For those of you that own just one mini .....

[2minis4us]

To Everyone: I am curious to know how it goes for those of you that own just one mini. I see in a post that My Mini Gal said she has just one.

How old was your mini when you brought it home ? How is it working out ? Thanks.

 

[SugaryCharm]

I had only one mini until she foaled...

She is 5 years old...what she lacks in stature she makes up for in personality! I just love her. She was my only mini (but not my only equine) for 3 months and she seemed fine with the arrangement as she shared a fenceline with my fullsize mare. Now she has a foal to run around with so she is more active but that's the biggest difference I've noticed.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

I have my one little guy, but i board him out, where he has a gelding buddy, "his" mare, and now a daughter!

He kind of fell into my lap. I had extra cash, and felt sorry for him. Best decision of my life.My cheap horse out of a field grossly overweight with untrimmed feet, turned out to be bred up the hilt and drop dead gorgeous after a year of proper care!

My guy was 6 when i go thim, he turned 7 yesterday - to say he was halter broke was giving him A LOT of credit. It was VERY rough in the beginning. If he had fingers, he would've flipped me off daily im sure! He had NO manners, and knew how to make kids give up and not make him work - which usually meant he would bolt, bite, or rear. But we have gotten through all that, and now he is just the nicest little horse. He HATES kids with a passion still, but considering he was mauled from the time he was a weanling until i purchased him, i don't blame him.

A lot of people look at me wiht two heads when I say i own one mini and board him, but i would not have it any other way. He is at a BEAUTIFUL private facility, with a family that is home 24/7 - the owner is a retired vet tech too, who bred drafts for years. Someday, maybe I'll get 2 or 3 more, but not now. Mr Cloudy and I are having too much fun as is!

For the first few months he was the only mini at a hunter stable. He was fine with it, as we made sure his social needs were met. He was turned out with a 30 something year old arab, and a paint horse who was lame as well. They got along GREAT. Never had any issues. He had his little "bachelor band" and instead of a psychotic little creature in solitary confinement, he was happy emotionally. He had only been with other minis before then, but he made the transition wonderfully. He had never been treated "like a horse" before - and was HAPPY when he finally was. I ended up moving, so he came with me to the current facility.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I think it depends on the horse and how much time can be spent with him. I had my first one for a year or so before getting another. I think he was fine, but I didn't know him well then so can't tell for sure. We were living in an rv in a pasture while building a house, and he was upclose and personal with us, wandering at will in our living space. The building folk knew him well as he was onsite supervising. There were no other horses within 5 miles. I've had periods of a few weeks when he was alone since then; he calls and runs around looking for the missing friend for a day or so, then appears to accept it.

I think horses that are gregarious and sociable, or insecure, might get depressed alone.

 

[Rhondaalaska]

I have my one girl who is 11 yrs old. She does fine. We spend a lot of time with her . She dosent call for another horse.

She nickers at us when ever she sees us. She doesn't seem depressed or anything she acts fine with just being her.

We would like to get another someday . But it is not possible right now. For now we give my little girl all the love and attention.

A lot of people may say that we are wrong to have only one but for now that is all I can have and we love her very much.

Up here there are a lot of people with just one horse on thier land. I think you just have to make sure you spend a lot if time with them.

 

[HGFarm]

I started out with just one... and had just him for months. It was great- he did fine and we really bonded. That was in February 1995- he was just turning 5 years old. I still have the 'old man'- the silver dapple Appy in my avatar and still love him to pieces and I bonded with him like I did with no other. We drove a million miles together over the years.

 

[Crystallos]

Our family's first mini, Smokey, was purchased as a weanling. She grew up living with a couple sheep and a goat. We tried to get her a couple mini companions, close to her own age and bonded full siblings, when she was about 10 years old, but they didn't get along with her. We re-homed the mini pair and continued with the ruminants that she preferred. Eventually we got back into full-size horses, but she never mixed with them. She still preferred her sheep and people. Eventually, the sheep passed away from old age and she spent a few months alone before moving to our new property. Now at 15, she has two mini mares she lives with. One is seventeen and the other is two. She had a bit of a rough start at first as the other mares are more dominant and she would stay at the edges. The two year old filly was always trying to get her to play and Smokey is finally getting the idea. In the last month I've started seeing the two grooming each other. Smokey is also much more relaxed in her new herd and seems happy to be with them.

I'd say overall that the effect of keeping a mini by herself has made her very attached to people and vocal about it. She didn't have the social skills to get along with other horses initially, but she is learning and adapting well.

 

[teetinytex]

I have one Mini. My first Mini. He is a 3yr. gelding, 26" high that I will be using for Therapy work. I board him about 5min. from my house. The barn owner built him a very nice pasture and a nice little stall. he is pastured during the day next to a full size pg. mare. The mare is also in the stall next to him, he seems to be fine in his own space, but likes having her next to him, so big horses around him but he is alone in his space. He is the sweetest little guy and I am loving it. I get to the barn almost every day and his training is starting now that the weather is getting better outside and he is doing great. I also have a full size mare that I show, but the mini thing is a different kind of fun..there is a part of me that feels he relys on me right now more which is nice for building trust and I don't sense he is unhappy...

 

[Renolizzie]

Wiseguy is my only mini but he has three goats sharing his fence line. He doesn't seem unhappy but whenever he sees other horses he gets very curious. He even tries to looks across the backyard towards where two other horses were living that he met. I would like to get him a mini gelding friend. I simply cannot afford to at the moment. Every time I think I am getting ahead on the money something else comes up. Now Hubby says we need new tires for the little car. Oh well, Wiseguy does seem happy enough and eventually I'll find him a little friend.

