Mini Questions

[sherriawright]

Ok, I recently traded for a mini/pony cross and it is working out better then great!

Now the only problem I have is that I am new to the horse world, so I know very little about them and know even less about mini's. Right now my horses are on a 16 week rotation on wormers, I worm every other farrier visit and they are doing great. Should my pony/mini be wormed that often and what about her foal (may 12)? My next wormer that I am going to be giving is Duramectin which is a ivermectin paste. It also says Anthelmintic and Boticide. If this is alright to give her, can I save the rest of it for later use or should I throw it away? My horses are pastured together by themselves, my ponies are by themselves in a pasture.

Ok, question 2 - Will her feet need to be done as often as my horses? I have them on a 8 week rotation in the spring/summer and fall and a 12 week rotation in the winter. She is ridden only by a 3 and 5 year old and only a couple of times a week. She is on mostly sand, no gravel or hard surfaces at all.

Question 3- I want to start bringing her and her foal into our local fun shows. I have a 3 horse slant and will probably be bringing my two horses. What is the safest way to bring her in? I know she'll be fine tied, but was worried about the foal. Would putting it in a dog crate facing the mother be too much? Would it be better to put them both in the tack room of the trailer? Is 4 weeks too soon to be bringing it in to shows?

Sorry about how long this is, but I don't want to screw anything up.

Any suggestions would be wonderful.

Sherri

[kaykay]

Hi Sherri

Congratulations!

1. Never use Quest dewormer on miniatures. Adult minis get dewormed the same times as big horses. Foals are dewormed every 30 days

2. 8 weeks is fine for an adult mini but the foal will probably need trimmed more often like every 4 weeks unless you can rasp her in between

3. Trailer rides need to be as stress free as possible. I would not put the foal in a crate. Normally we adjust the divider so the foal cant roll under by taping cardboard to the bottom of the divider. I do think 4 weeks is awfully young to show but it can be done if the mare is not a nervous mare. Some mares just go nuts when you try to show their foal. We showed one that was 8 weeks old last year but her dam was a very solid mare and not nervous at all. Also we only showed the foal in shows where she could show and go home the same day and where the show was really close to home. Foals can get ulcers pretty easy from stress so watch for that.

Good luck!

[sherriawright]

Thank you for the answers. Just to clarify, I am not showing the foal, I am showing the mare. The show is only a 1/2 hour drive away and we'll only be gone a couple of hours. My daughters ride the mare in lead line barrels.

[kaykay]

Oh I think thats fine then!! Unless the mare gets anxious seperated from the foal. We took last years foal by herself to feed and that seemed to help them not be anxious. Good luck cant wait to hear how she does!

[2manyminis]

Another thing to think of is having a baby that young around strange horses & what she may pick up from them- I never take the young babies to shows until they are well into their shots- just a precaution of mine- so many folks don't vaccinate their horses & some shows are very strict about every horse having a coggins, which at 4 weeks it can be done, I would check with my vet & see about getting the foal on a vaccination schedule.

[BabyMay]

Any pictures?