Caring For Your Miniature Horse

Caring for your horse will require certain supplies. In addition

 to a halter and lead line you will need brushes for grooming, feeding supplies, and a few items for a first aid kit.

Halter and Lead Line

We prefer halters that are adjustable around the nose in addition to over the poll. They allow for a better fit. Make sure your halter isn't too tight which will cause your mini discomfort. We don't like to leave halters on full time for a few reasons. The first and most important reason is safety. The halter could get caught on something causing the mini to pull in an effort to free himself causing injuries. This could easily happen when the mini tries to scratch his head on a tree or fence post. Although less likely, if the halter does not fit properly and is extremely loose a horse who uses his back leg to scratch his face could get his hoof hung up in the halter as well. Another reason is that if a halter is left on all the time you might not realize that it's getting too tight due to growth or the winter coat coming in thick and taking up a little extra space. A halter that's too tight will not only cause discomfort, but will also rub sores on the mini's face and head. The last reason is a personal opinion. Typically when a horse wears a halter 24/7 this indicates a problem horse. A halter is often left on because a horse is hard to catch, so when I see a horse standing out in the pasture grazing in a halter the first thing I think is that he most likely has some sort of behavior issue.

Grooming Supplies

Grooming serves a few purposes. It keeps your mini looking good, gets him used to being touched all over, and it also helps build a bond between you and your horse. Grooming is done for the animal's health as well. Regular grooming and handling means you are regularly looking and feeling over the entire animal and will notice any potential problems early before they get out of hand.

You will need a stiff brush for times when there is dried mud or a lot of dirt. You will also need a medium bristle brush, a small soft brush for their face, and a brush for their mane and tail. It's good to have a shedding blade to remove loose hair from the coat too. One of the most important grooming tools is a hoof pick. It is very important to clean your mini's feet to avoid thrush. If you have never owned a miniature horse before or are unfamiliar with cleaning their feet, someone will be happy to show you how it's done. You should also have a sweat scraper, which is just a squeegee for horses, to remove excess water after bathing which will speed up the drying time.

First Aid Supplies

There are a few things we always keep on hand; Corona for minor cuts and scrapes, Furosemide in case of an abcess or a sore that is fungal in nature, mineral oil or baby oil and MTG which can be used for a variety of things, betadine scrub for cleaning wounds, and bleach or thrush treatment in case of thrush. In addition to those items we also keep items needed to wrap a foot or leg in case of an injury. A good first aid book is something we keep handy as well, and it goes without saying that we have our vet's phone number programmed in our cell phone so that if there is an emergency at the barn or in the pasture we don't have to go inside and look it up. When dealing with things like colic, a serious injury, or a foaling emergency, time could be the deciding factor in how things turn out. Having the number handy also allows you to stay with your horse.

Feeding Supplies

There are all different kinds of feed buckets.  Make sure your mini always has access to clean water and a mineral salt block. We use bunk feeders for hay instead of putting it on the ground. When eating hay out of a container your mini is less likely to be ingesting dirt and sand which can cause colic. There is also less wasted hay as it is not trampled over or urinated on.

Preventive Care

Preventive care includes feeding, grooming, exercising, hoof care, deworming and vaccinating. Worming should be done at least every two months on a rotation schedule. Deworm more frequently if you have a large herd and/or small acreage. Vaccinations should be done as recommended by your veterinarian. We buy our vaccinations from Valley Vet , or Jeffers Equine and vaccinate using this Valley Vets vaccination schedule,

http://www.valleyvet.com/library/si_horse_vaccine.html  but check with your vet to see what he/she recommends.

Vaccinations

We buy our vaccinations from Valley Vet and vaccinate annually , but check with your vet to see what he/she recommends for your horse.  Valley Vet's website has a worming rotation schedule as well.

