How do you enjoy your mini's?

[Shari]

Before I bought Maggie she did fairly good in the west coast halter ring.. 2 & 3rds.

When I got her I worked with her on her manners and started training her to harness. First taught her scaled down Draft work and then trained her to cart. She also packs for me. She has helped me through accidents and is a beloved Pet.

She had Theia over 5 years ago and Theia is still here. She was also being trained to harness last year but had to stop. Have been planning on showing her in the local halter classes at some point.

They are both Multi use Pets....

So I know most of you have multi uses for your mini's... many do halter, jump, drive and just enjoy them as pets too.

So what do all of you do?

 

[Jill]

My horses are first and foremost my pets and my friends.

It's a different level of relationship between me and my horses than how it is with my dogs. My horses are my pets that I also work closely with to accomplish goals (driving, showing, tricks, etc.). It makes it different and really kind of makes the horses my playmates.

What I do with my horses in addition to love them would be driving, showing, teach manners, and snuggle (they're so huggable this time of year).

This coming season also marks the first one where I anticipate my own homebred foals. I've spent years trying to learn all I can and building what I wanted as my own breeding herd, I'm excited to add this experience to the other things I do with my horses.

 

[Leeana]

Well, its no secret that i do love showing. I love all the show prepping, grooming, conditioning and i know i will regret saying this by the first clip next season, but i even enjoy the clipping. The traveling to clinics, shows, equine affaire ext and not to mention, the shopping

.

Apart from the showing aspect, i just like to sit out in the barn and watch them eat or play or do whatever you are doing.

I also like all the planning that is involved. Planning next years show string, planning the feeding schedule/rutine for each horse and conditioning schedule. Planning out the breeding program.

I Love it all

 

[rabbitsfizz]

They eat a lot

Seriously at this time of year I think eating, arguing and running around (in the stallions case) is all they do, so I guess I must enjoy that

I love watching them, I love touching them, and being touched.

I love warm breathe on a cold morning and the smell of a woolly coat that has had winter sun on it all morning.

I love watching the mares, as a young mare comes to terms with the life growing inside her for the first time, and how she turns to the older, more experienced mares for comfort at these times.

I love watching the herd dynamic change as the months progress and the yearlings become two year olds and have to grow up a bit, or get a swift nip as a reminder, and the young mares stop playing with the fillies as they grow heavy.

I love watching the coats come loose and finding chunks of it on the lower branches of the thorn hedge as Spring approaches.

This is when the fillies come away, to join the now yearlings and leave the mares to their contemplations, as their souls turn inward as the days lengthen.

I love the new foals, my tears joining the waters of their birth as I realise I have a healthy , live foal- most welcome, colt or filly, pet or champion, it matters not one whit.

IN short, I love them ALL.

 

[lvponies]

Jane.....that was beautiful!!

 

[Shari]

Jane's post reminded me... (love your post btw)

I love Maggie's sniffy nose kisses!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Foal nose kisses are the best...especially when they have just covered them in feed and poopy just to kiss you the better......

 

[AnnaC]

Or when they are covered with blobs of mummy's milk

Anna

 

[Magic]

Jane, lovely post! (the first one, more so than the poopy nose-kiss one, lol!)

I enjoy my horses in so many ways: The sweetness of their whinnies of welcome when they see me walking toward the barn; the satisfaction of everyone being fed and happy; the contentment of listening to them munch their feed; the heartwarming when they swarm around me, not for food but just for my company; the fun of watching them run and play; the sereneness of watching them just graze; the enjoyment of sharing when inviting people to come see the horses; the striving to accomplish a goal in training; the excitement of showing; the thrill of placing well after all of our hard work.

And the love, completing my soul.

 

[Basketmiss]

I just love how they are soooo sweet!

I love when I go in Giddys stall and he lays his cheek on my thigh! My heart just swells when he does that...

I love when I walk in the barn and I hear a sweet Welcome Whinny!

I love the way they run around so cute in the pasture...

I love the smell of them and love to give kisses on their noses..

I dont think there is anything I dont love, even the poop scooping doesnt bother me!!

My sister took care of the horses over Thanksgiving while we were out of town and she said those horses are sweet but tooo much work, Giddy poops all the time!!

I only had her clean out his stall once a day where I clean it out 3 times a day.. I didnt expect that of her since they arent hers... She says she will leave the horses to me!

Great cause I will take them all and everything that goes with loving them...

 

[Mona]

Jane...LOVE your post...to me, that just says it all!

 

[Relic]

l love when l go outside late evenings and hear everyone is still munching on there hay...very comforting when all is well and bellies are full..

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Hmm what do I love about my minis....

I love to go sit out in the pasture while the girls are grazing, the peacefulness, the beauty and the joy of seeing our girls fat and happy.. I'll often go out with my camera and sit snapping pictures and enjoying the scenery, it's amazing how time flies by when you're happy and content, I could sit out there for hours watching them.

