Mini's - Looking in all the wrong places?

[marestud]

I think every older pony mare I have ever purchased took to human breeding like she has been doing it all her life. That makes me wonder too.

I agree with PonyLove, I have been lucky enough to come in contact with several pony mares over the years, and most just accepted mating with a human as a natural occurrence. Even those who didn't take to it immediately were very easy to train. I suspect that, since ponies are mainly kept as pets, the chances of them having sexual contact with their owners or neighbors are pretty great.

 

[PonyLove]

I agree with PonyLove, I have been lucky enough to come in contact with several pony mares over the years, and most just accepted mating with a human as a natural occurrence. Even those who didn't take to it immediately were very easy to train. I suspect that, since ponies are mainly kept as pets, the chances of them having sexual contact with their owners or neighbors are pretty great.

Yes, they are sort of like the elephant in the room when people come over to visit. I am sure many think that.

I think its in their DNA form breeding for working in the mines.

 

[EponasDevotee]

Under 14 hands = pony
Under either 39 or 38 inches (depending on which of the two american registries you're involved with, assuming you are) = mini

Within the category "mini", 3 sub-categories - "Class A", "Class B", and "Class C", with Class C being the tallest (38/39 inches) - all three are "provisional" until the critter in question is 4+ years old. Then there's a "hardship" category that some register under, intended mainly for "Well, it *WAS* a Class C, but then came a growth spurt" cases. They can be registered as minis, but can't compete - Sort of like the "Breeding stock paint" category for "no-chrome" horses out of a paint-horse line. It's to keep the offspring from such critters eligble to be registered, even though the "abnormals" aren't allowed to compete in the "pro" grade events.

Am I missing something here? As far as I know there are two miniature horse registries here in the USA the American Miniature Horse Association which registers only Class A (e.g. up to 34 inches or 8.2 hh) and the American Miniature Horse Registry, a division of the American Shetland Pony Registry, which registers both Class A and Class B (over 34 inches but up to 38 inches). I've had both and still have a AMHA Class A miniature stallion who is 30. I was not able to permanently register him until he was 5 years old. I've never heard of Class C.

Anyway one comparatively inexpensive source for a miniature is through an equine rescue organization and there are quite a few of them. Adopting from a rescue will require a screening to ensure you have proper facilities and can provide adequately for them and you'll likely have to sign a no breeding agreement for a mare. Still there are some wonderful little boys and girls that can be adopted.

 

[EponasDevotee]

If you're in northwest Ohio, head across the state line into Indiana and hit the auction at Shipshewana (Did I mangle the spelling? Probably) and find damn near any price from "bad song" to "king's ransom", on every flavor of equine you can dream up, from just-weaned minis, to burnt-out Amish belgians and standardbreds, and every possible variation in between.

You'll have to do your own legwork to find dates, times, etc, but I can guarantee that when the auctioneer starts singing, there's something for ANYBODY interested in buying a horse at Shipse.

Mackinac Island, MI gets a shitload of the horses they use from Shipse - Just beware... One of the several years I was there, Dale Gough picked up three teams of absolutely GORGEOUS Amish-broke Belgian 6, 7, and 8 year olds for less than 10K. One of them ended up being my team that summer, and a nicer pair to work with would be hard to find again. Practically "pushbutton" ponies that I could tie the lines to the brake and just talk to 'em to drive all day long. Of course, a couple years later, Nancy Byrd went down and thought she was gonna pick up some stock, and dragged home a couple of the butt-ugliest, ill-trained (probably closer to "barely trained") black percherons that I got roped into trying to teach how to handle life on the island. She never did say what she gave for 'em, but when she sold out to Ryba and vanished, Dick sent 'em to the packing plant ASAP. Couldn't trust that pair as far as you could spit, they NEVER lost their "spook", tended to decide "Eh, we're bored here, so we're just gonna start walking" while you were trying to load/unload the dray... A bigger pain-in-the-ass team I don't think I've ever had the misfortune to drive. I'm amazed that they never went full-blown runaway. (That was Jim Pettit's year for runaways - His team got hit by bicycles screaming down fort hill twice that summer - the first time, the damage was just under 30 grand worth of smashed bicycles and street-lamps, and a totally destroyed (but fortunately, empty) baby stroller, the second time cost him a broken arm and a massive case of road-rash as he managed to catch the lines, but then got bounced off the side of the dray and run over/dragged - That time, the team managed to stay more-or-less in the center of main street, and didn't do much property damage beyond the bike that some idiot literally picked up and threw in front of them in hopes it might stop them - it didn't... but had to be chased most of the way to the library before someone was able to get aboard and haul them down.)

I detest auctions that have equines along with most 'traders'. Even the rankest equine is worthy of a kind, peaceful ending NEVER commercial slaughter. I can't comprehend how anyone that purports to love equines would do anything other than give them a 'soft' sendoff. I realize that in some instances it's the most humane thing to do but it still breaks my heart. There is no such thing as 'humane' slaughter it's a quintessential oxymoron!