Shinning up those pennies!!

How do you keep others from eating your food??

Take a nap on it!

Going to be talking to the boarding stable owner about them maybe getting too much hay lol!

They sure do love their grooming time!

These boys are such a MESS!!  I really don't think they had seen a brush in a very long time but they sure do look forward to it now! I have been grooming them almost everyday for weeks now and am just starting to see the fruits of my labor. Mane and tails are looking healthier and they are loosing alot of that scruffy winter hair and I cut some of the hair that had begun to mat on their bellies, neck and between their legs. I clean their feet everytime they get groomed too which is getting them more used to being messed with and building confidence.  Flynn is a little funny about his back hooves and tail being touched.  I really think it scared him because he was gelded shortly before I got him and was messed with alot "back there" before he came to me. They poured ice water on his suture area multiple time a day for 2 weeks to keep swelling down!  If that doesn't some horrible in itself the temp. was topping out no more than the mid 20's at that point in the year here in MI!  Can you say "frost bite" OUCH!!  I think I'm gonna let their manes grow out some.  They were obviously shaved down last summer.  I'm not a huge fan of the half shaved mane thing that seems to be the trend for the mini  horse show ring.  A "bridle/halter path" I can understand but I feel like when you shave half the mane off them it looks a little silly and takes away from that natural wild beauty that horses have.  This is just my thought so I hope I don't offend anyone! I picked up some MTG by Shapley's I read alot of reviews about it and people just seem to rave about it so I thought we would give it a try and see if it speeds up the mane and tail growing process.  Plus, Flynn has been doing some tail rubbing I've noticed and I don't want him to start rubbing the hair off!! I should be getting the braided tail socks that I ordered by the end of the week and the goal is to maybe get some nice long bushy manes and tail that maybe drag on the ground a couple inches! Then, IF it ever gets warm out shaving these big wooly pony coats off!! I am very excited to see them look less like furry mules and more like horses!  This will be the first time I will have seen their true colors and markings!  It will be like unwrapping a Christmas gift!!

The Horse With A Big Question Mark!

Well, the boys are here getting used to their new home and new friends but it sure has made it hard for us to do much with them with all the mud and the freezing cold rain and on again off again snow and hail we keep getting.

We get them all groomed out and look shiny and new again to turn them back out to a mud pit and of course being the naughty boys that they are the first thing they will go do after getting groomed is roll in the mud!



Although the rain and snow is nasty it drove us into having to use the indoor arena where we discovered Flynn's natural talent and love for jumping! Someone had left a set of 4 jumps out after practicing with their own horse and so I decided to walk him over the jumps for a little exercise.  But Flynn didn't wanna walk over them.... instead he JUMPED OVER ALL FOUR OF THEM! And was ready to do it again and again and again!  I have been jumping for about 10 minute with him daily now and he gets SO excited when we enter the arena he can hardly contain himself!! I have to limit him to only about 10 minute or so because I think if I didn't he would jump all day long! Most of the other boarders are impressed at how much of a liking he has for the jumping so soon after starting and how well he does with them. It sure has boosted his confidence too!  He struts back into the pasture after his workouts.

 

Cowboy on the other hand is a little bit of a question mark for us.....

Unlike Flynn, who will usually start to approach the gate when we enter the pasture with his halter and lead in hand and is ready to go. Cowboy usually required a lot more time to get him convinced to come to us and sometimes we have to chase and catch him.  It is rounding 2 weeks tomorrow since we got them and he is still wearing his halter in the pasture.  Flynn earned his halter to be removed when he is turned out in less than a week and has not had a problem yet. Cowboy also refuses to try the jumps and is so stubborn that in most cases when exercising him we can't even get him to trott.  We call him the mule horse!! I worried that something was wrong with him an injury? Was he sick? But the stable owner assured that he was fine she said he will run with Flynn in the pasture and always finishes his meals.

His personality is very different from Flynn's personality.  They are exactly a year and a month apart Flynn's birthday is Sunday, he will be 3 years old and next month Cowboy will be 4 years old.

They are very young horses but most days Cowboy acts like an old man at least compared to the energy that Flynn has.

When I first met him at the farm he was born and raised at he seemed full of life! In fact, we thought their personalities were going to be reversed! I keep wondering if he is just plain sad and missing his home or is it just that he is not used to all the attention and little workouts he is getting. I don't think he has been worked with in a very long time and probably only received one on one attention or grooming right before he was to be shown.  The farm they came from has over 90 mini horses! He seems to really enjoy the attention once we can get him to come out of the pasture and we praise him for it everytime with treats and a good grooming session.

The reason why this is so confussing for us is because Cowboy unlike Flynn has been broke to drive a cart and has a national title in halter.  Flynn hadn't received any training what so ever but seems very obedient and loves to work and please us and has a ton of confidence. 

