Care and Feeding
Are Miniature Horse just like big horses?
Yes they are.
No they are not.
With a standard size horse you feed about 22 pounds of hay plus supplements each day depending on the work load. A miniature horse needs the same nutrients as those big guys but....you can not give them the same quantity of food. They would pop. The trick is to get the same nutrients in a much smaller package.
Any changes in their diet should be done S L O W L Y. The horse has to develop enzymes in their intestines to digest the new feed. This means when you get a new load of food in you mix the old with the new and feed them half and half to make sure body gets use to the change. When you change brands of pellets, or grain, etc. you will need to go through the same process again. No sudden changes!
We have found that feeding 1 1/2 cups of pellets (grass pellets, mix if that is all you can get in your area, or alpha if that is all there is available) Use the pellets that are the size of rabbit pellets, they can choke on the large ones.
- When the weather turns colder they will slow down on the water in take. Some of them will quite drinking when you take them to a show because the water tastes different. They will come up with a number of reasons not to drink enough water. Add several cups of water to their pellets to add water to their diet if you are not sure.
Miniature horses are bottom feeders. They are closer to the ground and can see that last little blade of grass that the big ones left. Because of this you need to treat them for sand on a regular basis. We do this once a week. Remember that a small amount of sand in a big horse is a huge amount of sand in a little horse. Sand will cut the intestine and the horse will not be able to digest. Being from the Southwest I have had the opportunity to see horses in sever sand colic and it is bad news. Finding something the horses like is the trick. Check with your vet and buy small amounts until you find one that everyone will eat.
- The sand treatment will coat the sand so the horse can pass it out of their body. It is so fine the try to pass it normally and it just falls down to the bottom of their body. This is why you have to coat it so they can pass it.
- We normally do this on a week end so we will be a home to watch them. Some times, on some horses and it can be a different horse every time, or none at all - The glob they are trying to pass may cause discomfort. We just like to keep a watchful eye.
- To test your horse for sand take a see through glove the kind the vets use. Pick up some fresh samples of your horses droppings. Try to find some that is not already covered with dirt. Put it inside the glove and add water. Hang it up somewhere and check it in about 1/2 hour. The sand will drop into the fingers of the glove. If you find more than a pinch of sand you should put your horse on an aggressive sand removal treatment and check them again in a few days.
Larger horses are usually wormed every 3 to 6 months depending on how crowded their living environment is. In a mini remember that it takes fewer worms to do greater damage because of their body size. We worm every month.
- Is your horse showing signs of being cold? It quite often is a sign that they have worms.
- Wolf hairs grow longer than the rest of their coat and do not shed. This is also a sign of worms.
Because we care so much for our horses we want them to have the best. Be very aware of what each supplement you feed does. When you supplement for a particular thing you feel your horse lacks you may be putting stress on one part of the body and weakening other parts of the body. We use a grain based supplement that has been designed for horses. 1 1/2 cups per day.
We also feed grass. As a treat or when the weather dips down it will help them maintain their body heat. Horses are grazing animals they were built to eat all day long. If you can treats in the middle of the day will also cut down on barn, fence, and tree eating. Remember this is not a meal replacement
- If you can avoid alpha. It is too hot and two high in protein. Because farmers can get several cuts a year it has become the popular feed. That is good marketing on the farmers part but not necessarily good for the horse. You may find that this will also cut back on your colic.
Feeding just oats, just grain, or just corn that is not properly balanced can cause behavioral changes in your horse. That is where the old saying "feeling your oats" comes from. You have gotten your horse stoned! I did that to my Arabian mare one time and she just about ran down her own baby she was so hyper it was like she was panicky and as soon as I took her off the oats she was herself again.
Over feeding "hot" foods will make the babies grow too fast. This is often the case when a horses teeth (jaw) are crooked. Often with a balanced diet the teeth will realign and straighten out.