General horse questions...

Question

how do you measure a min horse for a saddle? also, how much pasture do I need for a horse and a min horse?

Answer 1

Get a person out fit the saddle  

Answer 2

you are meant to supply approx 2 acres per horse of grazing. however, you eed to ensure that is enough grazing for the horses to enure they stay in good condition. be careful with the miniture as too much grass may cause laminitis. restricted grazing would be best for the miniture. good luck.

Answer 3

the first poster is correct about the pasture. minis are not meant to be ridden, even for the smallest of children. they do not have strong enough backs to handle the direct weight, and they dont have a dense enough column of bone. they have enormous pulling power, but they should not be ridden. a small child can be placed on their backs for a few minutes bareback, but not for very long. it can cause problems if they are forced to carry weight directly on their tiny backs for more than a few minutes.

Answer 4

Unless you are purchasing a custom saddle for your mini, you haven't much choice in saddles- there aren't many out there, but they are repped by JT Products.  If you are having it custom made, the maker should be giving you guidelines for giving him the specs he needs.

Basically you need a measurement for the gullet - where the "pins" will sit on either side of the withers.  You need a back measurement, and the wither height measurement.  I have seen people successfully use a flexible curve  - place it about 4-5 different places on the horses' back, press it down so it makes and accurate representation of the horse's back,  lay it on a piece of cardboard, trace the inside curve of it - place it first where the pommel will rest on the minni, then a few inches behind that, and on until you get to where the saddle should hit just in front of the flank.

Finally, place the curve along the minni's spine and trace this.

Cutting these pieces out and labeling each according to placement and distance one from the other will help.

Regarding space for pasture, it depends on how you intend to manage your little herd of two - if you have a horse and mini and your home/barn/outbuildings on 2 acres or less of space, figure on feeding the two of them year-round.  If you have 2-3 acres of pasture for them, you may get away with not feeding during the summer months depending on pasture quality.  If you have more than 3 acres and can split the land and rotate the horses to allow re-growth of the grass every few months, you will likely not have to feed hay or grain during winter.  Pastures need to be reseeded depending on how heavily they are grazed perhaps every 5-7 years.

Hope this helps

Answer 5

I've read you need at least two acres per horse, but for pasture feeding only, I would think you'd need five acres per horse.  So... are you planning on full time pasture or mixing in hay and feed?  It will make a difference.  I'd count the mini as 1/4 of a horse.  But keep in mind that ponies and minis can get very obese on just pasture so keep an eye on him and remove him from lush grass if you start seeing a cresty neck.  You can take the five acres and fence off "lots" for rotating.  It is very helpful in keeping down the parasites and keeping up the nutritional content of the grass.