# Will a mini horse work with my current setup?



## lilcheeks (Jun 24, 2016)

I currently have 2 goats (1 pygmy and 1 nigerian dwarf), both are fixed males and are 2 years old.  They currently have a 50ft x 60ft pasture they play/graze in all day, and I put them in the barn (9ft x 8ft stall) at night.  Someone local is selling a few 15 year old mini horses (downsizing their herd) and we're debating getting one.  Would we be able to keep a mini in a 50x60 pasture?  If so, would it be able to be in the stall with the goats at night?  I also have 7 chickens that share the pasture but I don't think they're an issue.  Thoughts?


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## Bunnylady (Jun 24, 2016)

Those of us that adore the little beasts will tell you that minis are like potato chips - you can't have just one. Horses are herd animals, and though they can learn to live alone, if these animals have had the company of other horses for 15 years, they are gonna miss 'em_ bad_.

While the physical need to move around might be met in a 50x60 pen, if you put even one horse in that space, you won't have grass for long, so grazing wouldn't happen, for anyone. Your "pasture" would become a dry lot. That isn't necessarily a bad thing - minis kept on lush pasture tend to become chubby tubbies, and that is seriously bad for their health - but you will need to hay your animals year-round. 

How the goats would interact with a mini isn't that easy to predict. My goats were really bad about butting my minis when they were young, but the tables turned as they got older - now the minis call the shots, and the goats get out of the way. Some people have problems with goats eating their minis' manes and tails; mine haven't done that. But when you have herd animals, you have herd dynamics to work out, and that can get nasty at times. You didn't say - do either of your wethers have horns?


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## lilcheeks (Jun 24, 2016)

Thanks for the information.  Both were disbudded but one has a very small nub that cracks every now and then.  Thanks again for the feedback.


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