Care of Minature Shetlands

[clairev]

Please could someone advise us on the care of minature shetlands. A girl I know has recently bought one. He is supposed to be less than a year old, she has a two acre field with fairly rich grass, and apparently the man who sold him told her to feed him corn.

What is the chances of laminitis with this breed? I assume they would be pretty high and have warned her about this.

As I have had no experience with minatures/youngsters I would be grateful for any advice regarding feeding, general care.

Many thanks

[bren]

I just got a small pony (10hh) and you just cant feed them the same way you do large horses. My 16.2hh stb gets a 1/2 a bale of hay and 6lbs of horse feed split into 2 feedings a day. The other two are both ponys and I give them about a third of a bale between them a day and no feed. They are still chubby! You should feed just hay and probably a couple of flakes 2x a day.

[Kristy]

A horse that young and small should be able to live on pasture and hay. Seeing as he's not working atm he doesn't need anything really "hot".

Kristy