I had decided that Ziggy (the Zebu), needed more attention than I was giving him.  He was “shacking” up with my 3 young Billy goats & being much bigger than they are, he was definitely the “odd man out”.  I felt sad for him – every morning when I brought in their feed, he’d rub all over me and run around like an excited puppy!

I put a few ads out for him and wow!!!!  The phone never stopped ringing and the emails poured in!  I could have sold 10 Zebus!  I didn’t want to over price him but I wanted him to find his “forever” home soon.

He was purchased by Ms Pryse in Lenoir City, TN.  I believe he’ll be happy at her farm with her family & their horses.  Ms Pryse also purchased Buttons, my 6 month old filly.  Buttons was by herself in her pasture & I either had to find a buddy for her of her age or sell her to someone who’d work with her and give her the attention she too needed.

***************************

Our county (Rhea County), has annual fair and I was invited to bring my petting farm or to offer pony rides with my new set up.  Tuesday, September 9th I spent the afternoon offering rides on Coquette, Ol’Blue, Buddy & Toffee with my beautiful blue & yellow carousel.  Toffee being less than 2 years old can’t bear the acceptable 60 lbs child but could carry babies 25lbs & less.

My mini horses performed like pros!  Everything went very well although it took a few turns for them to fully understand what was expected of them.  Towards the end of the event, we got really busy & Toffee had no “clients” but there were several children in line.  That’s when I realized that I needed another full size miniature horse.

I found “Glory” in Corryton, TN on Wednesday but she needed to integrate the herd & of course get some carousel training.  She’s a beautiful 8 year old mare but is a little shy and spooks a little bit also.  I’m not really concerned about it, she’ll adapt and will do very well.

The herd is not being all that kind to her but that’s how it is in the horse world.  Toffee is sharing her hay flake & so is Ol’Blue & Buddy is very aloof but of course, Ms Coquette is a complete witch with her!  Coquette is the “boss” and makes sure everyone knows it.  As a matter of fact, I happened to be between her & Buddy at an inopportune time & have 3 huge bruises on my legs.   I don’t really know how I got 3 bruises as there were only 2 kicks but  I have proof!

When we returned Saturday, we didn’t bring Toffee but brought Madigan, one of our miniature donkeys.  Well, horses just go round and round and look at the ground and don’t question what you ask of them but donkeys are another beast!  Madigan wanted to check everything out, verify where all the sounds came from, lifted her head trying to look over everything…  not good for doing rides.  Not to mention that Madigan didn’t want to stop and go… she just wanted to go, go, go!

Well, that didn’t last long so we just put Madigan in the trailer (it was only for a couple of hours, max).  She wasn’t very happy about that and certainly let us all know she was in there!  We all heard her pathetic braying!

Now I have to practice a little more with Glory, the new mare and make sure everyone knows their places.

I’m very proud of my herd.  We hadn’t been practicing very long and Tuesday was the first time they’d been exposed to a large group in entirely new surroundings.  I feel very blessed to have each and everyone of my animals!  I’ve learned that if you’re patient and kind, you can get your little animals to do pretty much anything that you ask of them.  As long as you’re reasonable in your demands & expectations.

I’ve been pouring over several books on horse training and unfortunately there really is not much out there that addresses miniature horses but ground training is basically the same.  One particular phrase sticks with me, “Train with your brain, not a two by four!”

We had bunches of kids this year – here they are in the order of their arrival!

Oreo begat  Tino (buck)  & Tina (doe) 2/14 My first set of twins!

Bambi begat Ace (buck) 4/23 Tim got to the birthing minutes after Ace arrived

Cocoa begat Pepper (doe) 4/30  Got to the farm & there was Pepper!

Chausette begat Gizmo (doe) 5/25 Another surprise birth.

Brownie begat Deuce (buck) 6/11 One minute Brownies pregnant, the next, she’s not!

Boo begat Herman (buck) & Peewee (doe) 6/14 Helped Boo a little with PeeWee

Blacky begat Sammi (buck) & Sadie (doe) 6/22 Second set of twins for her!

Noel begat Puck (buck), Tessa & Terra (does) 6/24 First set of triplets, no help needed!

Molly begat Muffin (buck) 7/3 Uneventful birth!

Total count 7 bucks & 7 does!  50/50 NOT BAD!!

Most are sold – I’m keeping Herman & Deuce as future herd sires.  Muffin is unique as his mom is a full blooded registered Tennessee Fainting goat with a 6 on the fainting scale.  However Muffin doesn’t faint.. at all.  So he’s just going to be a big pygmy mix.  Oh well.  As for the does, I’ve only kept Pepper & PeeWee.

