My litttle Chubbs

[hylights]

Here are the 2 mini mares I am getting, the top one is a nearly 2 yr old, and below her 9 yr old dam.

I'm curious what people's thoughts are on them? They come as a package deal as they have never been seperated.

I will need to come up with a safe weight loss plan for mom at least, I would like to teach them to lunge and eventually long line and have hopes of driving some day, at least for Capri the filly....

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

forget it

btw make a wish it isnt dangerous at all. my grandfather has done this with his horses for years and its the only way i can excersize Toby so i'm not gonna stop.

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

I am so sorry Mollys Run I have to disagree with your weight loss plan for the horse That is SO DANGEROUS. After reeding Kay Kay's topic, on The Back Porch I am only going to say this once Please stop exercising Toby in this manner Please op don't try this for your two mares. I hope Mollys Run you don't encourage anyone else to do this.

 

[Mominis]

Hi! I have just a few quick questions: What hay and grain are you feeding now and in what amounts? When were they last wormed? What exercise facilities do you have to work with?

 

[chandab]

Do you have current heights and weights on these girls? And, how about their current diet? What and how much? While a little plump, they don't look too bad. Teaching them to lunge is a good place to start.

 

[wildoak]

Cute little mares, congratulations. You may be surprised once the winter hair comes off at their weight. They sometimes looks like they have shed 50 pounds lol. That said, if they aren't used to working just start slow with them. Longeing is great, don't overdo it at first though as lots of circling is stressful to those little legs. I generally start with 10-15 minutes every other day or so, and alternate round penning with exercising off a golf cart. The golf cart allows them some straight line exercise and a chance to stretch their legs a little - I generally keep it at a jog, it's an electric cart so no exhaust fumes and I can stop pretty much instantly if someone balks.

Jan

 

[hylights]

I don't have them home yet. They are ~32" height, weight I don't know. The pasture is just coming in ,but they have lived on a large lush pasture shared with a couple large ponies, they get grain at night, I don't know type or amount and they are fed candies as treats, perhaps frequently.... They have been well cared for and regularly wormed ,vacced and feet and teeth. They have not been handled except as neccessary to get work done.

I plan to keep them on a dry lot, and feed 1st cuting hay (orchard grass/timothy mix) to grain or not to grain?..

I think that I would have to do lunging to build up their fitness. I have a 60 ft round pen sized area (currently unfenced) that I can use to excerise. and a 450 ft long gravel driveway....

How much hay should they get? and what do people use as supplements if they don't grain? I feed Triple Crown Lite to my big mare, I also have sea kelp and alphalfa pellets.....

Molly's run, I have seen some standardbred people take out young horses on a track behind a pick-up with grooms sitting in the back holding leadlines and going just fast enough to get them jogging,(probably gets them used to the "gate" vehicle?) I have also seen them take them out alongside a horse in a jog cart, I wondered eventually about taking one out when I go out driving with my horse if I have company.......

 

[hylights]

Oh I forgot, Mollys Run, the mom's name is also Misty

( all I could think was she looks a little like Misty of Chincoteague! ) Thanks for thinking shes cute, I think with a more svelte figure she could be stylish, but it's hard to tell.....' I need to get a picture of Capri's face she is a doll faced girl, really I think "melt" when I saw her

 

[chandab]

I don't have them home yet. They are ~32" height, weight I don't know. The pasture is just coming in ,but they have lived on a large lush pasture shared with a couple large ponies, they get grain at night, I don't know type or amount and they are fed candies as treats, perhaps frequently.... They have been well cared for and regularly wormed ,vacced and feet and teeth. They have not been handled except as neccessary to get work done.

I plan to keep them on a dry lot, and feed 1st cuting hay (orchard grass/timothy mix) to grain or not to grain?..

I think that I would have to do lunging to build up their fitness. I have a 60 ft round pen sized area (currently unfenced) that I can use to excerise. and a 450 ft long gravel driveway....

How much hay should they get? and what do people use as supplements if they don't grain? I feed Triple Crown Lite to my big mare, I also have sea kelp and alphalfa pellets.....

TC Lite is good choice for minis; if I'm not mistaken, about 1 cup 2x daily is about what is recommended for A-size minis (32" mini will probably weigh around 225#, but a weight tape will get you an approximation, although they are not too accurate for minis), might have to adjust up or down a little bit. [And, that's a standard kitchen dry measure cup.] The TC Lite will give them the vit/min not provided by the hay (they probably won't need any other supplement, if you choice to give them the LIte). The hay sounds like a good choice, if they are around 225#, then 4-5# hay would be a good place to start, they might need more, they might need less. As with any horse, make the diet changes slowly.

