Lindy Hagar
Member
Hi. I'm Linda from Kinglake Australia.
I'm fairly new to Miniature ponies. I've always had Welsh Mountain (section A) ponies, and many other bigger horses of varying breeds.
I got my first mini pony (an aged ex-broodmare) early in 2021, as a companion for my seriously injured yearling Welsh filly & I've fallen in love with them.
Our Welsh filly needed a sensible companion, in the stable at night next to her, as she had to be confined 24/7 for up to 5 months due to a fetlock fracture, surgery & intense rehabilitation.
So along came Gidget, who has proved to be an exceptionally natured pony & we love her dearly. She appeared to have Cushings, and rather than blood testing her, I wanted to first try her on Chaste Berry Tree powder & after a few months she has improved brilliantly. We'd had her teeth done, including an extraction of a ginormous wolf tooth that was starting to ulcerate the sides of her mouth. A good worm drenching, farriery, good mineral supplements & plenty of grooming (by 2 of my grandkids & a whole lot more.
Now we wonder how we ever did without her. She is a little darling to have around. She'll live with us for the rest of her life.
We were told that she "may" be in foal, that she'd been shown a lot. We knew very little about her.
We had her blood tested but the results came back at nly 11% so it was "highly unlikely" she was in foal.
To our surprise & shock, one sormy day she delivered a stillborn colt.
Our wonderul vet came immediately. He said "that's a full-term foal & we figured he was "overcooked" as we weren't expecting her to foal. She may have lugged that dead colt around in her belly for over a month.
He was born well out of foaling season & we had no way of knowing when she was served.
He was a beautifully put together boy; buckskin with a white spotted blanket.
Gidget seemed rather relieved even though she was of course distressed initially when she couldn't get him up, then coped very well once we'd taken his little body away (we'd left his body with her for a few hours, until she became more interested in her feed bin.
We were told she was about 10 years old but the dentist said "oh looks a little bit older than that".
I don't know (yet) if she is registered but we believe so. I'm not even sure if she is technically a true miniature pony or not and/or crossed with a Shetland. We don't care at all though.
We all concluded she was around 15. We won't be putting her back in foal.
My husband & I love her dearly & the 2 yr old filly learns a bit of 'horse language' from her.
2 weeks ago we took her to our local pony club, where my youngest granddaughter is a member, for the end of year Christmas Gymkhana for gentle lead rein handler classes, fancy dress & a few other casual club events & Gidget behaved like an angel for our grandchild who won her first-ever ribbons. She was thrilled to bits.
Our filly with the fracture has healed better than expected, even though we can't let them share a paddock as the filly is a still baby (now 2) & the fetlock is still building back the ligaments that we non-existent at the time of surgery, so we know she'd tear around the paddock & being the klutz that she is, we're trying to avoid over stressing the joint.
Nevertheless, Gidget is here to stay & I've become entranced with mini ponies.
My dear friend, who arranged for her to be given to us, breeds some of Australia's best minis & wins national highpoint champion year after year.
We have some excellent guidance but I'm so glad to have the advice of these members available.
Thank you to you all.
I'm fairly new to Miniature ponies. I've always had Welsh Mountain (section A) ponies, and many other bigger horses of varying breeds.
I got my first mini pony (an aged ex-broodmare) early in 2021, as a companion for my seriously injured yearling Welsh filly & I've fallen in love with them.
Our Welsh filly needed a sensible companion, in the stable at night next to her, as she had to be confined 24/7 for up to 5 months due to a fetlock fracture, surgery & intense rehabilitation.
So along came Gidget, who has proved to be an exceptionally natured pony & we love her dearly. She appeared to have Cushings, and rather than blood testing her, I wanted to first try her on Chaste Berry Tree powder & after a few months she has improved brilliantly. We'd had her teeth done, including an extraction of a ginormous wolf tooth that was starting to ulcerate the sides of her mouth. A good worm drenching, farriery, good mineral supplements & plenty of grooming (by 2 of my grandkids & a whole lot more.
Now we wonder how we ever did without her. She is a little darling to have around. She'll live with us for the rest of her life.
We were told that she "may" be in foal, that she'd been shown a lot. We knew very little about her.
We had her blood tested but the results came back at nly 11% so it was "highly unlikely" she was in foal.
To our surprise & shock, one sormy day she delivered a stillborn colt.
Our wonderul vet came immediately. He said "that's a full-term foal & we figured he was "overcooked" as we weren't expecting her to foal. She may have lugged that dead colt around in her belly for over a month.
He was born well out of foaling season & we had no way of knowing when she was served.
He was a beautifully put together boy; buckskin with a white spotted blanket.
Gidget seemed rather relieved even though she was of course distressed initially when she couldn't get him up, then coped very well once we'd taken his little body away (we'd left his body with her for a few hours, until she became more interested in her feed bin.
We were told she was about 10 years old but the dentist said "oh looks a little bit older than that".
I don't know (yet) if she is registered but we believe so. I'm not even sure if she is technically a true miniature pony or not and/or crossed with a Shetland. We don't care at all though.
We all concluded she was around 15. We won't be putting her back in foal.
My husband & I love her dearly & the 2 yr old filly learns a bit of 'horse language' from her.
2 weeks ago we took her to our local pony club, where my youngest granddaughter is a member, for the end of year Christmas Gymkhana for gentle lead rein handler classes, fancy dress & a few other casual club events & Gidget behaved like an angel for our grandchild who won her first-ever ribbons. She was thrilled to bits.
Our filly with the fracture has healed better than expected, even though we can't let them share a paddock as the filly is a still baby (now 2) & the fetlock is still building back the ligaments that we non-existent at the time of surgery, so we know she'd tear around the paddock & being the klutz that she is, we're trying to avoid over stressing the joint.
Nevertheless, Gidget is here to stay & I've become entranced with mini ponies.
My dear friend, who arranged for her to be given to us, breeds some of Australia's best minis & wins national highpoint champion year after year.
We have some excellent guidance but I'm so glad to have the advice of these members available.
Thank you to you all.
