brains storming

[minister man]

I am wondering  about housing for miniature horses.

Right now I have one mare, and one foal.   When I look at future goals

 1)  I might like to keep using the mare to raise foals...…… I did rebreed her this year.

2)  I would like to have a driving team.  ( I have trained and used,  work horses before)

3)  I would like to keep my own stallion...……. even though I only have one mare.

I know that it is possible for each horse to provide more than one function.  The mare could be part of the team, so could the stallion, or they could be individuals and have a team of geldings.  Part of me could see using the stallion for agility.   

Anyhow,  So it could be from 2-4 miniatures. 

From the research I can have done, I could build stalls, tie stalls, a run in shed with paddock.   Stalls give more control for feeding for the different jobs or gestation.  A run in shed is a lot less work,  BUT I would still need one stall for weaning the foal from the brood mare.  I am guessing it would depend on the temperament of the horses if they could all live together.

 I am wondering what I should build for stalls and paddocks or size of run in shed.  I have never used a run in shed before.  

I  might be overthinking this whole thing, but I believe that failing to plan is planning to fail.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Agreed , planning is the best !! ill add to this tomorrow when I'm not on the iPad . I only started with larger paddocks which ended up causing issues when I wasn't able to restrict grass intake and also being able to make up different feeds. 

 

[JanBKS]

I got one of them metal garages, mine is 18 wide by 30 ish long, I made 4  stalls in there with the cow panes and gates, worked out great I had a nice foaling stall, I had a gate cutting it in half one side for the girls the otherfor the boys the stallion was kept on another part of the property, as far as grass, yess I had them in small pens also called dry lots,  they were let out on grass during the daytime and in dry lot a night with hay, now that I only have the old stallion and 2 geldings they are all in the big barn with the big horses, the mini barn is now my toold barn, I never realized just how much grass they ate, I have so much grass  now even putting the boys on it I still have to mow. I had 22 horses here then went down to 10 minis and 3 quarters, I donated 7 of my minis to a therapy farm that had all her horses killed by an arson, they are doing good I miss them but they needed a job. sorry this is so long good luck, OH I also had 7 calf hutches and the minis Love them,so that is an option got mine used much cheaper.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I like having smaller lots due to a mare that had laminitis a few years ago. It was really hard to restrict her grass intake whilst she was suffering , so I figured the larger paddocks had to go. Its also helped with handling and training and when feeding requirements differed , it was much easier to separate everyone.

One thing I did consider was how the land sloped and where I was going to put these smaller paddocks and yards. I've created some that I use during winter, being that they stay much drier and the others for the hotter months. This also gives me a chance to rest them when needed.