Good luck with your new girls

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

Hylights ,what you are talking about. A groom holding a lead in the back of a pick up truck is not quite the same as TYING a horse to the back of a CAR. Your mares are probably not as chubby as you think. Getting the hair of helps and then starting a lunging program should work wonders .They are cute mares.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

Hylights ,what you are talking about. A groom holding a lead in the back of a pick up truck is not quite the same as TYING a horse to the back of a CAR. Your mares are probably not as chubby as you think. Getting the hair of helps and then starting a lunging program should work wonders .They are cute mares.

he is tied with a slip not and i keep the tailgait open so i can see him, plus i dont go over 3 miles an hour. it is NOT dangerous.

 

[Relic]

Your mares are pretty l'm sure you'll see a change once the fuzz is of and go from there..l'm horrified at how some people exercise there minis l would never advise anyone to do that and l really don't give two figs about what worked for others in the olden days..walking and long linning or a golf cart is one thing but OMG use your brains and think it out..l know at the other farm the TB's get jogged from the back of a pickup by the grooms but it's called training and the groom can jump down in a second if anything should go wrong but these are minis a different ball game in my book.

 

[barnbum]

Two things happened that make me feel I have some advice:

1. I had a heavy/cresty 4 year old who had a laminitis issue last spring, so she needs to be off grass.

and 2. A vet's advice at a clinic last summer.

Rosie, my laminitis one, has lost a lot of weight--she has no crest now; her hoof has one more month to grow out for her to be 100% okay.

The difference is she gets no grass. My farrier says grass to horses is not salad, it's ice cream. I have found this to be true. We killed the grass in a good sized pasture, and will do more dry lotting this summer. Since all my horses have a tendancy to keep weight on, the grass will be limited to everyone. They will get more hay. They do not need grain, so mine get Triple Crown 30--just a tbsp twice a day. That's it. Well, despite extra hay, Rosie's ribs at one point were not covered like I wanted them to be

, so I added a 1/4 of black oil sunflower seeds to her dinner. Thhis helped pretty quickly, so now she gets them every other night. I check rib covering on mine a lot.

At the clinic I went to, when I asked the vet about keeping weight off minis, he sighed in a resigned way, and said the best advice he has for minis is to keep them off grass. The vets also talked about owners who insist on feeding their overweight horses grain when they should not be. One vet said the owners feed the grain because it makes them feel better and she hears "but, he likes it!" a lot.

Weather and time permitting, mine also get exercised. I walk them down the lanes and through the fields and down the road, and we work to a jog so we both get exercise!

I lunge the two mares in between walking. It's a lot of work to keep five minis contented, but it sure helps me to stay in shape!

Hope this helps... at the end of the day, you have to follow your gut/heart and do what you think is healthiest for your horses

.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

Your mares are pretty l'm sure you'll see a change once the fuzz is of and go from there..l'm horrified at how some people exercise there minis l would never advise anyone to do that and l really don't give two figs about what worked for others in the olden days..walking and long linning or a golf cart is one thing but OMG use your brains and think it out..l know at the other farm the TB's get jogged from the back of a pickup by the grooms but it's called training and the groom can jump down in a second if anything should go wrong but these are minis a different ball game in my book.

EXCUSE me?!?

i AM useing my brains and i DID think it out. its NOT DANGEROUS!!

i have no other way to exercise him, when i get a cart and harness i'll use that but for right now i HAVE NO OTHER WAY and he is getting DANGEROUSLY OBESE and needs immediate daily excersize!

lunging him is totally out of the question, he pulls too much and its more like a tug-o-war, and i cant hand walk or long line him because my asthma acts up to much and i cant breathe.

plus, i know Toby. like i said he's totally bombproof, as in i havent found a single thing yet that scares him. plastic bags, trucks, deer, nothing. if this was Misty there would be no way in heck i would do this. but its not, its rock-steady Toby.

i would much rather exercise him useing the car instead of him going lame from being too fat.

btw, that thinking 'minis are a whole different ball game' is what screws up good minis. do you know how many times i've heard 'you cant treat them like a big horse cause they're MINIS'? thats what i was told when i got my first mini gelding, lord knows how THAT turned out....

