Show Question

[Field-of-Dreams]

i dont think i can have a mini bussiness, unless someone would want their mini trained to cart by a kid

i cant afford horses that would win in the show ring. and i'm not breeding my misty anymore because i'm terrified of losing her

Oh, REALLY? There is a "kid" who lives a few miles away from us that bought several Minis from us. She trains horses- hers and others- and does VERY well with them, even beating the big guns every now and then. She's also trained her little gelding to do obstacle: hands free. She takes lessons from a big name trainer here to learn.

My friend's daughter used to take in problem horses to work with- at age 16.

And don't forget- you won't be a kid forever. Get your name out there, do the best you can now, and you could go far. But it won't be handed to you, you have to work at it.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

thanks for your stories and advice everyone. its made me kinda think twice....

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

well the whole training thing is out of the question. my mom says she's not willing to take the risk of getting sued and i'm 'just a kid' and wont be able to handle it

 

[Sandee]

well the whole training thing is out of the question. my mom says she's not willing to take the risk of getting sued and i'm 'just a kid' and wont be able to handle it

That's really too bad. Is there any miniature clubs around you or people who own miniatures that might appreciate your help.

I personally know a young girl (unfortunately not close enough to me) that showed a great deal of talent in working with her little "cheap" horses. If I could have convinced her mother, I'd have brought her to shows with me. She showed years more patience and "working" knowledge with her horses at our fun show than adults several times her age. I would have been more than happy to have her help.

So keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities in your area. It might not be something that you'd get paid for right now but someone might offer to pay your showing fees in exchange for your help with their horses. You'll never know if you don't look.

 

[kaykay]

I have helped a lot of newbies get into showing miniatures, the first thing I tell them is to always go out in the ring knowing you have THE BEST HORSE in the ring no matter what class you are showing in. Attitude means a lot in the ring from the way you present your horse to the way you present yourself.

If you dont think your horse is a winner why would the judge?

Always go in with a positive outlook.

Try to hook up with a show farm near where you live. Offer to help groom and clean stalls at shows in exchange for help showing.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

Try to hook up with a show farm near where you live. Offer to help groom and clean stalls at shows in exchange for help showing.

i dont know of anyone in my area that might wanna do that unfortunatly, thats why i have no mentor

 

[Helicopter]

Hey, Molly's Run for what it's worth I think your little guy looks incredibly cute with his hairstyle. And just remember you won't always be 'just a kid'.

Castle Rock Minis...I wish you were my mum.

 

[valshingle]

Perhaps you'll meet someone at the show.

 

[midnight star stables]

Molly, my first show horse had a double mane. Midnight took a lot of clipping, slinkies, hair spray and gel to "fix" his doo... just for him to get in the ring and shake it all up!

Midnight and I had great times and he placed well in all sorts of classes! Driving, jumping, halter, liberty, etc.

And one of my National Top Ten horses has a broken crest. Hey, it happens

He has 9 Grands in halter and I'm hoping to finish is HOF this year. Just because your horse has faults(like every other horse too) does NOT mean they won't do well!

Showing is NOT about the ribbon or winning. It's for fun. It gives you and your horses something to aim towards (Like a clear jumping round, or a faster jumping round, or a clear obstacle course, or a smooth drive with good transitions and no breaks, etc.). I love to win, but I have more fun just being able to show my horses and try to improve over the years.

I personally don't care about the double mane, expecially if you are mainly showing in performance. Every little bit helps, but I don't think it'd knock you from 1st to 5th

Go out and have FUN. Time and practice will make showing a ton more fun and easy.

Oh, and GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

Molly, my first show horse had a double mane. Midnight took a lot of clipping, slinkies, hair spray and gel to "fix" his doo... just for him to get in the ring and shake it all up!

Midnight and I had great times and he placed well in all sorts of classes! Driving, jumping, halter, liberty, etc.

And one of my National Top Ten horses has a broken crest. Hey, it happens

He has 9 Grands in halter and I'm hoping to finish is HOF this year. Just because your horse has faults(like every other horse too) does NOT mean they won't do well!

Showing is NOT about the ribbon or winning. It's for fun. It gives you and your horses something to aim towards (Like a clear jumping round, or a faster jumping round, or a clear obstacle course, or a smooth drive with good transitions and no breaks, etc.). I love to win, but I have more fun just being able to show my horses and try to improve over the years.

I personally don't care about the double mane, expecially if you are mainly showing in performance. Every little bit helps, but I don't think it'd knock you from 1st to 5th

Go out and have FUN. Time and practice will make showing a ton more fun and easy.

Oh, and GOOD LUCK!!!

lol thanks!

 

[targetsmom]

Ultimately it is up to you to decide what to do with his mane. A lot depends on what type of showing you are doing and what your goals are, like Midnight Star Stables said. We show at the local Pinto shows and I can relate to your dilemma. When I was still riding I was told that I would not place if I wore a helmet or if I didn't shave the inside on my horse's ears. Well, safety is Number 1 so I ALWAYS wear a helmet, and guess what, as I improved, so did my placings and it didn't seem to matter that I wore a helmet. And the person that told me I had to shave my horses ears - well I actually WON a showmanship class with her in it that same weekend! However, I knew that the rules did not REQUIRE shaving the ears and I spent a LOT of time with the clippers making sure that his ears were as neat as possible, with no hairs sticking out. I have also shown un-clipped minis in performance classes but again, they were spotless, slick coated and I cannot tell from the show photos which were un-clipped.

