# Raising a miniature stallion



## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

When raising a miniature colt, that you are hoping to leave intact, are there different rules that you would follow? Is a miniature stallion as unpredictable as a full sized stallion?


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

minister man said:


> When raising a miniature colt, that you are hoping to leave intact, are there different rules that you would follow? Is a miniature stallion as unpredictable as a full sized stallion?


They are the same, just smaller and therefore easier to physically handle. I have an elderly mini stallion, age hasn't quieted him down, but thankfull he is only 29 inches tall and I can "manhandle" him gently as needed!


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

We leave our young colts in with older geldings who are willing to teach him manners. They take the crashing and bashing any young horse likes to do, rough play, yet will discipline him as needed to understand "herd manners" and be a civil stallion later on. 

Isolating a young male equine is not good for him, they are herd animals, need to learn to get along with other equines, not develop mental issues. Mares seldom have the drive or persistence needed to keep a young male "in line" as the older geldings will. Geldings are QUITE unwilling to lose herd position, so they usually will kind of squelch his activity and keep him as low man in the herd. Having more than one gelding in with the colt will let them take turns on the colt, since he IS SOLAR powered and has more energy than he knows what to do with!

We had a colt in these conditions over summer, he is QUITE the gentleman these days, no lipping or biting, doesn't take his energy out on us people. He is a full sized horse, with genetics to end up about 17H, so he MUST be controllable, mannerly for handling daily, developing into a nice using horse as an adult. He was always destined to be a gelding, not a stallion, but we wait until they are over a full year old, in HOPES of keeping their height stunted a bit. Stallions always are a bit smaller than geldings, even if full brothers, usually closes his knees sooner to limit height. Hormones develop parts needed to be masculine as a good stallion. Gelded horse with no hormones puts his energy into height, might get TOO BIG for our use. Our colt was gelded in Sept. with his birthday in July. We wanted to wait a bit more, but he was just no quit pest and getting pretty beat up doing it. He couldn't help his hormone drive, would have been a NICE stallion, but that was not going to be his life. So for HIS own safety he got gelded and things have relaxed somewhat. He can go out with the mares now, who do threaten well and he backs off when told. He needs to behave with our mares since he will be working with them as a driving horse in Multiples of two or four.

I would plan to handle that young colt daily, to keep him understanding he is NOT in charge. Consistant handling keeps them better mannered, obedient, cooperative. Sessions are short with his age, 5 minutes at a time is enough. Lead, stand when told, walk and trot beside you as requested as you would at a show. Accepts grooming, hoof trimming, while keeping his MOUTH OFF you. NO HAND FEEDING of treats, EVER. That is asking to get bit. Use a small bucket if you MUST to do treats, but it is NOT recommended for any young horses while you work with them. Always seems to get them bitey, even mares.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

I got my mini stallion as a yearling and I bought my APHA stallion along with his dam when he was only 2 months old. Between the 2 the mini probably had to get more behavior lessons but I really think it was because he was a little older and more spoiled when I got him. Once he figured out that his nonsense had consequences he settled down and didn't need constant reminders. I count myself lucky that I had 2 very well behaved, easy to handle and gentle stallions. 

I never kept either locked up in stalls. Once the mini got to breeding age I bought a mare and they always lived in a family herd. He was a pretty awesome babysitter. The paint lived with geldings when he was young but there did come a day I had to put him by himself. He was still turned out and still had other horses all around him though.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

Here is my thought............... I have had horses all my life, and I can't imagine as I retire ( long time yet) not having horses. We walk the mini gelding like a person would walk a saint Bernard. SO I was thinking miniature horses.......... A team for driving and pets........... I was first thinking mares and I could raise a few foals but, I don't need a whole bunch of them and I don't want to raise them for someone else.... So a team of stallions....... a couple of stud fees per stud would pay for their hay. Maybe a gelding and a stud would be better.... and I might just be dreaming.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

The mini market didn't take a dump quite as soon as the horse market did but it did eventually. Quite honestly, unless you're going to spend a lot of money on those stallions to show and promote them you aren't going to make enough off of stud fees to support them. Maybe your market in Canada is different, I don't know. For what you want I think your best option is just get a couple of geldings for a team.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Gelding, mare, or station, treat it like a big horse. Putting him into a herd is a good idea. Expect perfect manners, handle their feet, and so on. My farrier always preferred my stubborn donkeys to miniature horses because people raise them with no manners, as lap dogs.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Unless your mini has SUPERIOR breeding, is registered, is a wonderful specimen of the breed, he is not stallion material. Those kind will fetch a decent amount for a stud fee, to offset the other issues owning a stallion raises at a farm. There are FEW such animals, and they get heavily advertised, shown, to let folks know they are THAT wonderful and available.

Most mini owners are not that discriminating, can't even see the poor body parts that their mini is made up of. Minis have a LOT of physical issues, starting with teeth, which can be a nightmare for the horse dentist or Vet who needs to float those teeth. Teeth in a mini are about as big as a regular horse's teeth, but have not enough room to fit in his little skull! Those teeth can shift all over, may not allow mini to eat well, cause pain if not removed.