Next breeding isn’t until the end of September & by then I’ll have 14 does ready to breed that should all kid during the month of February.  At that time, Pepper & PeeWee will be ready to breed & that will bring more kids for the end of July.  Herman & Deuce have their work cut out for them!

Ziggy the Zebu is doing well… he’s turned out to be just an expensive lawn ornament.  He’s a good guy, very loving and friendly (to me only), except if I have a rope in my hand.  He will not come anywhere near me if he thinks I’m going to try to catch him.  Otherwise he’s one big puppy dog!  He loves to lick me (must be the salty sweat)… picture a 6 inch long cat tongue… that’s what his tongue is like and when he licks, trust me, it doesn’t feel good!  But he’s fat & happy and that’s all that matters.  He’s my only critter that doesn’t have a buddy.

The 3 amigo Llamas are doing fine.  Stormy is the boss, followed by Major.  Big Al is definitely the follower even if he’s much bigger than the 2 others.  All 3 are very patient with the kids and let them jump all over them.  Now if I can only get Major to use the common dung pile and stop pooping in the barn area!

Dr. Seuss the Silkie rooster has 2 buddies -  2 white Silkies.  We’ve yet to determine if they’re hens or roosters but all three hang together & god forbid they’d mingle with the “commoners”!  As for the rest of the chickens (Bantam Cochins), I have 3 hens & one rooster left from the original 25 that I bought but we have about 15 chicks running around the farm.

One of our ducks sat on a clutch of eggs for about 40 days.  Finally 6 little ducklings emerged!  One egg had been rolled aside but I gently peeled the shell and released the little duckling.  I kept it under a heat lamp for a day and then brought it back to mom who gladly accepted it.  Sadly, we had a snapping turtle in the pond that killed 5 of the ducklings within 5 days.  We’ve since captured the evil critter and it was humanely disposed.  Only 2 ducklings survived, one being the little one that I rescued.  The other 4 ducks are like aunts & uncles to the little ones.. they always travel in a group and they are so cute to watch!  I pity anyone or anything that tries to get near the little ones.. mom is ferocious!

Lulu & Grumpy the Pot Belly Pigs are getting old together.  Although he’s friendly, he’s always grumbling and bears many scars from trying to befriend old Lulu.  They each have their own Dogloo and old blanket and they get along long enough to eat from the same big pan but that’s as close as they’re going to get to each other.  They didn’t have the Dogloos this past winter and so they did snuggle together in the shed – but that was to conserve their heat…  no love there – maybe from Grumpy but certainly not from Lulu.

Latté the crippled bunny manages to get around just fine!  Also found out that her buddy the Lionhead is a little buck – not a doe like I originally thought.  She’s got a nesting box but I don’t know if Lionhead’s been able to breed her… she’s at least twice as big as he is.  Flopsy & Fluffy have another litter of week only bunnies… only 3 this time and I hope to have more does to keep than I did from the last litter in March.

My peacocks flew away from the farm earlier this summer.  Mr. P left first and Mrs. P disappeared a few days later.  My neighbor about half a mile away through the woods had Mr. P in her chicken coop one day but he didn’t stick around long enough for me to go catch him.  I hope they have a nice life together in the woods and that they didn’t get eaten by something.

Madigan & Daisy June the miniature donkeys are always a joy to be around.  Of course Maddy’s the boss & DJ just tags along.  We discovered that Maddy loves to be saddled & ridden but DJ will have nothing of it.  To this day it’s very hard to separate them.  DJ will heehaw non-stop if I take Maddy away from her.  I’m in the process of training all my minis to operate a pony carousel for rides… Maddy does really well & I think is very content to be away from her constant shadow!  Our next project is to get a little Jack here for a month to breed these two.  They’re quite ready but am I?  We’ll see!

A month or so ago we opened up a new field/pasture for the miniature horses.  They’re now on the back part of our property and have about 7 acres of fenced pasture to run around it.  They absolutely love it!

Toffee (my first mini), turned a year old in June and is a stunning little filly.  Old Blue is still fat & gentle and may be pregnant.  I drove her several times early in the summer and she does well but doesn’t care to run too much.  She breathes very heavily all the time and although I know she’s healthy, it bothers me to hear her breathe like that.  I’ll have the vet come by in the near future to perform an ultra-sound to confirm if she’s pregnant or not.  Buddy has also filled in and is a beautiful gelding.  He enjoys being ridden but doesn’t do too well pulling a cart.  He has only one speed & that’s slow… very slow!  My lovely Coquette is still a bit cautious and very protective of her adorable little Buttons.  She only tolerates Toffee around her and will turn and kick any of the others that come too close.  it’s time to wean so I moved Buttons to the goat area for a while and that should help Coquette with her protection issues.  Buttons is not alone, she’s with her good friend Toffee.  I’ve driven Coquette only once & I think we were doing good but I got a flat on my cart & wasn’t able to ride at all!  She too should be pregnant… we’ll have her checked out also.