 

[Relic]

l'm so very sorry l have upset you Mollys Run l've since been over on the back porch and had no idea so by rights should not have posted.. but l do differ with what you are saying about tying a short over weight mini behind a car for exercise...

 

[Mominis]

I don't have them home yet. They are ~32" height, weight I don't know. The pasture is just coming in ,but they have lived on a large lush pasture shared with a couple large ponies, they get grain at night, I don't know type or amount and they are fed candies as treats, perhaps frequently.... They have been well cared for and regularly wormed ,vacced and feet and teeth. They have not been handled except as neccessary to get work done.

I plan to keep them on a dry lot, and feed 1st cuting hay (orchard grass/timothy mix) to grain or not to grain?..

I think that I would have to do lunging to build up their fitness. I have a 60 ft round pen sized area (currently unfenced) that I can use to excerise. and a 450 ft long gravel driveway....

How much hay should they get? and what do people use as supplements if they don't grain? I feed Triple Crown Lite to my big mare, I also have sea kelp and alphalfa pellets.....

Molly's run, I have seen some standardbred people take out young horses on a track behind a pick-up with grooms sitting in the back holding leadlines and going just fast enough to get them jogging,(probably gets them used to the "gate" vehicle?) I have also seen them take them out alongside a horse in a jog cart, I wondered eventually about taking one out when I go out driving with my horse if I have company.......

The grass hay that you are thinking of feeding is fine, but it won't provide them with all of the nutrients that they need. I suggest that you give them a small amount of a commercial feed that is well balanced. Do your homework on this one. I have had success with Omelene 200 in the past. This season, we've switched to Omelene 500 (which is esentially Ultium, just in a coarse mix form rather than pelleted) and the boys look great. As far as vitamins, a good multivitamin is something that would be an absolute MUST if you were to decide not to feed grain or the only grain you can get is of lesser quality. Michael Plumb's Horse Journal has some great consumer reports about different vitamin supplements. Also, a good worming program is essential. Personally, I like strongid C2X, but to each their own.

For exercise, I wouldn't not advise using the 60' unenclosed area that you have to work the two year old in. You would have to have her on a line and at two, the joints can be permanently damaged by that kind of repeted torque. I am all for 'ponying' off of a vehicle PROVIDED that it is a two person operation. One person to hold the horse and one to drive the vehicle. In my opinion, that would be your best bet for the facilities that you have.

he is tied with a slip not and i keep the tailgait open so i can see him, plus i dont go over 3 miles an hour. it is NOT dangerous.

We have always utilized ponying in our conditioning program. I used to work at a farm where we had a beautiful 5 mile track through the back pasture, up and down gentle hills, etc. One of us would drive and the other would sit on the tailgate and be the holder. The horses were in incredible shape. Soon after I left the facility to move closer to my family, I heard a tragic story about one of the fillies (one that I personally was present at the birth of and got to spend those special first moments with). They decided to try one-man ponying at a very slow pace, as you discribed. The filly got too close up to the vehicle, bounced up and got a leg hung up. By the time the vehicle stopped, the poor filly's leg was literally hanging by sinew. She was immediately put down. The pain that poor filly had to endure because someone stopped paying attention to the filly and was looking at the path on which they were driving for a split second made me a believer in the two man system and the holder's attention absolutely focused on the horse being ponied. So, I am afraid I disagree. It IS dangerous. That's my humble opinion.

Edited to add: If your guy is getting dangerously obese, have you recetly reevaluated your feeding program?

 

[Tremor]

EXCUSE me?!?

i AM useing my brains and i DID think it out. its NOT DANGEROUS!!

i have no other way to exercise him, when i get a cart and harness i'll use that but for right now i HAVE NO OTHER WAY and he is getting DANGEROUSLY OBESE and needs immediate daily excersize!

lunging him is totally out of the question, he pulls too much and its more like a tug-o-war, and i cant hand walk or long line him because my asthma acts up to much and i cant breathe.

plus, i know Toby. like i said he's totally bombproof, as in i havent found a single thing yet that scares him. plastic bags, trucks, deer, nothing. if this was Misty there would be no way in heck i would do this. but its not, its rock-steady Toby.

i would much rather exercise him useing the car instead of him going lame from being too fat.

btw, that thinking 'minis are a whole different ball game' is what screws up good minis. do you know how many times i've heard 'you cant treat them like a big horse cause they're MINIS'? thats what i was told when i got my first mini gelding, lord knows how THAT turned out....

Um, I think that you may want to calm down a tad bit.