Next on the stallions, is the issues of undecended testicles or even EXTRA testicles retained in the body cavity. This can cause MUCH extra expense in gelding him, since it is TRULY surgery and only able to be performed in most cases at a Clinic to lay him out on a table to "hunt" for the lost testicles. Much longer recovery time from that gelding, with costs probably of more money than mini is worth. Have you checked your boy to see if he has both testicles down? My friend had her mini colt with only one down. But because he was SO LITTLE, she traded his special gelding needs at the College Vet School, for them running him thru the MRI machine to get pictures for the Students to learn equines with. Even a regular pony would not fit in the machine let alone a horse, so this worked out well for her. But she "knows people" so it was totally a one-time deal. 

Then on to poor body build, crooked legs, dwarfism, that will be passed on to foals, limit their working life because they often break down on those poorly built legs. You also need to plan out a "dry lot" location with NO GRASS to prevent the mini from over-eating and developing laminitus in his hooves. You can't FIX him when the bones shift in his feet, it is VERY PAINFUL and once he does that (founder is the process of going lamanitic) he will EASILY founder again with TINY feed changes like new grass coming in, an extra handful of grain in his feed tub. 

The best looking, working minis I see, are kept in what most would call "hard conditions" so the animals have no chance to damage themselves by eating too well. There is no grazing at all, they get terrible hay, often more than one year old so the nutrition is small. They get SMALL amounts of that hay, since they are SMALL animals made to browse in rough conditons, which is what their bodies are made to do. Owner friend says ONE handful per mini, twice daily in winter, all the water they want. As for grazing, they go out on a timer, when the 15 minutes (Once daily) are up, they go back in the dry lot the rest of the day. Owner/friend does not have ANY foundered minis, they work driving for her, going distance as needed. They are svelte with being fed correctly for their sizes, exercised to develop true muscles, have fairly good conformation for minis, straight legged, have stayed sound over the years she has owned and used them. They are NOT the most beautiful or tiniest, but they are real nice for minis around this area. Hers run about 32-34" at the withers for sizes. This is how normal horses are measured, not the Miniature Folks measure using the last hair on withers to make animals "seem" smaller. Smaller ones just don't have the weight and strength, even in Pairs, to do the work of moving carriage or wagon around with people inside. 

So you will want to think about points I have brought up, think about the balances of keeping the colt as a stallion and your area for possible breedings. If he is an OK looking guy, not registered, you may get some folks who want to use him for cheap fees. They won't see him as better than other mini stallions with defects that are DARN cheap stallion fees. Talking $25 or so. They don't care what kind of foal they turn out, are NOT responsible breeders, just want something they can sell for more than they put into it.

As for your plan to drive the minis, GREAT idea! Using a couple together you have more strength for a slightly larger vehicle to hold a two people for a drive. You do need to take the time to actually TRAIN the animal using all the training steps to have him obedient and knowing his job. Way too many folks hurry driving training, since mini's can be so accepting of new things, then fall apart later because animal does not have any actual basics to fall back on in new situations. Training time is well spent in gaining understanding of his work, learning things behind, noisy stuff, weight pulling on him WON'T hurt. You can get him stopped with WHOA, even when starting to act up in a new setting, because you put the time on him to get him trained and he has confidence YOU will take care of things he doesn't understand.

I would look for used harness, not as costly. They are selling some NICE mini harness, designed correctly for fit, not just "shrunk down" from horse sized harness. You have to be really careful in fitting, since there is so little space on minis to lay the strapping and have it comfortable to work in.


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## TheFarmerMommy (Mar 21, 2014)

I couldn't give our minis away 2 years ago. And they were a matched team that I'd ground driven all over the place and had just started to break to the cart....


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

Maybe a nice driving team of Standardbreds ( retired ones) would be the way to go. they need a home too. The only thing is they eat a lot more, and there is a lot more shovelling.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

minister man said:


> Maybe a nice driving team of Standardbreds ( retired ones) would be the way to go. they need a home too. The only thing is they eat a lot more, and there is a lot more shovelling.


 Yeah, that is true. Still, with being larger and stronger, they can take the whole family for a nice drive, be able to go more than a short distance with the load, and do that mileage in a short time! Going out driving with your horses is a good way to spend time with a kid or two, your SO or spouse, or all of them at the same time. You do get some interesting conversations going, have time to LISTEN to each other, not being in a hurry to arrive any place. Phone is only along for emergencies, so you and others can really CONVERSE and interact about the things you see, did at school or work recently.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

minister man said:


> Maybe a nice driving team of Standardbreds ( retired ones) would be the way to go. they need a home too. The only thing is they eat a lot more, and there is a lot more shovelling.


Yeah, that is true. Still, with being larger and stronger, they can take the whole family for a nice drive, be able to go more than a short distance with the load, and do that mileage in a short time! Going out driving with your horses is a good way to spend time with a kid or two, your SO or spouse, or all of them at the same time. You do get some interesting conversations going, have time to LISTEN to each other, not being in a hurry to arrive any place. Phone is only along for emergencies, so you and others can really CONVERSE and interact about the things you see along the way, seasonal changes or did at school or work recently. See how many jokes you can trade or do sing-alongs. Having family time is a gift those driving horses can give you all to enjoy remembering later.


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## minister man (Jan 14, 2007)

Actually probably one standardbred would pull more, and be more advantageous than a team of minis. I don't think that it is good for a horse to live alone, but maybe she could have a mini for a companion.


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