Our dogs, Sheba the German Shepard is getting older & shedding like crazy… Taz the Chihuahua is enjoying life and staying out of Sheba’s way… Angel the pound hound is fat and still always looking for food and Mandy the mixed Min Pin, well Mandy is still a weird ugly little dog.  As for Sola the Siamese cat, she’s still the queen & Minou the Siamese wannabee hunts all night and sleeps in a box somewhere in the shop all day.

Our Fila Brazilieros, Diesel & Beulah continue to enjoy being the house guard dogs.  They’re always on patrol and now have something else to watch out for… Mouse, our fearless 5 lbs Bichon Frisé puppy!  Mouse just loves to hang out with the big dogs and has absolutely no fear of them.  She respects them but they have no clue what to do with her.  I’m not sure they even realize she’s one of them!  Either one of them could easily & quickly make an appetizer out of her but they’ve accepted her quite well.   As long as she stays out of Diesel’s dog house, they’re okay!

I think I’m now up to date with what’s been going on here these last few months.  My current project (if the weather can cool down some), is training Madigan, Old Blue, Buddy & Coquette to work together on the carousel.  There are a few events coming that I’d love to offer pony rides.  But we’ll have to see how this goes – I can’t risk hurting anyone with an animal that’s not ready.  I also want to work with Coquette and my little cart.  I think she’ll do well.. we just need to work on it!

So there you go my friends!  Stay in touch!

Of course with me it’s never simple so here’s what happened…  Last week I answered an ad on Craigslist – a lady had 2 trained miniature gelded horses (I didn’t feel either one to confirm their sexual status), for sale along with a couple of saddles.  One was from a petting farm and was very much accustomed to having children all around him and the other was just a beautiful little childrens horse that was the pet of a 2 year old boy.  I even saw a picture of this little child riding this little horse with a saddle & all!  She claimed to have to sell all of her horses because of a sudden re-location.  She also had 2 full size horses.

Scott & I got there & a young girl was riding “Buddy” while another was walking “Brownie”.  Brownie was quite the looker whereas Buddy looked like a beat up old horse (although they’re both only 4 years old).  I bought them both and we loaded them up.  I hate to admit to this but it was an emotional purchase – not a conscious one.

The lady sort of pleaded with me to take the full size horses also -she  wanted good homes for them.  She originally wanted $400 for Tank but gave finally gave in to $100 including 2 saddles.  Trust me, I didn’t give in right away.  I know how much work full size horses are.  She claimed Tank was a very gentle old horse (around 10 – & that’s been confirmed), but only had one speed, slow.   Scott thought it was a good idea and we loaded up tank also.  She really wanted me to take the other but one was enough.

When we all got home and put the boys in a separate enclosure  from my girls it was obvious that Brownie wanted to be with Ol Blue & we let them romp together.  He immediately mounted & bred her and she was ready.  Wow.. this guy was supposed to be gelded. 

My neighbor Earl showed up and checked out the boys.  Surprise!  Both were intact but Brownie only had one testicle.  This condition is called Cryptorchidism & as you’ll read from this link is a very undesirable condition.

The next day my neighbor Val who’s a licensed farrier and horse expert came to tend to their feet and assess my purchase.  Tank received a high note & so did Buddy although he’s a little thin and has a dry cough.  She strongly recommend that I find Brownie a new home as soon as possible.  Surgery for this condition can easily run past the $500 mark & I didn’t intend to spend that for a little horse that I had no idea if he could drive (the purpose of me purchasing him).

Tuesday evening Earl picked him up and brought him to a horse auction in Cleveland (TN), and I sold him to a nice lady that fell in love with him.  I told her he was a stallion but she didn’t have any mares so that didn’t bother her.  I’m confident that he found a good home.  He was a very good looking little horse and was certainly high spirited.

As for Buddy, he still looks like a beat up old horse but he’s very small and very gentle with children.   The vet will be here Tuesday to geld him and see if we need to give him anything for his cough.  As soon as I get the “ok” from the vet, he’ll share the same field as the donkeys, Ol Blue, Toffee and big old Tank!

I purchased a saddle and a bridle for Tank and I look forward to my first ride on him.  I hope he’s as gentle as the seller claimed he was!  I’ll keep you posted!