# Saddle breaking minis?



## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

Well, there is some bad stuff out there... not exactly training.... mostly just stupid and mean. 











And then there is this which seems like a reasonable approach.

Daisy

For the life of me I do not understand the attraction to or breeding and showing of Miniature Horses. Breeding for one trait has left most of them compromised with regard to health.

For awhile in the 80's they were a huge fad and commanded large money. Now a lot of them end up at the auction going for slaughter. 

I am just confused.


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

Miniatures are still big in the driving community. That is what we use ours for. As for "training" to ride - the people I know that have ones "trained" ride just toss their kids up and let them ride it out. Kids are fearless.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

shellybean said:


> I've heard they weren't bred to be riding horses, therefore a lot of people are against them being ridden but thats not what this thread is about...


Why wouldn't they make good riding horses? Mini's are excellent teachers for kids to learn how to ride, and on something their own size (less intimidating). 












shellybean said:


> I see "kid broke miniature horse for sale" ads all over the internet. Who trains these "kid broke" minis? Most horse trainers are average sized adultsand they would be too big for such a tiny horse to carry around...so who/how do you break a mini horse?


Exactly. So usually *kids* are the ones training minis; hopefully under the instruction of an adult. Because most average size adults are too heavy for the mini to carry, and legs too long to cue properly.

Kid-broke if the kid broke them, right? :wink:


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## Incitatus32 (Jan 5, 2013)

I don't get mini's either in driving or riding. Just don't see it. That being said, when we had a few come through the training barn they were broke to ride/drive. They were broke to ride because the woman had grandkids that were YOUNG and wanted to know that if they climbed up on one by accident or slipped away from her, that the mini wasn't going to go berserk (I liked her thinking). To break them me and my boss dropped as much weight as we possibly could, muscled them up and broke them bareback. Surprisingly it only took about two and a half weeks. We treated them like normal horses but never were on them for long, only about ten to fifteen minuets. My boss also had a weight system rigged up to a dummy to simulate a kid on their back so we didn't have to get on. They were never sore or lame and are fabulous ponies for the woman and her grandkids who drive.


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## kassierae (Jan 1, 2010)

^The only minis I would feel comfortable putting a child on are B size, preferably more than 36". 

Elana, poorly bred minis are the only ones with health issues and end up at sales, I have never seen a well bred, trained mini at a sale. And we frequently go to New Holland and other sales. Also, kill buyers do not buy minis, foals, oldies, skinnies or sickies. They are too small. KBers generally buy as big as possible. If a horse is sick, thin, lame etc. and will not pass a vet check at the border(to Canada, anyway), they refuse the whole load.

Well bred minis are still in demand among the mini crowd, especially if trained to drive. Currently we have two that are trained to drive(and win!), two prospects and one set to begin training this spring. Minis serve many purposes, from just making people happy to being used in therapy. For people like my grandmother, who even though she still likes to ride every now and then, she prefers the little guys. She had a bad fall a few years ago and while her confidence is back up, it's not where it used to be. The minis provide her horsey fun without the danger of 1000 lbs of animal landing on top of her. 

I personally don't get the hype about Gypsy horses, every one I have ever seen has not done a THING but stand around and look fluffy and produce more fluffiness, but hey, to each their own, right?


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

I believe they say minis are not meant to be ridden because the size child they would be able to carry is very small. I see a lot of "riding minis" out there that are in fact larger than what a miniature is and in truth more of a small Shetland or pony than mini, but people call them "minis" anyways.

I'm sorry you guys don't "get" minis when it comes to driving. I love them and find them a blast. I really enjoy going for rides when someone else is driving a larger horse, but since I'm new to driving I find myself intimidated by them. The minis are a perfect size that I'm comfortable with. Plus I can feed mine and my husband's mini for way less than it would cost to feed one full-sized driving horse.


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## Cappaloosa (May 21, 2013)

kassierae said:


> Elana, poorly bred minis are the only ones with health issues and end up at sales, I have never seen a well bred, trained mini at a sale. And we frequently go to New Holland and other sales. Also, kill buyers do not buy minis, foals, oldies, skinnies or sickies. They are too small. KBers generally buy as big as possible. If a horse is sick, thin, lame etc. and will not pass a vet check at the border(to Canada, anyway), they refuse the whole load.


Over here in Canada Kill buyers usually buy the old, sick, lame, emaciated, young, unruly etc etc. Basically anything that isn't purchased by someone else. Although I have never seen a mini go through. I once purchased a weanling for the sole purpose that the kill buyer was bidding on it.


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## kassierae (Jan 1, 2010)

See, if you actually talk to a KB they will outright tell you that they do not ship weanlings. What they will do, though, is buy them cheap, let "rescue groups" network to find them homes under the guise of "shipping next week" and tug on people's heart strings to get them to buy them. But what most people don't know is that the KB does not ship every horse he buys, if it's a good riding horse hell jack up the price and resell it, again tugging on heart strings and making people believe they "rescued" a horse, when in reality the horse was never in danger of shipping in the first place.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

I personally think it is idiotic to train a mini to ride, whether or that be with a child as it's trainer or an adult. Not because they can't be trained to do it, some of them are saints....but because they are just TOO SMALL. A true mini is less than 9.2hh and weigh less than 275...and remember, most miniatures are overweight as well. You do not calculate the weight a horse can carry by what they weigh, but by what they _should _weigh. 

Lets use my mini (now being leased as a driving horse for a local driving lesson barn) as an example.









At the perfect weight, she was 215 lbs and 34" tall. That means that theoretically she could carry UP TO 64 lbs at 30% of her body weight; the highest I've ever seen anyone argue that a horse can carry a rider comfortably at...when in good shape, without conformational faults, and _including_ all of the tack. Now remember that a miniature horse saddle is lighter than a normal saddle, but still weighs 12-15 lbs. That means the kid can only weigh 49 lbs at absolute heaviest. Most kids weigh more than that at 6-7 years old, meaning that chances are, they can't be the ones that trained that mini. At least not safely anyways. At a more feasible percentage of weight, 20%, my mini (who was average size) could carry no more than 43 lbs, including the saddle, so a 28 lb kid. I've seen three year olds that weigh more than 28 lbs. Are THEY going to break the mini to ride?

CAN a mini be ridden? Sure, by _very_ small kids. But why not just have them ride a bigger pony that they can ride for longer, and which has had some formal training that did not include an adult climbing on their back and riding them until they didn't buck any more? 

But that doesn't mean miniatures aren't fun, useful, or a viable breed with its purposes. A well bred miniature should not have any more or different health problems from a full sized horse. My mare is trained to drive, and she is a TON of fun. She knows all of the ground work that any other horse does, and she can easily pull twice her weight when in good condition. For an elderly person, a timid person, or even someone who just doesn't have the space/pasture for a full sized horse, minis are fantastic options. Just not as riding horses for little kids.


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