Fitting out

Who says miniature horse, says adapted facilities. If you already own large horses, you will see that welcoming a miniature requires rethinking its environment so that your equipment matches the reduced size of this newcomer.

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Pasture

We often have in mind this image of Épinal, a very green and flat meadow easy to fence and to survey (for us) in which we would see our horses well ! Concretely, this type of pasture is of little interest to horses, first in terms of forage varieties and then topographical variations. A horse needs to move, walk, trot, play in its living space and have access to food that varies throughout the year. The richer its pasture will be with slopes, flatter parts, humid areas or undergrowth, the more your horse will develop, not only its proprioception, but also its food variety with plants that it will eat at certain times of the day. year and according to their needs. In addition, the types of soil present in its environment will also play a role in the quality of the hoof. Owners fortunate enough to have sometimes rockery, sometimes grass or softer areas will see a good development of the quality of the sole and the fork.

In short, you will understand, it is important to move away from our anthropomorphic desires and comfort, to learn to appreciate going to look for our horses at the bottom of the meadow, near their stream or to observe them at rest under tall trees on a summer afternoon.

However, we do not all have access to the ideal pasture and it is possible to enrich the space we have by planting hedges or trees, adding areas for scraping, areas covered in sand for rolling, etc.

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It should also be remembered here that a miniature horse requires 1 500 m² of surface area on average in order to have access to the grass most of the year.

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Fencing

Several solutions are available to you to enclose the pasture of your horse. If you opt for electrified tape, it will be preferable to have a mains energizer and to choose 40 mm tape. The ribbons exist in several colors, they are conventionally found in white, blue, green and brown (the most discreet color). Be sure to check the quality of the tape and the number of conductive wire it has, not all brands are equal and it is better to invest early on to avoid redoing your fence too often.

You will need to put 3 ribbons in order to guarantee a dissuasive and effective fence, at 35, 65 and 95 cm in height. These are roughly the same heights to remember if you choose to fencing in wood (smooth or log). More robust than a ribbon fence, wood may however be inadvisable in areas with high winds and subject to snowfall and frost (which will work the wood and break it).

 

You will also often see a chain link fence which is a good solution for miniature horses. A fence 1 m high, lined with electrical tape to prevent horses from scratching.

Barbed wire, metal cable and even electric cord are to be avoided because they can cause serious injuries to the horse who has tried to cross them.

 

Shelter/Box

Indispensable to the comfort of your horse, whether built or natural, you will need a shelter in his living space. Having a box can also be useful in case of convalescence or stormy weather, it will take an average of 4 m² for a miniature, 9 m² if it is a foaling box. Keep in mind that the larger and brighter your shelter or box, the more comfortable your horse will be.

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The choice of bedding must be made according to your ability to manage manure, nearby suppliers, the habits of your horses... Straw is more economical and compostes very well, the more expensive shavings are cleaned and works more easily... Litter of flax, miscanthus, wood pellets... many solutions exist on the market and allow you to choose the one that suits you best !

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You can also equip your shelters and boxes with a surveillance camera, particularly practical in the event of foaling. There are many models that work over Wifi, Ethernet or mobile network. Some require a power supply where others can be autonomous, it is up to you to determine which one you need !

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Feeding

A horse must be able to feed constantly because its digestive system produces gastric juice 24 hours a day. It is considered that it should not go more than 4 hours without feeding before starting to suffer from lesions such as ulcers.

Access to food at will, in our current conditions of domestication of the horse, can lead to another problem : overweight and all the related diseases (laminitis, EMS, colic, etc.). Several solutions exist such as setting up a paddock paradise, or slow feedings with hay nets to control the speed of ingestion of a daily ration.

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It should also be noted that from a metabolic point of view, the horse needs to have a weight that varies throughout the year, obviously avoiding extremes, nevertheless seeing his horse slightly overweight at the beginning of autumn, and lightly underweight at the end of winter should not worry its owner.

 

Mud management

Finally, let's add here a point on the management of mud during wet periods because this is a universal problem in the equine world. Resting and feeding areas are usually the most affected as horses visit and trample there more often.

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The realization of a concrete slab or the addition of gravel represent good solutions for its muddy areas, with however the defect of artificializing your ground. The creation of a platform in wood chips (BRF to be recovered from a sawmill or landscaper) or rubber slabs are also very effective in alleviating this discomfort.

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Working area

As soon as you want to work your horse, it is important to define a dedicated space, different from its living space . A arena of 15 x 25 m is sufficient to work in disciplines accessible to miniature horses, obviously if you have the possibility of making it larger, you will be all the more comfortable (in particular to carry out tests of Driving with passages in the extended trot). As for the choice of the floor of your workspace, there again, a lot of choices according to your region, your disciplines and your budget : fiber sand, pozzolana, wood chips, rubber debris...

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Transport

To carry your miniature horses, you can opt for the traditional horse truck or van to tackle. It is also possible to use a small sheep type trailer or to fit out a utility vehicle. In France, the legislation is clear, a vehicle transformed for the transport of live animals must meet certain obligations, particularly in terms of ventilation and urine collection.