Miniature Horse Naughtiness!UPDATE: Ed left today to get gelded.

[gofasterstripe]

You let him go after he tensed up. He showed you whos boss then!!
I have a mini stud no longer, he was gelded last week. He tried that stunt with me once and didnt win, I whooped his butt round in circles on a short lead untill his attitude changed. He never ever did it again, he was 5 months old and he thought he was 16hh instead of 24 inches. After that ordeal he turned into a good boy. We didnt know if his bits had dropped and left him untill last week to be gelded, he will be 3 in April and you would never of known he was a stud, he even rode ON the float in the Christmas parade and was good.

 

[halo]

1. Get him castrated.

2. Get him castrated NOW.

3. And finally...get him castrated.

When they dont drop their testicles, they have the WORST disposition. Their hormones are a mess. Ive had a couple of racehorses that had one up, and they were miserable SOBs to deal with until we had them removed. Turned them around like you wouldnt believe.

Do it. Now. Or get rid of him. It wont get any better until you do.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
4. ...even if you have to cancel your cable subscription and quit eating out for a few months to afford it. (As previous poster mentioned though it may not *necessarily* be real expensive, you need to start shopping round)

Pat

 

[Catstar68]

Quote:
4. ...even if you have to cancel your cable subscription and quit eating out for a few months to afford it. (As previous poster mentioned though it may not *necessarily* be real expensive, you need to start shopping round)

Pat

5. Did we mention getting him castrated?
Do this before his little testosterone-induced hissy fits become habits that will take extensive re-training to rid him of even after you get him castrated.

 

[RiverOtter]

While, yeah, getting him castrated will help a lot, please don't think it's a magic cure or anything.

You need a trainer.
An actual, in person, get-in-the-pen-with-him trainer.

Because hon, even if we describe in excruciating detail what to do, you're not going to be able to pull it off with excruciating detail and exquisite timing when the time comes, not to mention knowing what to do when A +B doesn't = C because little studmuffin does X, Y or Z instead.
Not saying anything about you personally, just that this takes practice. I know I did and I'm sure everyone else also had a hands on mentor and still racked up some bruises learning how to deal with this.

But if you can't get a trainer soon, go on and do him a mercy and shoot him yourself. Because if you sell him down the road like this then he'll hurt or even kill someone and someone will hurt him back. As unfunny as it is when he does it to you, it would be a million times worse if someone else big-hearted impulsively "rescues" him from an auction and lets their kids bring him treats .. you don't want that on your conscience.

Little guys hurt an awful lot of people because very few take them as seriously as the big horses.

 

[dmiravalle]

Ok, first off let me say, mini's have been know to drop both testicles as late as 3. So, not necessarily a crypt. However, he has hit his hormonal stage and you can get him gelded. Shop around and talk to vets who know mini's!! Some vets just say if the testicle is not dropped it is a true crypt and charge you the price of a crypt geld. Many times in mini's, the testicles are just above and it is not much more difficult than a normal gelding.

But if you don't wish to breed him (and there are a million badly bred stallions out there) the sooner you geld him the better off both of you will be.

You can also ask around about clinic's etc.

Meanwhile, he needs to learn his manners and if you are not familiar with what you are doing, seek someone elses advice!!! They are still stallions and can do unexpected damage, like take a chunk out of your leg, try to rear and mount, those little hoofs still do a lot of damage.

Hope that helps.

 

[dmiravalle]

Oh, and remember, stallions don't like to loose a fight, so getting into a fight with him and not knowing what you are doing can be VERY dangerous!

 

[welsummerchicks]

Sounds like the honeymoon is over.

This is no joke. A miniature horse weighs as much as an adult person, and is very, very strong. And it STILL is a horse!

You may get away for a while, with checking your horse's feet weekly, but that's a whole week that he can be walking around with a nail stuck in his foot.

Miniature horse stallions are generally very well behaved. BUT IT TAKES WORK TO GET THEM TO THAT POINT. No horse, no breed, no gender, is by some magic, going to behave and be a pleasure to be around unless it is trained by a knowledgeable, experienced, skilled person.

