Putting a saddle on a Mini

[Misty Midnight]

Hello! I have a question as we just bought two minis this past summer. We have had experience with larger horses but these are our first minis. The eight-year-old mare is used to being ridden, but I'm wondering if it's okay (?) to put a little mini saddle on her for my little boy to ride. I read some of the earlier posts and I agree, there really isn't much reading material about minis--I haven't really found anything all that helpful beyond the basic info. So, basically, I'm just wondering, can a mini be ridden the same as a pony? Bridle, bit, saddle and all? If so, anyone have any advice for introducing these things to the eight year old?

I'd also like for her to learn to drive a cart (just for around the house) but that's another topic!

Thanks!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Generally I would say No, but a lot would depend on the size (height) and age of the animals and the weight of the child.

I do not like to suggest Minis as riding animals since so many people buying them have no horse knowledge and they are easier than a larger Pony to "abuse", but if everything is carefully thought out, and the child is not too heavy nor the horse too small, then I guess it would be OK. You would also need to add the weight of the saddle to the weight of the child, to work out if it were OK.

 

[Sue_C.]

I have a perfectly scaled, well-built mini saddle, with a 7" seat. (Bought it on e-bay) I pretty well figure that if the child has a small enough butt to fit it, they can't possibly be too heavy.

Shooter was four years old before I put it on him. I did a lot of ground driving with him, just like I do when training a regular riding horse. The only diference, is I leaned on him, with my had pressing down on the saddle, and had him carry equally distributed sacks of sand instead of riding him. From there to having a child on his back was no problem at all; but he is a very quiet, and accepting, gelding.

Here, we are in a Parade, before he ever had a child on his back...just another chance to get him used to anything and everything. It shows the size of the saddle here, just to give you an idea.

 

[kaykay]

as long as it all fits ok and the kid is not too heavy i dont see anything wrong with it. but i will say the saddle show here is too far back on the horses back. it needs to be up near the withers with the girth strap going straight down not slanted. But obviously theres no kid on his back so not a big deal but for sure you want to position it correctly before putting a kid on there. Cute pic!!!

(only saying this about saddle position so the poster knows how to correctly position the saddle)

 

[Misty Midnight]

Thanks for your help. I've read that a mini can carry around 50 lbs. on its back so that's kind of been our guide for what kids can ride and what ones can't. She's also not extremely small at 35". That's also something to consider as one of you said, about the additional weight of the saddle being factored in.

Sue, that saddle is adorable! I've been watching some saddles on ebay but I wasn't sure what size to really look for.

 

[Sue_C.]

but i will say the saddle show here is too far back on the horses back. it needs to be up near the withers with the girth strap going straight down not slanted.

Yes, it is, it was just "dropped" on, not tightened as much as it should have been. We walked over a mile before this picture was taken, as well as him having stood eating grass in the field for an hour before the Parade (with a halter on, not the bridle) ...so it did slip back.

That's most likely why he looks decidedly unhappy here, poor lil guy.

I DO certainly take much more care when I am about to ground-drive, or they going to be ridden, but this time, he wasn't.

Good point.

 

[EquestraDreams]

My nieces and nephew (all age 5 and under) have all ridden my miniatures, but only the larger 34"-36" ones that a 12" seat saddle will fit. My oldest niece will be 6 in April and will be graduating to my 44" Shetland mare, as I feel she is getting too large for the minis.

 

[Sandee]

I was told the combined weight should not be over 60 lb. Most minis however are trained by ground driving for carts so it's not really suitable to put the kids on and let them go. The mini would quite confused if they tried to neck rein him like a big horse. Plus they have no idea what the leg pressure means (those little feet kicking their sides) because there is no way for an adult to get on and teach or correct behavior.

In my opinion the minis are best for leadline. Put the bridle on for "show" with a halter over it and an adult leading.

 

[Sue_C.]

The mini would quite confused if they tried to neck rein him like a big horse. Plus they have no idea what the leg pressure means (those little feet kicking their sides) because there is no way for an adult to get on and teach or correct behavior.

If you use dressage whips on either side, when ground driving, you can teach them to move off the leg. Very much like teaching them to sidepass.