It is sort of costly having a horse so I am not in a hurry to find another one, I suppose.

If the goats start dying off [they are about 7 years old now], I'll have to make finding Wiseguy a friend a big priority.

PS _ I hope that doesn't sound like we are broke from owning a horse since we are not. I planned for the farrier and shots and food before I ever bought the little guy.

 

[MyMiniGal]

My Mini is boarded, but not directly with other horses. She is right next to horses though. I have only had her for a month, so I can't really tell you how she is going to do, as an only mini. I do think she is missing her previous herd, though.

 

[disneyhorse]

I've had several at one time, but occasionally only one (just have one Shetland pony right now).

My guy is boarded, he has a big box stall next to a 13 hand pony that he can be turned out with and I do see him every day to groom and exercise him.

I wouldn't have only one horse if there wasn't any other horses around. Very few horses are happiest in solitary confinement.

 

[Barnmother]

You mean you can actually stop at one? Don't tell my hubby that!

 

[Shari]

I used to have a few mini's...

Now I just have Maggie, She is in with my two Icelandic horses and two goats. So she is not alone.

Bought her when she was 4 years old... and if I remember correctly, she is now 17 years old. Miss Maggie is very special to me... she is my heart.

 

[Max's Mom]

Max is and has always been our only mini. We've owned him for over 11 years. He has always been boarded and kept with other, full sized horses, and even before we bought him he was kept with full sized horses. He is perfectly capable of defending his place in the pecking order, and has never been hurt (beyond the occasional scratch or minor bite). He seems to be about "middle of the herd", and believe me, he can tell obnoxious horses to LEAVE HIM ALONE. I'm not sure he had even seen other mini horses (well, except I assume when he was young) until we started showing him last year!

Last fall we brought him back to our house for a few weeks, to live alone. I was very concerned about this arrangement, but thought that if it worked it would save lots of money and allow us to interact with him a lot more. I had been told by his previous owner that he had been alone for about 6 months and was totally fine, and Max is an independent sort. He didn't freak out, but he spent hours each day standing by the fence line, staring out at my neighbor's horses (about 1/4 mile away), and never really seemed settled. Maybe he would have been fine, but I couldn't handle the guilt of denying him equine companionship, so brought him back to our "old barn" where a shetland pony had also just moved in. Max didn't like him much at first, but they are getting along just fine now in their dry lot paddock (necessary at this time of year!)

 

[2minis4us]

Thank you for your input about having one mini. I know my mare would do ok, she has before, but I was thinking about my filly and decided it was a bad idea : )

 

[Lil Eowyn]

I got my first and only mini in fall 2011. I decided I wanted one in the summer and wouldn't stop bothering my Dad about it XD I think he got tired of me so finally gave in lol no, actually we have 5 big horses so we had the room and there wasn't really a problem (plus I payed for her ) So in November I was riding one of my horses when a horse trailer pulled in the yard--when I saw that little horse step out (littler than what I expected!) I had to hold tears back. So happy!

Éowyn was a yearling--I can't believe she's already almost 3 years old! It was a little rough at first, I didn't know how much to feed her, and she kept getting out of her pasture! After a month everything was finally straightened out and I'm so glad I have her in my life now! Yes, I named her Éowyn (after a LOTR character) We have other horses as I said but she does get lonely, so I am thinking of getting another one--I don't think I can handle 7 horses since I already have 6 XD

 

[Lloydyne]

I had only one horse for 5 years. I wanted it that way because I didn't want them hollaring at each other when I took one out. Sold that horse and got a driving horse and thay horse is by himself. He goes to the babysitter once in a while and I feel bad when I take him away.I'm sure he misses his friends when he leaves. I am thinking of another mini but only because I want a little bigger one not because he needs company. When he is by himself it makes me his best friend.

 

[Cupcake]

I had my big gelding by himself from July until February last year, then my neighbors were getting ready to move away with their 4 horses so I knew it was time to get him a friend. Since I'm the only horse person in the family besides my daughter and she moved off to college last summer I knew I didn't want another big horse especially bc my gelding is a high maintenance kinda guy who needs to be worked at least 5 x a week to stay sane. Also with the drought and extreme hay prices it was a financial decision as well. So I looked for a mini since I fell in love with them after visiting Tony's Ranch Little America's and seeing all of them.

Found the perfect match for him, it was live at first sight for both and they are stuck together like glue. I do know the ideal setup would be to have another mini for her to play with and a big one for him but this is the best I can do right now and it's amazing to see a gelding turn into a "mother" when she's scared or sick and worried about her when strangers are around or when I take her out. She's turning 2 next week and still does the submissive foal thing to him, it's so cute

I don't pasture them together for safety reasons but her pasture is inside his so they always hang out together, "parallel sleep" and enjoy each others company.

 

[Stacy~AK]

I have just my boy Snickers. He is a 3 year old gelding and we got him when he was 5 months old. He has grown up with and always been with my 4 dogs and i'm pretty sure he now thinks he is a dog. He does not seem the least bit unhappy or lonely. As long as he has his "herd" of dogs with him he has plenty of company

. I've been trying to get him around other horses more and more so that he will realize that is what he is (not a dog), but he just completely ignores them even when they are calling to him. I am planning on getting another mini one day but it's just not in the cards right now. There aren't a lot of mini's in Alaska so you have to venture out of state and that gets spendy.

 

[Rhondaalaska]

Stacy where are you ? I am in Alaska too