Miniature Shetland Stallion - advice please

[CHOCOLATEPEANUT]

My dad has bought my eldest niece a mini shetland.He is 7 years old and very very tame

My niece is 11 and had a bad fall last year riding a loan pony. She has just stuck to looking after them since and loves it. She was loaning two shetlands when the mini came up for sale at a local stable.

Hes lovely and well mannered. Just a few questions!!..

Do you think he is lonely? He is in his own stable alone and has to be kept away from the mares (so we are told)

Would you geld him? Temperment ok but thought it might restrict him re companion??

How much exercise does he need? A few runs daily round the paddock and in the field now and again? Stable people tend to hog field a bit and we were told he had got a rash from theflies out there?

Anything more we should know?

I would geld him. The reason for his is that it would mean that, once he is no longer fertile, he will be able to be turned out with mares or geldings. He can't be turned out with mares now, he can impregnate them. He might even get into fights with geldings, although some stallions live happily with gelding friends. However, if there are mares in the vicinity that is a dangerous option to try.
He deserves some company. He should be getting turnout every single day, personally I wouldn't dream of less than 6 hours a day, but I know a lot would disagree with me on that.
He's not going to be bred from, which is great because there are too many surplus foals born every year, so get him cut and be done with it.
By the way, as a mini, he's probably too small for riding, just in case it gets considered in the future.
Oh, re flys, do they mean he gets sweetitch? Perfectly manageable if he does, and not a good excuse to keep a pony in isolation.
Hope that helps. Feel free to contact me if you like any time.

I'd agree with gelding - it will make him happier and mean you have more turn out options. Wonder why he wasn't gelded before - had he covered mares already?

Just watch out though because late gelding can leave some horses still a bit randy for quite a while - particularly if they have already covered.

I'd think you couldn't ride him being a mini but never had one so best to check with experts.

Fluffy talks about turn out and whilst I agree in principle you must limit the amount of actual grass he gets or you could face problems with obesity or laminitus.

I'd think turning him out in a small (possibly electric) paddock may do the trick as long as it nearly bare at this time of year when the spring grass is rushing through.

It's not the quantity of turnout that needs to be limited really is it? It's the quality. Where I keep my horses there are mini shetties living out 24/7, but the grazing is sparse and never fertilised.
On a slight tangent, with strip grazing and restricted grazing you need to be careful not to rotate the grazing at the wrong intervals. If you aren't careful what you actually do is keep the grass cropped, and every time the pony moves you get a flush of new grass, then it gets cropped again...
He is going to be too small to be ridden, mini shets don't have the same physical strenth for their size as full shets because of inbreeding. But having said that, chocolatepeanut hasn't said they plan to ride him.

Thanks for that. We wont be riding him though my two year old has been on for a walk round (the other kids are too big)

We have had him in the paddock which is sand/earth. We have tried to et him in the field but there are always mares in so I think we will take the advice about gelding

The previous owner said it would cost about 100??

We have spent all week cleaning out a stable and smartening it up so he has all that he needs. Just when we leave him at night we think he might be lonely so if we geld and he settles we may get another for company

thanks again

The gelding may cost more than that I think at his age. Talk to your vet.
You can't put him in the field with mares now, that would be totally unreasonable. However, there is no reason why he should be living the deprived life of a stallion when he doesn't need to be bred from. I suggest you get a vet out to give him the once-over and ask for advice about having him gelded.
I'm a bit concerned, don't take this the wrong way, but you come over as very inexperienced. Ponies don't care much about having a smart stable, and that is not all that they need. They need, basically, the 5 Freedoms:

1. Freedom from Hunger and Thirst - by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.

1. Freedom from Discomfort - by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.

1. Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease - by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment.

1. Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour - by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind.

1. Freedom from Fear and Distress - by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.

Your pony is missing out on numbers 4 and 5 at the moment, in my opinion.

I'll also add, that on reflection if he's being handled by children you really should get him gelded. Stallions, even nicely behaved ones, can be unpredictable. Novice owners aren't always going to notice the danger signs until it's too late.

I'm sorry, I don't want to upset you, but this is something I feel very strongly about. I have some training in equine behaviour and strongly believe in giving horses and ponies a good quality environment to live in.

Could you please explain what you mean by 'unpredictable' behaviour in a stallion? I have a friend who was suggesting that we get together to buy a Shetland stallion so that our 3 dd's aged 1 to 3 can ride together and she can get foals from her two little Shetland mares. I wasn't quite sure about the plan, not knowing anything about horses.

