Cross Breeds

Excersising and transporting miniature horses?

Hi, does anyone know a fun, easy way to excersise miniature horses without riding, lungeing, or driving them? I am getting a mini. Also, can you get special horseboxes for minis? My mum is a little nervous of towing a huge horsebox, and full size horseboxes are so expensive. If we can find a smaller, and cheaper horsebox for a mini she wont mind. And how much do these cost? Thanks

Public Comments

1. Only other way to exercise her would be to run her around the pasture. I have never seen a horse trailer for minis. Get a large dog crate and tie it really sturdy in the back of a pickup truck. Tie her in the dog crate. Make sure you have rubber mats in there so her feet don't slide. I know several people who move their minis like this and works just fine.
2. I had a mini and we just put him in the back of our van, with somebody in the back holding him. It works perfectly fine and no need for a trailer!
3. Well, I suppose you could take him for a walk or run on a leash like a dog! Seriously, lungeing and driving are probably your best bet. You don't need a carriage or cart to drive them either. You could ground drive him, where you stand on the ground and run along side or behind him, controlling him with 2 long lines passed through a surcingle to the bit. Riding doesn't sound feasable, unless you are a midget! As far as a horsebox, they do make pony-sized ones. But I do know people that transport a mini in a large dog crate in the back of a van, mini van, or station wagon. I don't recommend just tying the horse in a truck or van. What if he comes loose, or panics and jumps in or out of the compartment where you place him? In a large sturdy dog crate, it's a little more safe. But it's still more risky than using a horsebox. If a mini really freaked out in a dog crate in your van, it is possible he could bust out of it and cause an accident. You'd have to work hard to train him to stay calm. Also, you'd have to devise a ramp to get the horse up into the box in the vehicle.
4. take him on a walk, play with him/chase him in the pasture. Some people do allow mini's in their own cars in the truck, just depends how the pony will react and obviously you'll need to put a mat down for him. You could always get a single horse trailer, they are pretty cheap and usually cars can haul them too
5. We used to have minis, and when we went riding on our normal sized horse we used to let them Tag along with us. They were so attached to ours they just went along. Or if that does not work, just walk them. I would sugest you just buy a small horse trail, although putting them in dogs crates does work. It is not the safest thing to do.
6. Honestly, you're just eliminated the easiest ways to exercise minis, or any horse, really. We have two minis, and we do a lot of lunging. If you really don't want to do that, you could try free-lunging them in a riding arena or pasture, or you could hand-walk them. They do make miniature horse trailers, here's an example of one: http://www.equinehits.com/new.mini.horse.trailer&.039;s~22001 It looks like they tend to be cheaper than a full-size trailer would be.