I’m starting an after school club next fall at the junior high where I teach that will be geared toward teaching underprivileged youth (my district is in a low income, high immigrant area) about horses. Kids will earn “hoofpoints” to visit my horses and interact with them, learning grooming, gaits, anatomy, behavior, etc. in a hands-on situation. (And yes–we’re taking all kinds of precautions re: liability.) My Arabian mare Ferrana is a complete doll and will be great for the program, but she’s still 900lbs and 5 feet tall at the shoulder–intimidating to adults unfamiliar with horses, nonetheless kids.
Solution? Meet Firefly, our 5-year-old American miniature mare:
Firefly was brought to us all the way from Fort Worth, Texas. She foundered last winter and her owner wanted to find her a new home. (Founder, also known as laminitis, is a condition in which the hoof bone/coffin bone rotates and begins to slide down into the delicate hoof tissues, perforating the bottom of the hoof in most severe cases. It is excruciatingly painful and cannot be cured, only stopped or slowed. It was Secretariat’s ignoble ending in 1989.) Founder can sometimes be causes by a high carbohydrate diet or one of lush grass, and her Texas home had gorgeous rolling green acres. She could no longer go out and graze with her buddies, so her owner felt it would be best for Firefly to find another home. Too much lush green pasture is decidedly NOT a Southern California problem, so we brought her here. We only had to pay for the shipping to bring her here. BTW…Firefly’s founder seems to have been stopped, or at least controled. She’s sound and happy–just gets no grain, very little grazing on grass, and has her feet trimmed every 4 weeks.
Anyway! That’s our new little gal, all 36" and 310lbs of her.
Naw, Cowgirl Jules, Ferrana was fine with Firefly. She’s seen minis before, and they’ve never weirded her out much. She was pretty fascinated the first time she saw one, though…kinda like “Ooh, a baby! I love babies! …Waaaaaait a second, something’s not right here…”
Thankfully, Ana has a pretty good head about such things. I’ve known horses who spook at white ponies, pintos, appaloosas, minis, etc; Ana just kinda looks and says, “Huh. Small/colorful/weird looking horse. Well, back to eating…”
Firefly, btw, may be pregnant. While her previous owner and I were in discussions, she escaped (something I’ve discovered she’s good at at her new home, too!) and got in with the woman’s stud. We don’t know if she’s in foal, but if she is, her previous owner will pay for all the foal’s care and will pay to have it shipped to her when it’s weaned…so we get to have the fun of raising and playing with a teeny baby, and then send it on to someone else.
The 3-foot horse takes on the 4-foot rabbit!!! Who will triumph in this battle of the zoological marvels!!! Then sit back and hang on for the Battle of the Monster Trucks!!!
Firefly is such a cool name and her previous owner sounds like one heck of a woman to do all those wonderful things to secure a happy home and pay for any possible foal.
There is a couple of mini’s down the road from us and they are so darn cuuuuute.
Founder is not fun. My uncle had to put down his best horse ( intelligence, looks and every other way possible) because of it. And he worked for years with vets trying to retard or cure it. You are a most excellent person to take Firefly in.
If you could rig a horn on firefly’s head, she could be a unicorn for Halloween. Wheeeee!
We had one come through the airport where I work a few weeks ago. I understand they make great service animals. It was truly bizarre hearing the distinctive clip-clop of a horse in a passenger terminal.
Firefly’s adorable, but my heart belongs to Ferrana, who is everything I’ve always wanted in a horse.
When I saw the pic of DeathLlama and Firefly, I was wondering if SHE could hop on HIS back for a ride! Incidentally, is that color pattern considered to be sorrel, or what? I’ve READ descriptions of sorrel horses, but never seen a picture identifying the color.
Well I learned something new! Yes, Lynn Bodoni, Firefly is registered as a sorrel. But I was trying to remember what distinguises sorrel from chestnut…and at this site I read this:
You have a good seat, Ruffian! Ferrana is gorgeous.
I’m still a little confused as to the difference between horses and ponies. But mini-horses are indeed horses, right, not mini Shetland ponies or something?
Do other horses recognize minis as full horses? Can minis whinny and neigh like big horses?
Anyone else seen the commercial with the little horse? Loved it.
If I ever live somewhere I can have one, I want one of these guys. I’ve wanted one ever since I heard about them. A full-size horse would be more than a bit much for me to look after (and I wouldn’t want to own a horse but have to keep it somewhere else and pay for stabling) but I could handle one of the little ones, I think.
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