(Sorry for hijack)

I would held him, I have 2 shetlands, and they are serios escapologists. You wouldn't want him escaping and getting in with mares! I've seen big mares in season practically kneeling so a stallion can reach! My shetlands live out 24/7, and are kind of strip grazed, they have an electrified enclosure which I wander around the paddock, so they only get a certain amount of the growing shoots where they have eaten already, and a small amount of new grass to keep them happy. I wouldn't bother too much about stabling him, he would be just as happy with a field shelter. With regards to riding, Your 2 year old should be fine, on him, we had one who went to live at a riding school, does regular tiny tot lessons and is the best jumper on the place, he'll jump his own height given a brave enough rider! I wouldn't however let tinies ride a stallion, and there are strict rules regarding showing stallions and what age of child can ride them. I would geld him, get him a friend, and get your toddler aboard and enjoy yourselves. We have had several minis, and they think they are horses! They love doing 'grown up' things, and IMO are wasted just standing in fields. You could also train him to be driven.

But the neice is 11 years old, and it's a mini shetland, not a standard. So OK for littlies to ride, but watch for when they out-grow him.

Unpredictable behaviour... OK, my friend breeds minis. There are times when she is careful not to turn her back and bend when she's poo picking around them, just for example. Take another example. Do you feed your stallion treats by hand? If he starts to get nippy with you, or maybe actually nips you, what will you do? Most people give them a tap or even slap around the head. Stallions fight by standing on their hind legs and boxing, biting at each others faces. So if you bat a stallion around the head it might just think you want to play/fight.

Buying another stallion so that two children can ride together!! Why?? Don't take this personally RacingSnake because you know nothing about horses... Here's a thing. If the stallions are being used to breed then they are in competition. I can't think of anything worse than then trying to use those two stallions to be ridden out together by small children. Google something like "stallions fighting"...
Leaving aside the issue of people breeding foals for the sake of it from unregistered (I'm guessing) and indifferent quality mares and stallions. Which is another hobby horse of mine as I'm involved in equine rescue and see the results.
Here's the thing. Stallions are not suitable pets for novice owners.

RacingSnake if your post is serious then can I beg you to take your dd and yourself to a good riding school and explain that you want to find out more about caring for ponies and helping children to ride them. Get some experience before buying anything? It might put you off.

Paddock Paradise is a really good way to have ponies out and try to avoid laminitis. You normally need your own place to set it up well.

I am prob a novice compared to many but I was around horses a lot as a child so quite comfortable with them and I have bred,shown and judged dogs as well as run a training school for then so understand the basics of animal welfare

When I said we sorted the stable out I should have explained. He was in one at the end so not near other horses. Now he is close to other little ones and the stable was run down so we fixed it up so he would be comfortble.
We turned him out tonight as the mares were in. The farm we are keeping him at cannot use some of its main fields as the water board is putting a massive pipe through the valley. When we put him in the field it was lovely to see him. He looked so full of life.Could we get him back in though!!!

I know entire males can be difficult. Its the same with dogs and at our ponys size a big dog is much more of a worry! But he has a very good nature and is very gentle no nipping, very placid and friendly. His previous owner owns the farm and she said he has a very sweet nature and its obvious as everyone dotes on him including us

We have not bought him for riding but as my son is the right size he hops on now and aain and pony loves it. Once ds is too big we will obviously stop. We hope to grow in confidence so in time we can buy a larger pony for riding.

Have no fear he will have everything he need and thanks for all the advice.

Good luck with him, he sounds lovely. You are lucky to find a livery that will take a stallion, so that's really positive. Can he see over his door? I had a littlie at livery with me and she couldn't, but we realised the top stable door was shorter, so swapped it to the bottom and then she could see over lovely.

His door is really worn at the top as its had the big guys in. We are going to get one made so he can see over. I know its not our stable but we reckon its worth it so he can see whats going on and have some horsey chatter!!

Fluffy, I didn't explain myself very well; it's not another stallion that my friend wants to buy; she has two young Shetland mares (and two dds) and is rather obsessed with breeding things. She would like to breed from them and was trying to persuade me to help pay for the upkeep of a stallion she would buy on the pretext that my dd could ride him. I said I was very doubtful and I think she is moving on from the idea. I'm not that sure about 3 toddlers on leading reins with only two adults anyway.

Its not the toddler adult ratio you need to worry about, it is the sexually aroused stallion trying to shag the in season mare when your child is sitting on it that would worry me! I love breeding things as well, but stallions are dangerous, even miniature shetland ones. My friend has an immaculately mannered shetland stallion, but when he smells a mare in heat, you can barely keep hold of him.

RacingSnake, thanks for the clarification, don't do it, not worth the risk. A nice steady, possibly older, mare or gelding is needed to take tiny people for rides. Oh, and 1-1 adult ratio as well, at that age one minute they are on top, the next minute they are hanging upside down underneath.

Yes, Saggy and Fluffy, this was why I had doubts. Thanks for the advice - I will attempt to disuade my friend and at the very least will keep my dd well out of the way.

Don't get me wrong, IMO everyone should have a pony, just not a stallion!

chocolate peanut - i hope your neice enjoys her pony, it is not nice to lose your confidence riding and hopefully having a pony with no pressure to ride will allow her to enjoy being round horses agian. maybe in the future she will want to ride again, otherwise i'm sure she can have loads of fun doing in hand work and even showing with her pony.