Basic Care of Miniature Horses

Training
Feeding
Shelter
Mental Health
Grooming
Vaccinating
Foot Care

Training

Miniature horses are notoriously easy to train. I work with Rainbow on a daily basis and he now works off of voice commands and hand signals. So, if you have a mind to, you can train your own mini with a little patience and work. However, if you purchase a miniature from us for the purpose of showing, we always suggest that you take the horse to a professional trainer in order to ensure success in the show ring. We recommend that you take the horse to Just Won Training Center in Tomball, Texas. Tel# 281-924-5863 or visit them at their website www.justwon.com. Amanda and Linda (daughter/mother team) have been very instrumental in helping us get our business off and running. They have not only superbly prepared our horses for shows, but have given us hours and hours of support and tons of information as well as their love. You could never ask for better people to train you and your horse.

Feeding a Mini

Minis are cheap to feed. For an average size miniature you need about a ½ of a 1-lb coffee can of crimped oats and 12% pellets mixed together twice a day. Never feed whole oats to your mini, always ask for crimped or steamed oats. The husk on whole oats will cause them to choke. I will also use alfalfa cubes broken up as a top dressing to their feed when I want to give them an extra little boost or add a little variety to their diet. Also if you give alfalfa cubes as a treat, break them up into four pieces, I have seen a mini choke on an alfalfa cube, and trust me it is real hard to do the Heimlich maneuver on a horse. The same goes for horse treats, break them up into small bits. For breeding stallions, mares in foal, or mares that are nursing we feed Omaline 200, a 1 lb scoop twice a day. When the babies are old enough to eat along side their dams we add in another ½ scoop to the feed bucket or separate them out to their own bucket and feed them about a ¼to ½ scoop twice a day depending upon size. Watch your mini to see how much they really need, you do not want a fat mini, but you also do not want to be able to see their backbone, ribs, and hips sticking out. I like to be able to feel these structures on an animal only when I dig for them. Some minis are what we call “easy keepers”, in other words, they will get fat just breathing air, and others are “hard to keep” and they need more than others in order to maintain a nice layer of body fat. Horses are just like people so judge each horse on his own merit and feed accordingly. Never allow your horse to eat “all he wants” as they will founder. Keep your feed locked up and secure where the horses cannot get to it. Keep a salt and mineral block in the corral or pasture for them. They love them and they need them in order to maintain good nutrition.Keep their feed and water buckets clean. I wash their buckets as needed and at least once a week with diluted bleach water to keep the mildew down. Never feed your mini off the ground. They will ingest sand and dirt with their feed and develop colic. Colic is a potentially deadly occurrence and usually requires a vet to help you out. Should you ever find your horse rolling over and over get him up as fast as possible and keep him walking until the vet can come.The last and most important ingredient in your horse’s diet is water. They should have access to all the clean water they can drink! That means at night as well as in the day. The average mini will drink approximately 4 gallons of water on a really hot day! I also recommend a nice pasture area for grazing. We usually do not give our minis hay except in the winter. Horses use hay in order to make heat so when it gets really cold we will give them a flake each in the morning and again at night to keep them warm. Hay must be at least fertilized coastal. Never ever feed your horse alfalfa grown in Texas or New Mexico. It has a blister beetle that will absolutely kill your horse if ingested. It is a good idea to inspect your hay for things like trash, string, and varmints. If there are signs of rodent droppings or lots of bugs in the hay, then don’t buy it. Most feed stores have fairly decent hay, but I still look through it before I buy and as I feed it to the horses. Hay will mildew if left out in the open so don’t buy large quantities as mini’s will not be able to eat large amounts at one time and you run the risk of the hay rotting before you can feed it.

Shelter

I have stables as well as run in sheds all over my property and have been horrified to look out and see everyone standing around in the rain or running and playing in the snow! They don’t seem to mind the cold, but in the harsh winter when the wind blows they do need a shelter to huddle up in and keep warm. Of course, when you are raising babies, a nice warm stable to foal in is a must and all the babies and mommies go into stables at night. However, for the older horses a nice three-sided run in shed facing away from the north wind with plenty of hay in it, will keep them nice and warm even through a blizzard.

Mental Health

Remember, horses are herd animals so they do not like to be alone. They must have someone or something for company. I have even seen them take up with goats and chickens. So, please do not isolate your mini. If you have just one, then make sure he gets to see you everyday and that he has something to occupy his time with even if it is just a goat.

Grooming your Mini

In the winter, minis will grow a really shaggy coat. In fact, they all look like big fur balls on four legs. This coat is double layered with the outer layer being thick and course and water repellent and the inner layer being fine and thick in order to help hold in the heat. We usually just brush them once a week during the winter. Grooming your horse helps you to bond with the horse and gives you an opportunity to look for anything that might be the start of a problem. We use a currycomb on their bodies, a soft bristle brush for their faces and legs and a mane comb for their tales and manes. Horses love to be brushed! Horses do not typically have a lot of skin problems if their food is of a good quality and they are groomed properly. In the spring they will shed the outer layer of hair and a daily brushing will help them get rid of that thick shaggy coat. We always wait until we are sure the cold nights are over before we clip them, but we will body clip the foals when they are about a month old in order to help them stay cooler. Brushing also helps bring their skin oil to the surface and keeps the coat looking shiny and healthy, therefore, it is not necessary to bathe your mini unless you are going to clip him.

Vaccinating your Mini

You need to worm your mini at least every 6 weeks with a paste wormer. I recommend Strongid 1.87% every six weeks. The syringe is dosed by weight and most grown minis weigh around 200 pounds so a syringe will last about 4 wormings. You cannot harm them if you give them too much of the paste wormer, so don’t panic if your little pet jumps and half the syringe goes in! Believe me, it has happened to me more than once. Please read the directions on the package on how to insert the medication and on the amount. All of our minis are vaccinated against all the types of equine encephalitis, pneumonia, and West Nile viruses. They are also vaccinated against rabies and tetanus.

Foot Care

Like big horses, they must have their feet trimmed at least every 3 months. I also clean and check their feet at least once a month. Sandy soil is great for mini’s and will cut down on the need to clean their feet, however, if your mini is kept in a stable and standing in feces or mud for extended periods of time, you will need to clean their feet on a daily basis. There is a disease called thrush and any horse can get it if they stand in feces or wet conditions for extended periods of time. Cleaning their stalls and pens on a daily basis will help cut down on the risk of them developing thrush. You will need to purchase a hoof pick from the farm supply store and have your Ferrier show you how to do this the first time as you can hurt a horse if you do not know how to clean their feet.