I love the feeling of awe that comes over me when I watch them run in all their glory with their manes and tails flowing and the sound of their hooves on the ground.. I love watching the stallions, their heads held high in regal stature, the elegance they hold as they toss their head high and whinny for their "ladies". I love watching the long legged foals trying to keep up with their dams (or vice versa, our babies love to keep mom on her toes lol)

I love the feeling that rushes over you when a mare is in labor.. The adrenaline rush, the fear, the excitment, such a great mix of feelings as you watch in awe at the new life being started.. The feeling of the heaviness being lifted off my shoulders in relief when we get a smooth delivery and a healthy mom and baby.. I get tears when I hear the soft nickers as the mare talks to her newborn, watching the immediate bond between the two, the first 'words' of the baby as he/she nickers back.. I love watching the newborn find his/her legs, the wobblyness, the falls and the determination to get up and try again, and finally the bucks, the rears, the squeals as the baby frolics around the stall.. I don't think there is anything more picture perfect than a newborn baby, sleeping snug and warm in a bed of straw as momma stands nearby, head hung low in content as she takes a well deserved nap..

I love the smiles and giggles of the kids my mom babysits as they play with the horses.. Our horses give them an experience that they might have never gotten as they come from non-animal families (except dogs and cats) They love to help clean stalls, walk horses, feed horses, groom horses, and I love the anticipation and curiousness that grows in them as the mares get closer to foaling, the innocense of them as they talk to the the babies growing in the mares' bellies and the excitment that fills them when they see the newborn for the first time..

I could go on and on and on

 

[kaykay]

most of all i just enjoy loving on them. My favorite thing is to go and sit in the middle of the herd out in the pasture. They will all come say hi to me and get their pets. I remember one beautiful spring day my neighbor abby and i just went and sat in the pasture chatting with horses all around us. Now that is my kind of day!!

I cant tell you how many times I have had a bad day and went out and told Patches all about it. Or the tears I have cried into a horses mane. To me these things are priceless.

but besides that i am endlessly fascinated by herd dynamics. We sit in lawn chairs and can watch the herd for hours. The pecking order here seems to be changing since the death of tiny. Her dam has always been 2nd in command here and suddenly she is being challenged by Bailey. Tiny was Dancers daughter and she was number 3. Apparently with her gone Bailey feels its time to move in and get that number 2 spot. Shes getting very close as I can tell Dancer is now backing down to her some.

I have also seen the pecking order change when a horse went to be trained and came back to the bottom of the order. Fascinating stuff!

I especially like training horses. Some of the most rewarding ones have been rescues or ones that came here completely unhandled. They are a challenge for sure but ones that I get the most enjoyment from training. To me it doesnt matter if I am training them to show or just training them to be handled and well mannered horses. Its so fun to see the light bulb go on when the horse "gets it"

 

[running in the red]

I love all of my horses..........do some showing..........but, my mares really hold my heart-they are sooo needy.........I need a hug I need a kiss I need a cookie I need my mane braided....i need i need i need...........the boys just love to play and an occasional hug..........

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

There is nothing better then the honesty of a animal. They like you or not there is no pretending.

They dont put on airs about what they do or how much time they spend with there human each day- or how well trained there human is and how there human loves to be with them- or about who won what ribbon way back when- no pretenses at all

I enjoy them just being them nothing fancy not one certain special thing just looking out my bedroom window and seeing little faces looking back urging me to come out and give them a snack or hurry up and get out and feed breakfast.

 

[mgranch]

I also love everything about them!! My Mother -in- law and some of my friends always tell me I'm so glad I don't have horses like you do it is so much work and you are always busy with them. WORK??? This isn't work it is wonderful and I am always busy with them because they are my best friends and there is no one I'd rather be with!! And yes, that includes those certain friends and my Mother-in-law!! LOL

 

[twister]

So many wonderful posts, all I can add is I love everything about these great little horses and I agree it isn't work to look after them it is a joy. If I had to pick one special thing that I enjoy it is going out to the barn on a cold winter's night with the snow falling outside, as I open the door they all whinny as they know I am bringing out their carrots

I give all of them carrots and sit on the hay drinking in the peace of the barn with the sounds of contented munching all around me.

Yvonne

 

[Shari]

Everyone has brought such a big smile to my face! Is such a wonderful feeling having other people to share their love in their mini horses with others! Is Priceless!!

 

[Tammie-C_Spots]

My horses are my stress relief, my companions and comfort as well as a joy just to have. We do lots of stuff when we can like parades, nursing homes, used to show, have fun, drive, jump, do obsticles, lead line on the bigger minis with small children, fairs, breeding and all sorts of stuff. Due to health I've leased most of my 10 out and just have two here plus my shetland pony but I look foward to having them every day.

Tammie