# Can you pen mini horses in with the big guns?



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Yep. Arthur's best friend is Lulu, our fat miniature mare. He's overprotective of him, he'll run over anything in his path desperately trying to find her if she gets out of his sight.


----------



## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

There are two schools of thought on this, obviously one "yes," and one "no." I'm in the "no" category. Horses play and kick and fight - minis' heads are at perfect kicking height for the average sized horse, and because they're that much smaller, the damage a good sized horse can do is significant for a mini.


----------



## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

Thanks for the advice! I sort of figured this would be one of those sort of yes and sort of no type things. I've had to explain to people why keeping alpacas in with horses is a bad idea, so I doubt this is much different. I do know alot of people who have minis in with regular sized horses, but it's usually been a pair of just those to, not two big horses and a mini. I'd look at something more in the line of "just to small for me to ride" type. Where I could train them to do tricks or drive.


----------



## apachiedragon (Apr 19, 2008)

I can certainly see both sides, but I think like a lot of other things, it depends on the individual animals as much as anything. A lot of people told me I couldn't keep my pot-bellied pig in with my horses, but he lived with them for years, and even slept in a stall with my mare. He and my mare were such a bonded pair that Pigpig died only about a month after she did. (they both were getting up there in age). I have no doubt though, that he'd have been around longer if we hadn't have lost her.


----------



## mmpgrumpy (Jul 30, 2010)

At my barn, there are two minis who get turned out with several average-sized horses: an older mare, an older gelding, and an almost-3-yr-old. The 3-yr-old will get down on his knees to play with the minis, who are the bosses of the pasture and push the other three around, no problem.

There are some horses, however, that I would never want those minis to be turned out with. It all depends on the individual horses and how they all get along.


----------



## Tennessee (Dec 7, 2008)

ButtInTheDirt said:


> I've had to explain to people why keeping alpacas in with horses is a bad idea



Would you mind explaining this to me? I was thinking of letting an alpaca with one of our horses.


----------



## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

We keep a 17hh gelding and a ex-racehorse mare in the same pasture as our minis and they get along =] neither seem intimidated by eachother. I guess it just depends on the horse though. Some large horses spook at the minis xD


----------



## Ladytrails (Jul 28, 2010)

I've also heard people worry that the minis are just the right height to kick the belly of a horse and do serious damage (instead of regular horses kicking the ribs or butt areas). In my previous boarding situation, my BO put my gelding QH in with her stud mini. They actually bonded like crazy and it was a hoot to see the little guy under my gelding's belly, in the shade. It was about the only time in his life that my gelding shared his feed. It was also a hoot the day that the mini was standing behind the gelding when the gelding pooped on the mini's back.... no harm done but it was startling to all of us! 

I think it all depends on the horses and you introduce them just like you would introduce same sized horses, to see how it works out.


----------



## A knack for horses (Jun 17, 2010)

I think it depends on the compatability of the horses and mini involved. If you are going to put a mini with a big horse who will "kill" anything small and fluffy, it may not be the best idea (obviously that is an overexaggeration, but you get the idea)

My instructor keeps his mini with his normal horses, and it works out really well. Daffodil knows her place in the herd, so she knows when to get out of the way.


----------



## ButtInTheDirt (Jan 16, 2011)

Tennessee said:


> Would you mind explaining this to me? I was thinking of letting an alpaca with one of our horses.


Mainly because alpacas are pretty soft animals compaired to horses, even compaired to minis. Sometimes the calmest of horses just have spirts of energy and might play to rough and actually hurt the animal or act aggressively towards it. If your horse is alone with the alpaca it might be different, and if you have a calm horse who has seen alpacas before and won't act aggresive around it. I know the first time my gelding was in the same pen with a heifer he chased it out. (The heifers had broke into his pasture, and he was used to being alone.) But he'd seen the heifers every day in a pen right next to his, so it's not like he didn't know what they were. I volunteer at a alpaca farm and train them, along with a couple of Llamas. 

I suppose this wouldn't be much different than ponies, but I've seen plenty of people with ponies and horses together.


----------



## Broski1984 (May 28, 2010)

We keep our minis (two donkeys and a mule) with our regular sized horses. The donkeys generally stay off on their own, but will graze with the herd; the mule gets in there, beats up the yearling and the 3-year-old and then hides under the "big boys".

His best friends are/were Bruce and Randy, who are/were 16'3 and 17hh respectively. Randy got sold today, hence the partial past-tense.

We've not had any problems, although I know it isn't always the case. We used to have a standard (on the large side of that, too) donkey who was GREAT with everything, except miniatures; he went after them with blood-craving passion. It was so bad (him trying to tear down fences to get to the minis) that we had to sell him.


----------