Set some goals for yourself, prepare you and your horse to the best of your ability, read the show rules, and go out and have fun!

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

Ultimately it is up to you to decide what to do with his mane. A lot depends on what type of showing you are doing and what your goals are, like Midnight Star Stables said. We show at the local Pinto shows and I can relate to your dilemma. When I was still riding I was told that I would not place if I wore a helmet or if I didn't shave the inside on my horse's ears. Well, safety is Number 1 so I ALWAYS wear a helmet, and guess what, as I improved, so did my placings and it didn't seem to matter that I wore a helmet. And the person that told me I had to shave my horses ears - well I actually WON a showmanship class with her in it that same weekend! However, I knew that the rules did not REQUIRE shaving the ears and I spent a LOT of time with the clippers making sure that his ears were as neat as possible, with no hairs sticking out. I have also shown un-clipped minis in performance classes but again, they were spotless, slick coated and I cannot tell from the show photos which were un-clipped.

Set some goals for yourself, prepare you and your horse to the best of your ability, read the show rules, and go out and have fun!

i'm mainely going to show him in performance. Cart, obstacle, jumping, etc.

he stinks in halter so i'm leaving that for my girls

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

The ONLY thing you won is LIBERTY. Dear girl that means you have a MOVER! There are very few really good movers in the miniature breed. So that accomplishment means ALOT. Congratulations!!!!

My biggest mover is my smallest horse, Honey

She has NICE action for her size and she's easy to catch, usually.

 

[ruffian]

i dont think i can have a mini bussiness, unless someone would want their mini trained to cart by a kid

i cant afford horses that would win in the show ring. and i'm not breeding my misty anymore because i'm terrified of losing her

Maybe you won't have a "mini business", but deciding to fail before you start isn't the way to go. My daughter trained her mare for driving when she was 12 (my daughter) and went on to win at Regionals in driving, and won numerous times against top trainers.

Oh yeah - we paid $50 for the filly as a weanling. That mare's 2nd foal sold for $4,000. So don't sell yourself and your horse short (ok bad pun). So you don't always have to spend big bucks to get a good horse.

And HORSES can know when they win!!! If you watch any National or World shows, you can see it as they come bucking out of the ring! So you if you are going to the effort to show, you should put the effort into making him as pretty as possible in the JUDGE'S EYES!!

I would trim/train the mane to lie on one side or the other. There is nothing in the rule book about it, but simply states the horse shall show with full mane & Tail (no full roach) length to be at the deision/discretion of the exhibitor.

 

[Katiean]

i dont think i can have a mini bussiness, unless someone would want their mini trained to cart by a kid

i cant afford horses that would win in the show ring. and i'm not breeding my misty anymore because i'm terrified of losing her

All of my horses big and small have been trained by me or my niece. That said, I have shown Big horses since I was 11. I never quite got there. I always place 2nd except for halter where a project horse, when she reached 2 1/2 years old was beautiful. This horse looked like a donkey when we brought her in. She was 9 months old. She became my best friend and we did everything together. So, even though she looked bad at 9 months, she blossomed and made a great halter horse. We had paid $75 for her and she beat horses that cost thousands. So, except for halter I got nothing as far as placings. Not that I didn't put my all into it. It took me until I was 22 to win my first BLUE RIBBON. It was in sidesaddle hunter hack. I was so proud of that ribbon. But, it also hurt more than all of my other 2nd placings. The reason was my dad had just passed away and couldn't be there to see me win for once. He had gone to every horse show I had been in. But not that one. I guess what I am saying is don't sell yourself or your horses short. With hard work anything is possible.

 

[love_casper]

i dont think i can have a mini bussiness, unless someone would want their mini trained to cart by a kid

i cant afford horses that would win in the show ring. and i'm not breeding my misty anymore because i'm terrified of losing her

You would be surprised! I bought my first mini with money I earned taking care of other people's horses, and I was 13. I started working with problem horses around that age, and by the time I was 14 I had a bunch of horses that weren't mine to train every day. I started giving riding lessons to beginners... even the adult beginners seemed more interestd in what I knew than how old I was. If you could start your own horse to drive and get him/her out for the public to see, and be able to announce, "Yep! I trained him myself!" then you may find people want help starting their horse. I got plenty of inquiries just driving my unregistered mare around town for fun.

Also, maybe you could make connections with your vet and farrier? If your horses are well behaved for routine work - and many minis aren't! - this will make a good impression. What I'm getting at is my farrier is used to dealing with really awful minis and ponies, and when he saw how well behaved even my rescues were, he asked me if I did training for other people. Of course I said yes, so he's been referring me to the other people who own minis, ponies, and donkeys that he trims, from people with ill-mannered horses to those wanting to learn to drive. And I'm currently 18.

I know it feels like you'll never connect with the rest of horse world when you don't live in the middle of a horsey community (don't know where you are, but I have felt like this because my neighbors just own cattle and I'm a ways from other equestrians) but it just takes some networking. By way of vet/farrier references, and getting yourself out in shows, or even craigslist ads. I vaguely remember you have a background in driving big horses, not a lot of people get that experience. You may really have something to offer!

Also I wanted to say that is very wise of you to make a decision not to breed you mare.

After my first bad foaling experience, I decided as well that my special very loved mare will never be bred.