Living Alone With Minis

[NoahG]

Hello everyone,
Provided I get accepted, I will be moving out soon with my minis and be living on our family's new land (which is fairly undeveloped) in order to attend a fire academy. Instead of keeping my minis at a boarding facility they will literally be living outside my door! The area is extremely horse-centric so vets, equine hospitals and farriers are not going to be a problem. It will also be my first time living outside my folks house and I am super excited. I will be building the minis an enclosure, with a shelter I can put them in at night if needed, a hay shed, and a water system for the minis. I'll be able to see them in the morning and evening and all our new neighbors are horsie people who are extremely friendly. Does anyone have any advice for keeping minis on your own property? I look forward to the challenge of taking care of my minis myself, and the reward of getting to step outside and see them, as opposed to a 40 minute round trip in LA area traffic.

All advice, thoughts, comments and opinions are gladly welcomed! I'll take all the help I can get.

--Noah

 

[Cayuse]

I hope you get accepted to the academy. Are you going to be a firefighter? My hubby is a volunteer emt/fireman.

 

[NoahG]

I hope you get accepted to the academy. Are you going to be a firefighter? My hubby is a volunteer emt/fireman.

I am currently an EMT with a large 911 ambulance company. I hope to become a firefighter, yes. Props to your husband for being (what we lovingly call) a volley. Volunteer firefighters sadly aren't really a thing out in this part of CA.

 

[candycar]

My best advice: Know how and where their poop is going to be disposed of. Poop control is key parasite control.

 

[LostandFound]

Manure management, we compost if you search 220 gallon round compost bin on amazon, that is a cheap temporary solution. They fill pretty quick. Find a good hay supplier. And start thinking about someone who can take care of them in a pinch. Otherwise, just enjoy, it is great to see them out your window,

 

[Cayuse]

Have the best fence you can afford! Two fenced areas is nice if you have the room. A small dry lot and a bigger area. A dry lot is handy if they need to get off the grass, or if injured or if you just want to turn them out for a short time and not have to chase a horse all afternoon to catch them again.
Hunt around and make contact with a vet before you move so you have care lined up. IDK about out there, but vet care in New England is getting difficult to find. Good luck!

 

[MaryFlora]

Congratulations! All good things coming up for you!

So many shelter styles people build and use, but my favorite is a free choice shelter that is deep enough to allow your horses to get back into shade when flies are pesty and also provide good shelter when rain is blowing.

So much fun ahead for you all and it sounds like a wonderful community!

 

[NoahG]

So I've heard you should never let your minis live in a pasture with grass and that it should be all dry. Can minis live on grass without eating too much?

 

[Walt's Fault]

Congratulations! There are 20 to 30 minis a few miles from us that are full time on grass. Mine was on full-time grass until we just moved but will be again as soon as I get more fencing done.. Now it's free access to hay, some grazing and a few cups of grain in the morning. Always had good vet reports.

 

[1roadtoad]

My 4 minis are also on full time grass. I just keep an eye on them in the morning in early spring because of the high sugar content. By mid May free pasture grass all the time.

 

[NoahG]

My 4 minis are also on full time grass. I just keep an eye on them in the morning in early spring because of the high sugar content. By mid May free pasture grass all the time.

Thank you everyone for your input on grass! Heard so many people say "grass bad" but give no reasoning.

 

[LostandFound]

Some minis can be on grass. Some can't handle the sugars in it. You definitely want to have a dry lot just in case yours can't. It's hard to tell if they will be ok on it or not beforehand, but if they tend to be plump I'd probably keep them on minimal or no grass.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

When we moved to our property, we lived in an rv for several months while building a house. My horse was literally outside the door. Dapper Dan popped his head into the RV door regularly. It was fantastic. While we worked around the place, he was a constant companion. We did finally fence off a little pasture area with electric fencing when construction began. Even now I let them out into our house area and they come up onto the porch, or into the shop, to chat. I did have one baby who tried to eat the window screen. Enjoy this time with your horse!

 

[Abby P]

Mine can't tolerate grass, he gets a cresty neck and fat pads even on very limited grass, and that means that most probably if he wasn't limited, he would eventually become laminitic. However, some certainly are just fine on grass. Just know the signs, if they get fat and especially if they get a crest or lumps of fat in odd places (top of the ribcage, on the rump), then get them off the grass. So I would definitely have a dry lot available in case you need it. Prevention is ever so much easier than fixing a problem after it's happened!

Aside from that, enjoy the time you're going to have with them.

 

[NoahG]

When we moved to our property, we lived in an rv for several months while building a house. My horse was literally outside the door. Dapper Dan popped his head into the RV door regularly. It was fantastic. While we worked around the place, he was a constant companion. We did finally fence off a little pasture area with electric fencing when construction began. Even now I let them out into our house area and they come up onto the porch, or into the shop, to chat. I did have one baby who tried to eat the window screen. Enjoy this time with your horse!

Funny enough I will be living in a trailer.

 

[HersheyMint]

I'm happy for you and your new location.
Just a thought to count manure piles. I always count my manure piles for each horse every day. I know how many they usually have each day. If there is a change I'm on alert but mine are on a dry lot.

 

[Kelly]

I have a dry lot and pastures my for boys. Right now they are only getting about 2 hours on grass or they balloon up. They were on grass all winter, but the spring and fall grass can be dangerous.

They also get their hay in 3/4 inch hole hay nets.

For manure management, I use a Newer Spreader to spread it in my front yard. Any small tractor can pull it, I attach it to my zero turn. Here is a link…

https://newerspreader.com/I love my spreader!! It is light weight and very maneuverable.

I also have a drag for their pasture, I got that from tractor supply.

Will you be getting a tractor? I recommend a zero turn, they are fun to drive too

 

[chandab]

Whether or not a mini (or any horse) can be on pasture part-time or full-time is dependent on the mini, the pasture and the climate. If the horses you are getting are used to pasture, they can probably continue with pasture. If the horses you are getting haven't been on pasture, if there is no medicial reason not to, they should be able to be introduced to pasture.
We have grass that is prime for fattening cattle, not so great at keeping little horses looking like horses, so I limit their grazing time and they are on dry lots part time in summer, all the time in winter (just works this way with our set-up, and night time dry lots are safer, as we have coyotes).

 

[Dragon Hill]

Sounds like you've gotten a lot of useful advice. The only other thing I would like to add is when you are deciding on your horse shelter and hay shed, that you'll probably like to have enough room for the equipment you'll need to maintain your property and take care of your horses.