelded.

[bossynbella]

Thanks for the help. I have been getting all kinds of suggestions, some sound like they could work for me, some don't. I contacted a Miniature horse rescue group from near my area and asked for help. They have been awesome and I wanted to share the last email from them.

What county are you located in? I will call around tomorrow to see veternarians we've used I the past. My thoughts on his striking out is he is just goofing around and playing. Also it sounds as if he needs some exercise to run some of that energy out of the little bugger. I would be happy to come and get him to get him gelded once we figure out who will do it at low cost. We are trying to establish a gelding fund for this exact reason and just had a meeting yesterday addressing this. Your timing couldn't of been better. I will let you know what I find out Monday. Thank you for all that you've done already for this little guy!! Karla

I have really been watching Ed a lot the last few days and I think a lot of the problem really is that he wants to play, and that for whatever reason (probably because we reacted badly the first few times he kicked at us, he has gotten a bit nervous around us. When we approach him much the way we had to when we first got him, slowly coaching him to come to us, hes much calmer.

Hopefully with there help we can work Edward back into a calm easy going boy.

 

[dmiravalle]

Sounds like you have a good rescue going in your area!! Hooray!!! Good luck with everything!

 

[dmiravalle]

Oh and if you go to the Lil beginning's mini horse website, they have vaccine schedules, worming, advice, etc. Lot's of info on their website!

 

[KimberlyJ]

Quote:
Bossynbella, I'm so pleased with the way this thread is turning out. I feel this is the begining of a whole new relationship between you and Edward!!!!
You go girl!!! Stick with it and you'll end up with a the best mini ever!!!! (I never dreamed a mini horse could be so tough!--who knew???)

 

[EweSheep]

They are tough all right! I had two stallions, two broodmares, and three fillies.....man, they are wonderful but you have to teach them manners and don't let them get by with it, even they are so cute! They are NO different than a big horse!

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Quote:
What Welsummer says, in this post and the previous is so true. A lot of stallions have really bad reputations for a reason, they dominate. It's what they are born to do and if you don't understand their mindset and you aren't in control then they will be. I have full sized stallions and if one of them even THOUGHT of biting me or kicking at me he'd be an it so quick his head would spin around. And they know it! The worst behaved stallions I've ever seen were mini's because their owners acted like they were dogs and not horses. But if you want to draw a parallel between dog training and horse training, you'd never let your dog that size jump up and put his feet on you, don't let that mini do it either. You wouldn't stand for a dog biting you, don't allow the mini to do it. And when they are biting is the ONE time I will knock a horse upside his head and hard. Most of the time I teach them to stay out of my space unless invited in, 15 feet minimum, keep your face forward and don't turn it toward me, and don't you ever turn your behind to me. Turning their butts into your face and kicking at you is as disrespectful of you as a male dog walking up and peeing on your leg, don't stand for it.

An ounce of prevention is worth several pounds of cure. If the horse starts to bring his mouth toward you, push his head away with your hand, or foot or a stick or whatever. You don't have to kill him, just push him away. Use a whip or stick to push him away from you to the end of your lead line and make him stand there. Start out with short time spans like 30 seconds and make it longer once he gets it. If he starts to come in, tell him NO or Uh UH or something like that and be consistent about it. If he starts to turn his butt toward you, use the stick and pop him on his hip and make him "Hide Your Hiney" and swing his butt away from you. If you pull his head in toward you as you look at his hip hard and pop it, he'll get the clue real quick. My horses all learn what "You better Hide that Hiney" means in just a couple of weeks. If he's 15 feet away, facing you, he can't kick or bite you and he'll learn to respect your space and you.

Mini's don't need corn or grain for the most part, they're too easy to founder. The starch in the corn is probably giving him a sugar high and creating some of that 'tude. If you just keep him on grass for a few days I bet he'll calm down a little.

And I agree with everyone else, snip snip, he needs to be gelded ASAP and now is the perfect time of year for it no flies.

You're not a bad owner or not good enough, you just have gotten into a situation where you don't have a lot of experience. Since you've reached out to the mini folks near you I bet you can get little Mr Ed sorted out pretty darn quickly. There's nothing cuter than a well trained mini! I love 'em and keep saying I'm going to get a couple but really, I have enough work with the full sized ones and the other animals on this farm. Someday......

 

[patandchickens]

That is GREAT that the local mini group is helping you out, it is actually more-exactly what you need than anything we'd suggested on this thread earlier anyhow! LOL

I expect that with his family jewels removed AND someone experienced to show you how to deal with him (the latter is a really big thing), you can quite likely recivilize him and live happily ever after

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[RiverOtter]

That is awesome!
I am SO glad you found someone local to help you!!! There is nothing that beats learning in person - somethings you can read about but it's just not the same. And that they will help with the cost of the geld - Woohooo!
I am so happy for you.

 

[chickenRob]

them little ones got attuide. git him fixed that will help train him up to Bob

 

[reliant601]

Honestly, I would get this Mini gelded. Are you planning on using him for breeding? If not, please get him gelded. Also stallions are a lot more on the hot side. Goodthing he isn't a 1200lb stalltion that will be even worse.

I really do suggest getting this Mini gelded and he needs some serious groundwork in the pen. If not he can really hurt somebody or even you!