Equine Injection Gui http://www.valleyvet.com/library/si_horse_vaccine.htmlVaccination Vaccination note for minis: Please pay special attention to the safety indications regarding vaccinations for pregnant mares. Also read the fine print and do not assume that if it is safe for a big horses it is safe for a horse one-quarter in size. Do not give miniature horses the "combo" shots that include West Nile. It is too much for their systems. Some companies in the fine print warn against it's use on ponies. Do not give West Nile to miniatures in their first trimester of pregnancy. For miniature horses if you need to give a combo shot and West Nile it is recommended to give the combo shot one week in one side of the neck or buttocks, then give the West Nile separately in the other side of the neck a week later. And again, always check with your personal vet regarding your horse's vaccinations. de

Worming

The following information about worms and deworming was gathered from a number of websites. This is a topic we have spent numerous hours researching. The information in this section was consistently found on numerous websites. That consistency, in our opinion, is what validates the information below. Check with your personal vet to be sure what will work for your horse.

Never use Quest or any other wormer with the active ingredient moxidectin when worming your miniature horse.

Many horses that have dangerous parasite levels appear to be perfectly healthy, but in other horses, especially young horses, parasites can take a visible toll. Internal parasites are terribly detrimental to the growing foal. Often displaying other symptoms is merely a symptom of worms. For example, a lack of appetite and a cough is usually a sign of worms, not a cold. Signs of infestation may include:

• Dull, rough hair coat
  • Weight loss
  • Tail rubbing and hair loss
  • Colic
  • Depression
  • Loss of condition
  • Lethargy or decreased stamina
  • Coughing and/or nasal discharge
  • Mouth lesions
  • Summer sores
  • Loss of appetite
  • Diarrhea

Young foals are generally more susceptible to parasites

than adult horses. Worms represent a serious danger to foals, and they are at risk as soon as they are born. The mare can pass parasites directly to her offspring through her milk and droppings. The foal can also become infected by larvae penetrating the skin, ingestion from the pasture, and coprophagia (the consumption of feces) which is a common practice of foals.

Foals are exposed continuously to parasite infection, particularly from ascarid (roundworm) eggs because, no matter how clean the stables are kept, ascarid eggs abound. These sticky, practically indestructible, ascarid eggs can survive for years on buckets, walls, bedding, pastures and even on the mare's udder. As mentioned above, most foals eat fresh manure in order to "seed" their digestive tract with beneficial microorganisms essential for proper digestion of vegetable matter. As a result, any infective ascarid eggs present in the manure can find their way into the youngster's system where the ascarid larvae hatches out, burrows into the intestinal tract and begins its damage.

From birth through the first two years, young horses have an especially low resistance to parasites and can quickly acquire massive worm burdens. However, damage inflicted by these worms is gradual and subtle, so you may not notice any signs of illness at the onset. Meanwhile, your prized foal's growth and development become impaired, its performance ability reduced, and its resistance to disease lowered - problems that have long-term consequences.

A carefully-planned and strictly-followed deworming schedule is the only way to protect your foal from parasite damage.

Strongyloides westeri, can be transferred in the mare's milk. They live in the stomach and feed on blood. They migrate through the bloodstream to parts of the body tissues and mature in the intestine. They can move through the mammary tissue and are ingested by the foal through the mare's milk.

Other parasite eggs can be shed in the dam's manure. Therefore many breeders will worm with an ivermectin product one month before foaling followed by a post-foaling worming within 12 hours of foaling, but after the mare's first bowel movement. Worming your mare with ivermectin within 12 hours after foaling helps protect the foal from threadworms.

Between four and six weeks you should first worm the foal, and then once a month for the first year.

The most common wormer Ivermectin does not kill ascarids, a major parasitic threat to foals and young horses. Therefore, if Ivermectin is used exclusively, it kills other worms, which actually allows the ascarids to flourish.

First-year worming can be done using the chart below:

Using something effective against all worms and bots such as an ivermectin product twice a year is a good practice. Depending on your climate, April or May, just before bot larvae leave a horse's stomach would be a good time to use the bot dewormer. Then again in late fall, after a killing frost and after all bot eggs have been removed from the horse's coat, October or November (once again depending on your climate). The rest of the year you can choose other dewormers. Do not use a product with the same ingredient every time you worm (only exception is being afore mentioned with pregnant mares). The active product ingredient should be rotated. Individual deworming routines may vary for different farms. A farm with a small amount of acreage and large population of horses may require more frequent dewormings.