When a child rides any of my horses, you can be sure they are taught how to ride...there are no legs kicking at their sides, they use leg pressure, not kicks.

As for neck reining, we do not do it, but it could be taught; as all it is is yielding from the legs...it really has nothing to do with the reins. Even a large horse doesn't need to learn neck reining unless it is being shown in western classes, and is five years of age, or over. It is not a necessity for any walk-trot classes that I know of, and that is all most minis will compete in, under saddle.

There are many breeds of ponies which are trained by adults for children to ride, that are too small for an adult to ride themselves...we do it all the time with the little Welshies, and Shetlands.

Not all horses and ponies are suitable for childresn to ride alone, and even my quiet ones, have me right there to supervise, let me assure you of that.

 

[Black Magic]

Our mini Horsezilla has been ridden by all our children. The rule I was taught was that 20% of the horses weight minus the weight of the saddle. We have even gone up to 23% of the weight, but have noticed the horse doesn't move as easily as he did when the weight was in the 20% range. I was also taught that he could pull almost 3 times his weight... big difference there.

I was green.. the horses were green when we saddle broke Horsezilla. Now he does charity work and gives rides to alot of children. When hurricane Frances broke in Fl. we were in Alabama, Dothan. We stayed at the Motel 6 and so many parents expressed their gratitude that I was giving the kids rides on our big guy... to most of the children in a three motel area... They thanked us, because the kids wanted to see and ride .. rather then watch homes being destroyed on TV. It was all good. The horses got off the trailer and I got ALOT of exercise.

When we were teaching Horsezilla to give children rides, we first would walk him like a dog around the neighborhood, so that he was not bothered by dogs, cars, trucks, donkeys and every other critter in the neighborhood... He walks by cars or trucks, like NO BIG DEAL now.

Then we introduced the saddle and continued walking him on his exploration trail in the neighborhood with a saddle on his back... ... In short we made sure he was pretty darn bombproof before we had any child around him.

After that, I put our littlest child on his back and did the lead line thing... every single day... for several mos. She held onto his mane... he got used to that too. Then we introduced the reigns, and having his head and neck turned, without the bit... didn't want heavy hands handling a bit... he did really well this way, so we moved him into a bit... (I wish I could have found a mini hackamore for him.. so instead, we just used reigns).

When he did his neighborhood trail in every direction with our smallest child on him, we rotated to our larger and oldest son... who was able to apply pressure to his sides, rather then the little kicks, which are so little .. (at her 35 lbs... I don't think they bothered Horsezilla after having been abused before we got him).

Then I graduated from lead line to our QH, and lead lining from the QH... (that lasted a few days at best). So finally we turned him and her loose in the yard, and she did lots of circles, reversing, and going over obstacles.

So now, we saddle up the one mini and the QH and we go out and do trails. He's soooo good now. He has never ever dumped her.. or will he go faster then a trot when she's on him. He does trot over fences and cross bars now. She just loves it... and he has never ever been any thing but the perfect gentlemen to any of the children he's ridden. And yeah... he does neck reign... we didn't intentionally teach him, but he did learn. Our son has ridden western, and that was what worked for him, so now our Magic (aka Horsezilla) does too. I get no credit for that one... He's been ridden almost every other day. We did try trainers who didn't get anywhere with him. More then anything it was repetition, and alot of guidance and supervision.

This has been a two year project for us, and we're about to move him into driving next. He's just so happy... when the kids ride him. Our little guy (who is ten now) is only riding the QH, but both the girls ride him. You can just tell, he feels soooo special when he's being ridden and going out in the neighborhood. People stop in their cars to tell me, how amazed they are, that nothing bothers him. The girls have trained him to hit the side of the road if he hears a car. Sometimes, he hears one before then do, and he hits the grass.. and stops until the car passes. I think we have gone as far as we can without an experienced rider getting on him, and he'll never quite be proper when it comes to knowing his leads, and such... but hey.. he and the kids are happy and safe.. and that's what's most important to me. He's soo good with children... he must have ridden over 200 children at this point.

God Bless.... and have a good time.. .it's so rewarding... when you see your little ones...