My head is constantly swarming with could it be this? Or could it be that? They do have a much bigger pasture area and the boarder told us she cut back a little with their grain because they both were a bit over weight when we got them, is he just tired? He has already lost a little weight which I have question whether of not it is too soon to be show slight signs of weight loss.  But again I'm a new horse person and who am  I to question to stable owner! 

I think Cowboy was used to being the top dog at his previous home possibly too and is now the low man on the totum poll with these bigger horses. Flynn has even shown off his confidence/dominance toward the big horses since we started jumping him but from what I have observed treats Cowboy just fine.  He will  even kick at the big horses now when entering back into pasture which is just hilarious to watch this tiny horse scaring off these large horses! Where as Cowboy usually walks with a low head back into the pasture and straight over to the water for a drink.

I notice that even when leading Cowboy he tends to want to walk behind me instead of next to me and doesn't walk with the high alert head like Flynn does.

He is such a mystery to me and I feel so bad that I don't know what is troubling him if that is the case!

I need help!



Muddy, Muddy, MESS!!





Christmas Morning All Over Again!

    It was freezing cold, a little snowy and it felt like I was 6 years old again and it was Christmas morning except this time Santa brought minis!!

Urban Cowboy (30 inches) making a new friend at the stables

Here's Flynn Rider (27 inches)!  After his long 2 hour trailer trip.



Cowboy getting his first grooming session





Checking out the new pasture



Preparing for the big day...

It was the day before the boys were set to arrive and was to be my first time in a real tack shop.
We have many tractor supply and farming stores around the area I live in but finding mini horse tack can be a bit of a challenge.  I pleaded my husband to drive the long half hour drive to the nearest tack shop that claimed to have everything we needed for minis. We pulled up to a tiny dark shop in the middle of no where...literally... no where, the shop had really ugly giant long horned bull statue on the roof of the shop just over the doorway and my husband made some sorta snickery comment about it.
He then informs me that this sorta thing was out of his element and I was to be on my own!
My girls were both sleeping in the back seats so I ventured in alone.

I walked in to the smell of leather and a swarm of saddles, cowboy boots, leads, halters, country music blaring, and a whole lot of denim and plaid! I was wearing my usual dressy attire and high heels which must of been a dead ringer that I didn't belong there. I asked the store manager where the mini tack was and she informed me that they were currently out of everything for minis (I had just called the day before and they told me they had everything I needed), so my half hour trip was a complete waste since I could get the brushes and other supplies from a store that was no more than 15 mins. from my home. I decided to not walk out empty handed so I bought just about every kind of brush they made for a horse, shampoos, and mane and tail detanglers.  I walked out with about 3 bags full of supplies . I felt like a first time parent again (you know you always buy WAY more "stuff" than you need when expecting your first baby).  But still no halters or leads and they were set to come the next morning!

After returning to our home I decided to try the local pet shop not expecting to find any halters or leads for minis but I love to visit all the humane society kitties that they bring into the pet supply store even though I apparently am allergic to them.  I brought my little male French bulldog who was thrilled to join me on the trip. The two of us walk straight to the back of the store and OF COURSE THERE THEY WERE! In just about every size and color especially for minis.  I decided Flynn would get the sunflower yellow halter and Cowboy would have the light baby blue halter to match his blue eye of course and  my frenchie couldn't be left out so he pick out a new squeeker toy. We visited the poor humane society kitties by the register and were all set for the minis to arrive in the morning!

Is A Miniature Horse.... Really A Horse?

Once the decision was made that minis would soon be introduced into our lives rose the question
"is a miniature horse really a horse?"
Although, I had never owned my own horse before I had been exposed enough to them to have a general understanding on a horse's personality, diet, and the different types that there were. After hours of research the conclusion I came to was "yes" they are the same with a twist.

 Miniature horses or "American Miniature Horses" possess the same personality, stubbornness, trainability, and basic diet (of course in much smaller quantities) as a regular sized horse. Registered minis are divided into an A and B class.  The classes are divided simply by size alone. The A class size ranging 34" and under.  The B class consists of minis ranging in size 34" to 38" and according to my readings anything above the B class would be considered a pony. The world recoded holder for the "smallest horse" is a tiny mini horse named Einstein, who at birth weighed a mere 6lb  and stood a just 14-inches tall and more closely resembled a wind up toy according to him owners! The average weight for a mini horse at birth tips the scale at 18lbs, a whooping 12lb difference! The tiny pinto stallion resides happily in New Hampshire with his family. 
Miniature horse can also be rode by small children but are not bred to bare the weight of a rider like their larger cousins. Because these horses are not known for their ridability people have found new ways to make these small horses worthy.  Miniature horses given their small size are easily trained to pull small carts under harness, compete in obstacle, conformation, jumping (without and rider), liberty and are always a show stopper! They are also very useful as a companion horse for other farmyard animals and have even more recently been trained as guide and therapy animals.
Although these horses maybe pint-sized compared to traditonal horses they make a big impression!