# 5 year old mini mare weight/conformation critique



## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Darling little face. I think her weight looks good - I suspect in a very short period of time it's going to be a wrestling match to keep her weight down.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

A little on the chubby side but she looks good, shiny, healthy. Cute little face, bulgy eyes, yes I wanna give her a hug.


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## Casey02 (Sep 20, 2011)

The cantle of the saddle in the back round on that pony threw me off for a second, it made her back look goofy lol


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

It seems like she's always either a bit too thin or a bit too fat, theres no in between for her and its so frustrating! xD I'm prepared to take her off the alfalfa pellets if she gains more weight though, so hopefully this regiment will work. She'll start working harder come July or so anyways, which should help.

haha, sorry Casey! I didn't think about that. She DOES have a pretty funky back that is really straight with a steep croup, but it isn't quite that bad. lol!

I'm getting ready to have a chiropractor out for both her and Kenzie though, because she's acting like maybe something back there is misaligned (shorter steps in the back than the front) so I'm hoping that might help. Its always a battle with her conformation for us, keeping her comfortable while working. She foundered before I got her as well and I really don't want a relapse, so that paired with her conformation makes me want to be very conscientious with her weight. The closer she is to optimal weight, the better.

She does have some patchy looking skin from rubbing that's itching her a lot underneath her thick mane though, which is bothering me. She doesn't take heat too well so I think that she might be itchy from that. I thinned her mane yesterday and started doing a running braid for when she's turned out, so hopefully that helps keep her cooler. Poor gal got really itchy last year too and rubbed part of her mane off so I had to cut it. It just grew back out and I really would like to keep it long if possible!


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## Kamakazi (Jun 10, 2013)

She's a good looking little mare. It's difficult to keep miniatures at a good weight, they have the tendency to go over and get the chubby "pony" belly. But overall she looks great! 
Has she ever been a broodmare?


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

She was unfortunately bred once last year, and foaled September 11th. Uncomplicated delivery, healthy foal, but I definitely would not have bred her had it been my choice (I bought her and the baby right after she foaled) given her conformational faults and...well...less than stellar personality XD I love her to death but she's quite the little alpha mare with enough 'tude for a mare 5x her size! LOL. Out of curiosity, why do you ask? Is there a defining part of her body that shows that she has foaled before!

This is her filly, if anyone is curious. She had some locking stifle issues for a short period but I talked to the man who bought her from me a month ago and he said that it has completely gone away with a careful diet and access to exercising herself whenever she wants to, so I'm hoping that was just a result of her growing so fast (supposedly she's already 30" tall and only 9 months old! Sour is only 34".). Otherwise I think she turned out pretty good considering her parents. And yes, if its not yet obvious...she's a mini mule  4 months old in the photo, and mid- foal fuzzies on top of donkey fuzzies on top of winter fuzzies xD

Everyone always mistook her for a purebred donkey though, she looks nothing like mama except for maybe a more refined face than a donkey, and a full tail!




















You're not kidding about how hard it is to keep them at the correct weight! She had the most horrifying hay belly for a while, no worms, but thankfully that was rectified with some daily probios. She's dry lotted 24/7 so that I can regulate how much fat and sugar she's taking in, and I try to make sure she gets decent hay but not super high quality, but her weight fluctuates like crazy even still. I'm just going to leave her feed as is right now though and hope that as her work load increases again, she slims down just a tad bit so that her weight is perfect.

Needless to say, I'm totally content with her as my cart pony and don't ever plan on breeding her again  sucklings are a pain.


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## Kamakazi (Jun 10, 2013)

I ask because I've raised and been around miniatures for the majority of my life. It's pretty typical for miniature mares to get a bit of a "pot-belly" after they've had foals. Normally it isn't seen until after a few foals, but every horse is different. To me she didn't really seem chubby, more like a broodmare. The difference is if a horse/miniature is chubby they show their weight outwards. Whereas with your little mare, her barrel is just lower. Which is a typical thing for mares who have been bred. It's kind of like people; they put on "baby weight." 
I understand not wanting to breed her again. Some mares just aren't meant to be mothers. The diva attitude sure isn't suited for mommy-hood 
Her baby is adorable! I really want to breed one of my mini mares to get a mini mule!  
We mainly pasture our minis. They rarely get grain except for maybe a treat here and there or if someone is a pain to catch. They tend to keep a pretty neutral weight. Miniatures are notorious for weight issues because people have them mainly as pets (not saying there's anything wrong with that, it's a good life for a mini ) and they feed them treats galore. When they're fed like that and don't get proper exercise they tend to put weight on quickly. 
All that being said, I think your little mare looks to be a good, healthy weight and she's got a lovely face!


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## Kamakazi (Jun 10, 2013)

**Sorry for the double post, I left the thread and then a little later thought to add this**
Also, if she's a shorter mare they tend to have a bit more of the belly issue than a larger mare would. Say if she was grade A (34" and shorter) vs a grade B (35" and taller) she'd show more weight gain than a taller mare would. 
Again, very similar to the way people work.


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## FeatheredFeet (Jan 27, 2010)

I think I remember seeing a pic of your girl, before or just after you got her, when she was not in good condition. I do think she is in just about perfect condition now. Certainly she has her faults which will never change, but she is in as good a shape as she can be with the amount of work you can do with her. I do think Minis are _the_ most difficult of any breed, to get and keep them, looking as we would like. Her baby is a very spiffy little person. 

Lizzie


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

That's interesting! And it would make sense, especially given that she REALLY carried her foal low, rather than out. All of the other broodmares that I've seen have gotten super wide and seemed to carry their foals horizontally, but Sour really didn't get any wider until maybe 2 months, if that, before foaling. The rest of the time she just seemed to get shorter and shorter legs...while in reality her belly was expanding longways. It would also make sense that I had such a hard time getting that belly off of her after foaling, if she did aquire a bit of a broodmare belly on top of the imperfect gut action and lack of nutritious hay (from the drought). Once she got back in work and using her ring of muscles, it picked right up. I do see how it still sort of droops compared to your average horse though. Interesting to think about!

Sour was a great mama, but her mommy duties ended right at 3 months and she really wanted nothing to do with Honor (the baby) after that. I had to force her to keep the filly nursing for a few more weeks, and she wasn't pleased! You should have heard the ruckus she'd make when Honor would come up to nurse. 

If she hadn't already foundered I might let her graze an hour or so every day, but I really don't want to run the risk of her foundering again and not being able to work. She goes absolutely stir crazy without a job, crazy girl!

FeatheredFeet- do you remember her hooves at all? They were AWEFUL  practically nonexistent frogs, literally square shaped, way too long... they're still not great but they're definitely better. The frogs are normal sized now and her hooves are round like they should be, but you can definitely tell that she was a founder case in one of the hooves, and she's a bit clubby in the back. Farriers in our area are no good though, so I've been taking some classes to learn to do it myself so that HOPEFULLY, soon I can start taking matters into my own hands and 'finish' the job of rehabbing her feet. They still have slightly high heels IMO and a few people on here have noticed that she's 'broken over' in the front. The farrier just gives me a blank stare when I mention in though! Oi xD


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