And the last bit is bolded, minis are a different ball game but you need to care for them the RIGHT way. What you were doing probably was because it wasn't the right way.

Exercising with a car IS dangerous, by the way.

I'm not trying to be rude, nor is anybody else. But, your training methods scare me.

 

[wingnut]

Sweet girls! Congrats!

I'm exercising my girls by taking them on long walks, however far we can get round trip in 30 minutes. We do some trotting during our walks in intervals based on how far *I* can jog...which is not to far, but we *all* need to start off slow.

We work on ground manners and verbal commands during our walks.

I'm lunging my 2 yr olds about 5-8 minutes each (no round pen) and our 3 yr old and 13 yr old about 10 minutes. Everyone gets equal time going in both directions. We work on gait changes using the same verbal commands we use when straight-line walking.

Feeding is 1/4lb - 1/2lb twice daily (Strategy) for the 2 and 3 yr olds. I have followed the advice that up to the age of two, one should feed in an effort to give their growing bodies all the nutrients they need. As we close in on their official birthdays, the 2 years are being brought back the 1/4lb level. As I increase their workouts, I'll be keeping a close eye on their condition to be sure I'm not underfeeding them.

We use a mixture of alfalfa/orchard grass hay right now. We have a small and immature pasture so right now they are still on the dry lot getting hay daily. We pretty much fed them as much as they would eat during the winter to keep their internal heaters going. Now that warmer weather is coming, we'll pull back on that a bit for everyone but the hard keeper. We'll keep everyone but the hard keeper off the pasture until early May. The hard keeper is being give up to 30-45 minutes to start. Even when we put them on the pasture, it will be a slow go (15 minutes to start) in order to avoid the risk of the rich spring grass sugars and the laminitis risk.

Our new girls were not fed grain based on the advise of the former owner's vet. That vet is known to not be a mini fan and while I think he is a great TB horse vet (his specialty), I think his obvious disdain for the miniature horse is reflected in his lack of knowledge about them. While my new girls are not as pudgy as their new sisters, their coat condition is not what our other girls are either. I think the grain I'm giving them, even in the small amounts I give, is having some positive impact.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

whatever

i'm not gonna stop just because a bunch of people who dont know the horse or the situation decide to get their panties in a wad over nothing.

as for his feeding program i have a mare the same height as him who is in nice body condition so i think its just him. i feed one flake of hay per horse and a chicken noodle soup can of pellet grain once a day.

Tremor- i take VERY good care of my minis. Just because i do something that you dont happen to agree with doesnt mean i dont care for them or neglect them. also, someone said that i wasnt useing my brains-thats insulting and i'm fairly sure if someone said that to you you wouldnt be taking it lightly either. but whatever!

 

[Eohippus]

I wasn't going to post but I've had a lot fo experience in this area with my two geldings...

Cody was rated a 10 on the 1-9 body condition scale at one point. If that's not dangerously obese I don't know what is. The vet pretty much point blank said "he needs to loose weight or you could loose him." At the time we didn't have Avalon yet and Cody was with our big horses eating a portion of their meals in addition to his! We immediately changed that by separating him and getting him on correctly weighed food (weighed the bermuda hay, weighed the strategy gx). In addition to that we started exercising him daily. Of course we started off small (walking for short periods) and worked our way up because we didn't have to over do it. It didn't take long at all for him to get in shape. Now we don't have to excercise him daily (we do it about every other day because its still important) and we watch what he eats. Now with Cody I had a lot of similarities with Mollys Run's Toby in the sense that I didn't have a cart (nor can he be trained to safely pull one due to his part abuse and nervousness of things behind him like a cart) so I couldn't exercise him that way and using a line alone to lunge him wasn't an option either due to the fact he wanted to pull or run away with it more often than not (we've since worked on this and he's fine now). Now I was able to adn sometimes did run with him but I didn't want to do that every time so what we did was set up a pen (it wasn't round but square) and used that to work him in. Eventually we went from free running in the pen to on the line which helped us graduate to lunging on the line. So just because you can't run with them, they can't lunge on a line, and excercise is needed immediately doesn't meant you're out of options. I still use the pen method for work outs. An arena works too or pasture provided its not dangerous footing.

Now as far as feeding goes... What's worked for Cody doesn't work for Avalon so they're on seperate diets/rations even though they're similar build/height/etc. Just because one of the pair works on that diet doesn't mean the other will (usually they do but remember every horse is an individual

)

Like amny have said though, once that winter hair comes off, you'll be surprised how much thinner they look!