No, it is not necessary to rough up any animal to control it, 99.999% of the time. If that's the method all the time, there's something wrong with the method. One should count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times in a horse's life, that he needs to be handled hard, and it has to be done without any temper, fear or anger, and ONLY what needs to be done to correct the behavior and not one micron more. But when it needs to be done, it needs to be done. One better not enjoy it, one better do it with a heavy heart, but one better do it.

Pony can be castrated without the boys coming down. I would not wait any longer for them to come down.

Please do not put children on his back until he has been properly trained. He's growing up now and he's unlikely to tolerate it without training. One little sidestep and some little kid could land on his head. And...I assume these kids are on him without a helmet, so there's a pretty obvious part that is going to get injured. Children small enough to fit on a mini generally have very, very little balance. They go over like tiddlywinks. Right on the head.

But I also would not believe that's all there is to it. A lot of it is being young in general, and not being trained.

A miniature horse is still a horse.

He needs regular hoof trims, not occasional ones. By a local farrier who can get there quickly if he injures a hoof. Not someone 2-3 hrs away...and by the same person all the time, who knows how he moves and balances and is consistent in how he trims the feet. And it needs to be done on a regular schedule - every 6-8 weeks is not too often. Every 12 weeks, with a youngster, is not often enough, and it generally also puts a strain on the tendons of even an adult horse, if they are 'let go' longer than 8 weeks. Then at every trim, the farrier has to take off a lot, and the animal will often be lame after the visit from the farrier because there is such a radical change in the angles of the ankle, etc.

I seriously doubt this is just stalliony-ness. He's alone, without any of his kind to keep him company, so he's not learning to be cooperative, as he would if he were around other horses.

That socialization with other horses doesn't automagically make training happen without work, it just makes it a little bit easier.

He needs training, by someone experienced, who is not afraid of his antics. This impulse purchase needs more than 'just love'.

Love of an animal is not sufficient to keep it happy and healthy and useful. It's a horse. It needs to be treated like a horse. It needs to have its hooves trimmed regularly, ideally to be around other horses(no, goats and chickens are not horses and are not sufficient substitutes), and to be trained.

A miniature pony can be taught to pull a cart, to be longed, to tolerate a saddle and bridle, to carry a pack, and to jump over tiny obstacles. They can do a lot, and they need to be kept busy and trained - all the time. Not just in the summer or once a month. A little bit of work every day.

A horse, any horse, even a miniature horse, requires work - daily or at least very frequent work, knowledgeable training, and sensible, consistent handling. It does not have to last for hours - it can be ten whole minutes, but it is needed.

Horses are creatures of habit. Everything they learn is learned in steps, like building blocks. They behave because they are in the habit of behaving. Nothing they learn is 'new', everything is based on what was done before, and is built upon. You need to understand training as a process, a system, and not just a bag of tricks off a video or from some celebrity trainer clinic.

A miniature horse is a horse. It is simply not going to be a pleasure to be around, or be entirely reliable or safe, unless it is trained regularly, handled properly and taken care of. No foot, no horse. Yes, even a miniature horse. There is nothing magical about a miniature horse that makes it ok to not take care of their feet.

 

[dmiravalle]

Thank Wellsummer! Very nicely put. Over half the mini rescues we get are in this exact same position. Then it takes a lot of work to "re-hab" them to make them acceptable pets.

Also, no horse should have anything on his back at this age!!! It is very bad for his spine!

Mini's are our passion here, I would hate to see him end up needing to be rescued or worse shipped off.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I love them like mad, but it burns my biscuits to see the way they get treated in so many cases.

There should never, ever, ever be such a thing as an impulse purchase of a horse. Go in with a plan, and with the money in hand as well as the time and knowledge, for training, for exercise, for regularly scheduled shoeing and trimming, twice yearly visits from the vet for shots, worming medication every few months, and companionship. Have some money set aside for emergency veterinary care, and never, ever be too proud to bring in a trainer or instructor.

All that said, if I can be of help to the OP I sure will do my best. It's not really all the buyer's fault. The seller needs to be responsibe - to talk to them and educate them, and they don't...selling an untrained young animal to someone with no experience really isn't right either. They should have sold them an old, trained, very quiet animal.