It is also recommended to do a Safeguard purge twice a year (spring and fall). This is a double dose of Safe-guard for five days with a follow-up dose of Ivermectin four weeks later.

Another version of a Safe-Guard purge is Safe-Guard for five days which will get any big roundworms and encysted small strongyles (redworms). However, it will not get Bots and it will not get migrating strongyles or ascarids, so in 10 days (life cycle of most worms) worm with Ivermectin, wait ten days and worm with Praziquantel (Tapeworms). This should clear any extra worms that have been hanging on.

Always read dewormer labels to be aware of

contraindications, precautions and proper dosage,

especially if you have pregnant or lactating mares.

For example, Safeguard's label states:

Safe-Guard Paste 10% has been evaluated for safety in pregnant mares during all stages of gestation with doses as high as 11.4 mg/lb. (25 mg/kg) and in stallions with doses as high as 11.4 mg/lb. (25 mg/kg). No adverse effects on reproductively were detected. The recommended dose for control of 4th stage larvae of Strongylus vulgaris, 4.6 mg/lb. (10 mg/kg) daily for 5 consecutive days, has not been evaluated for safety in stallions or pregnant mares.

Therefore, although Safeguard is safe to use for your pregnant mares for a one-time deworming dose, you would not want to treat them with a five-day Safeguard purge while pregnant.

Tack For Minis

We buy all our halters and lead lines from KayJay Farm.  Their web address is www.tackforminis.com and they have the best prices I can find.  If you mention you found them at CL7Minis.com they'll include a free gift with your first order.

Halter Tags

To keep halters from getting mixed up we ordered tags from www.loveyourpets.com with name and foaling date for each horse.  The tags are inexpensive and shipping is reasonable.

Following are a few ways to estimate the mature height of your miniature horse.

CANON BONE HEIGHT ESTIMATION FORMULA 

Measure canon bone from top of hoof (coronet) to center of knee.  Multiply that measurement by 4 and add 2 inches.  This should give you the approximate finished height.

BIRTH HEIGHT ESTIMATION

Birth height plus 10-12 inches.

The gestation period for a horse is 320 to 360 days, approximately eleven months. This is the same as for full sized horses. Foals are born weighing anywhere from 12 to 25 pounds, depending on their size, and typically stand anywhere from 15 to 22 inches tall at birth. Foals are normally weaned from nursing their mothers at 3 to 6 months of age. Miniature horses grow to approximately 90% of their adult height by the time they are a year old. Depending on their size, adult miniature horses typically weigh anywhere from 150 to 350 pounds.

 

 

Horses come in only 3 basic colors; chestnut/sorrel, bay and black. Any other color is just a variation to these 3 basic colors and are due to contributions of other coat color genes responsible for adding lighter or darker shades, certain patterns.

 

A horse with the base color of: With one cream gene becomes: With two cream genes becomes: A Red based horse with no black gene and no dilution gene. A sorrel/chestnut horse that recieved one copy of the creme dilition gene from one of its parents, giving it a coat ranging in color from pale cream, to golden, to chocolate and has a white mane and tail. A sorrel/chestnut horse that recieved one copy of the creme gene from both of its parents, and has pink skin, blue eyes, cream to nearly white hair coat, and a white mane and tail. A Black based horse with the "bay" gene, which restricts the black to the mane, tail and legs (also called black "points") and no dilution gene. A Bay horse that recieved one copy of the creme dilution gene from one of its parents, giving it a diluted hair coat (the color can range from very pale cream, to gold, to a dark "smutty" color,) and has black "points". A Bay horse that recieved one copy of the creme gene from both of its parents, and has pink skin, blue eyes, a cream to white colored coat and a darker mane and tail (often orange or red tinted). A Black based horse with no "bay" gene, and no dilution gene, ranging from "true" black to brown in appearance. A Black horse that recieved one copy of the creme dilution gene from one of its parents, but probably looks no different than any other black or brown horse. A Black horse that recieved one copy of the creme gene from both of its parents, possessing pink skin, blue eyes, and an orange or red cast to the entire hair coat.

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