my new rescue horse!

friday evening the guy we board with asked me if i knew anyone who wanted a mini horse. i said no, but that i'd keep my ears open. he went on to explain that a mini was running loose around a friend's neighborhood and that someone was threatening to shoot it. i talked it over with my dad (we rent a pasture together so i didn't want to bring in a new horse without asking him first) and we decided that we'd go get the mini to get him out of danger and then rehome him as neither of us have ever particularly liked minis or had any desire to have one.

i spent a lot of saturday on the phone trying to figure out where the little guy was, exactly, and to arrange a trailer. finally we got everything lined up and went to get the little dude. once we got there, the full story came out.

the guy that owned this little mini stallion has no business owning any animals of any kind. his house is falling down and trashed, and his fences are also falling down which is how the mini kept getting out. the neighbors were (understandably) complaining about a mini stallion running loose in the neighborhood so when he got loose this last time the owner said that if he got the little guy back he'd shoot him. fortunately one of the neighbors who also had horses managed to catch the little guy. she couldn't keep him and had mini mares that she didn't want bred, so she's the one who put out word that the little guy needed a home.

when we got there we tried to lead the little guy to the trailer and he was completely freaked out. it ended up being a bit of a rodeo getting him into the trailer and i was kind of wondering what i'd gotten myself into. once we got him home, we put him out in the small paddock and watched him for a while to make sure he'd settled in before we went home.

when i went out yesterday it only took me a few minutes (and a handful of treats) to catch and halter him. he was a perfect gentleman after that! i was able to groom him, brush out his mane and tail, and pick out his feet, all without fuss. he lead without a fuss and even seemed to know how to stand for halter (i didn't ask, he just did it when i stopped him). i turned him loose and tossed him some hay, then started putting my brushes and stuff away in the tack shed. when i turned around, he was standing in the doorway looking at me like "whatcha doin'?". i walked back to his hay and he just followed along beside me like a dog and that's what made me decide to keep him.

so i introduce you all to Floki, my new mini horse! (yes, i'm having the vet out to have him gelded)

What a lovely boy! It's really nice of you to offer him a good home and care!

Aww, hi little guy.

He's such a cutie! We have three Minis, and my grandmother breeds them as well (we used to breed them at one point). They're such sweethearts if treated right.

His head and expression is just adorable c:

i'm trying to see if i can manage to locate his papers or somehow get him registered (the lady i'm emailing at the AMHA said that in march they might start doing hardship registrations). he's really nice and i'd like to breed him, but i don't want to breed him without papers.

I know the AHA (Arabian) has started to do a DNA test where they can re-match a registered horse with it's papers. They've required DNA on file to register a horse since 2002, so by this point most registered horses would be traceable. Not sure if AMHA has DNA on file, but if they do, I could see it being a possibility in the future.

I know, personally, I would never breed to a stallion without an amazing pedigree or a stellar show record (preferably both), so I wouldn't think hardship registration would be an ideal situation unless you are planning to really show him in big shows. Plus, stud fees are so cheap for some awesome horses, it's just more reasonable to pay a $700 stud fee for a National Champion. I don't do minis, but it appears to me, most people are in it for really high quality (and would want stellar pedigrees and show records) or lots of color. I do love working with stallions, but the hassle of stallion ownership just wouldn't be worth it unless I had something super special where I can't just breed to another very similar stallion someone else has taken the money to show and campaign to the top levels. I had one really nice colt (Shire). And while I sold him intact as stallion quality, I would not have bred to him. His sire (who was reserve national champion) and his dam's sire (who was a 2x world champion) are both alive and still breeding, so why would anyone breed to him? His new owners have gelded him and just want him to be a super good looking trail horse (he just turned 3 and is not broke yet, Shires mature super slowly). But that's just my 2 cents.