I have a miniature horse of 13years old.?

Question

He has never been ridden. How would I train him to move forward without getting on him as he is only 900 high and I'm too heavy.
I would like to use him in my riding school but don't have enough knowledge about these little guys.Only serious answers please.

Answer 1

Well, interestingly enough the miniature horse is, structurally exactly the same as a thoroughbred. a vet told me that once.

you could try using feed sacks that are slightly weighted, for this you can use sand, grass, anything that won't hurt him. you tie the sacks together and place them across his back, this will give a similar feel to a riders legs at his sides...i use this method when breaking in young horses, it works really well.
then just put him on the lunge, same as you would any other young horse, using a lunge whip to encourage him forward.

of course your next trick will be finding someone small enough, and experienced enough to get on his back for the first time. they're pretty tough little horses, but they are horses, they think like horses and from what i can gather, can be quite hot on occasion.

i hope this helps you!:)

PS: looked up a couple of websites for ya:

http://www.amha.org

http://www.theminiaturehorse.com

http://www.minihorseworld.com

Answer 2

OK, if you are knowledgeable enough to have a riding school, you should know that most minis are too small to be ridden. But anyway - teach him to drive. Get long reins and get behind him and work with him until he responds to voice commands to "go." You should be able to drive him like you would guide him with reins if you were in the saddle.
Still, a child small enough to ride this mini will likely be unable to control him, especially if the horse is only green broken. I'd find a trained, older pony for your riding school.