A friend's miniatures.

[Goldfields]

Ponies that is. Thought they were cute enough that some may like to see them. They are coating up for Winter but my friend gave me summer photo's to compare them with. First is the little mare, Isabelle. I love flashy markings like this.

[Goldfields]

The darker one of this pair is Lucy and here she is in winter and summer coat. I don't have a summer photo of the lighter coloured filly. There were a pair of blacks which I didn't try to get photo's of too , knowing what a hard colour it is for the camera.

[Goldfields]

This is her little stallion and I included the second photo to show how that long forelock may handicap him when eating. LOL.

[Goldfields]

Last but not least, though he is the smallest, her 7 month old colt foal. He's one you could fall in love with at first sight.

[hazelrunpack]

Absolutely darling, GF! I love Lucy's pattern--looks like a setter in reverse.

[CsqU4r3d]

OMG I am in love!! They are absolutely adorable, I wonder what Chum would think of them?!

[chico2]

GF,they are just adorable,wonder if I could have one,pretend he's a dog

[erykah1310]

LOL, love how Lucy is pinning her ears at the filly

Mini's are adorable, there was a whole bunch out here at one time as the puppy mill people were convinced they were going to get rich off of the mini's but didn't. They have since sold them all and moved on but they were so darling to see in a pasture together.
If I wouldn't worry about foundering on spring grass like I do with mini's and pony's I would have gotten a mini for a companion for Fe when I took her home but I got Calvin and Viggo so she's good for friends

[hazelrunpack]

Are smaller horses more likely to founder than larger ones, erykah? I don't know much about horses, but I knew a draft horse (a Belgian) that foundered once after getting into the corn bin at a neighbor's. It was touch-and-go for a while, especially considering his not unconsiderable weight, but they managed to get him through...

[erykah1310]

It depends on who you talk to really, information is quite conflicting on it.
Ponies and Mini's typically shouldn't be put on spring grass as it is so rich and could cause them to founder.
I know mini's have some dietary differences than larger horses.

[Goldfields]

Lucy's dapples are nice, I agree Hazel.
My friend's GSD pup followed us out to the colt and they seemed great together, though when the colt took a playful nip at the dog, the dog nipped back, it looked like a game though. The 3 girls were wanting the feed she had with her and started threatening to kick one another, but that amounted to just bumping rumps against each other, which looks kind of funny when they keep doing it.
Erykah, the first good Spring after our 13 years of drought apparently there were horses and ponies foundering all over this area, size didn't seem to matter, but basically it seems to be the ponies that suffer, doesn't it? That bare paddock they were in was a result of the January floods, she had a foot of water flowing accross there. She's put the 5 girls into a better paddock now. This is her 'odd man out', her Apaloosa mare, Ruby(?). I was surprised by how active she is in the paddock, rearing, trotting around, pig-rooting and bucking. Happy to have some attention maybe.

[luckypenny]

Are they ever adorable !

[hazelrunpack]

The appaloosa would fit right in here, GF! Polka dots on white! No one would even notice!

[Goldfields]

Hahaha! I had to think about that for a moment, Hazel, but of course she would. In fact it'd make a great picture.

[Melinda]

they are gorgeous, does she show them? breed them or just have them as pets? I would love to be in an area where we could have a few.

[Goldfields]

She shows and breeds them, Melinda, and she wants me to help her show them now, or at least go along to help, but I will have to think about that. I have a slipped vertebrae in my spine that means standing for any length of time can be very painful, and when it's playing up just walking is difficult, part of the reason I was glad to give up showing dogs. My GP told me on Friday that it would be a major op. to correct it so he doesn't reccommend it. Suffice to say I'll do what I can to help her, leaning against a show arena fence hanging onto a few mini's for her shouldn't be that bad, even if I can't run them out in classes.

[erykah1310]

Does she drive them at all? There is a lady not far from me who is out almost every day driving her mini's with their cart. Such an adorable sight to see.
One of hers is broke to ride too and her grand daughter (4 years old) rides him, the little mini western saddle is just to die for.

[Goldfields]

Yes, she's got one of her black ones broken to harness but she hasn't done much with it yet. The mini's there near you, erykah, are they mini horses or mini ponies? That would be cute, a mini western saddle.

[erykah1310]

They're Fallabellas thats all I know

[Longblades]

Gee, I didn't know there were mini-ponies apart from mini-horses. Your photos do definitely look ponyish, much heavier build than the mini-horses our friend breeds. They look bigger too, unless your friend is a tiny, tiny lady. They are so very, very pretty.

Yes, I'm curious too, do they drive them? We met folks at a ploughing match who show a 4 horse hitch of Belgians and a 4 horse hitch of Shetland Ponies. The Shetlands are chestnut so they match the Belgians. The lady laughed when I suggested they should get some Halfflingers too, for an in-between size. Exactly the idea she had but her hubby wouldn't go for it. How many equines can one afford to feed, house and care for just for fun?

[Goldfields]

These ponies are pretty small, Longblades, my friend is only 5 foot tall. Yes, the mini horses are a lot finer I think. Here, in this photo, is one of her brown mares as a foal, also two photo's of its sire, who happens to also be the sire of Lucy, if you can follow that. The names they have for the colouring of these littlies is a bit complicated, ditto for the genetics that go into breeding the colour you want, it all goes over my head a bit. (I will NOT get one. I will NOT get one - I just have to keep telling myself that. ) This little stallion is a cutie though. When I was a lot younger I used to help another friend show stud book shetlands(and Welsh Mountains and Australian Ponies) and have always wanted a shetland, just can't justify buying one , I already have enough pets in my dogs and cats. And I have two Welshies anyway.

The three chestnut teams would look great, good idea.

[Goldfields]

I asked my friend about the heights of the ponies and 34 1/2 inches is the maximum they are allowed to be. Only one of hers is too big, that's the foal in this last set of photo's and it's the one she has now broken to harness. Her stallion, Ruffy, is 29 1/2", 3 of her mares are 31", another might be smaller, it goes for measuring this year, and her foal was born 15 to 16" and would be possibly 22" now. They are not popular with some riders at shows whose big hacks don't know what to make of these little cuties and misbehave.

[Longblades]

I've just done a bit of googling and it seems miniature ponies are an Australian phenomenom? I found an Aussie site with reistration information (it's a sales site) but can find nothing on mini ponies for Canada or the U.S., only in Australia. Am I looking in the wrong places?

They are so pretty. I like the sturdy look. Shetlands I've seen shown here are like mini American Saddlebreds. Very fine-boned, sleek and certainly don't look as if they could live up to the strength and power reported to belong to Shetlands of long ago. Which are still here, just not as popular it seems.

How do these mini ponies differ from Shetland Ponies?

[Goldfields]

They are called Australian Miniature Ponies. Maybe if you Google American Miniature Ponies? I believe the sire of that second stallion I showed you is American. Here is a site for the AMPS.

http://australianminiaturepony.com.au/

If I got a shetland it would definitely be a true to standard one, not an Americanised one.

Incidentally, I have the height before in inches because my friend isn't talking metric yet. LOL. Should be by now but I still convert things myself too.