The Dutch Miniature Horse (NMPRS)

  Stallions Mares Foals
   
   

The Dutch Miniature Horse

In 1993, five people took the initiative to start up “Het Nederlands Mini Paarden Registratie Stamboek (N.M.P.R.S.)’ (The Dutch Miniature Horses Registration Stud Book) with the aim to breed a miniature horse in European connection.
To reach this goal each race and cross-breed up to 106 cm is permitted. They are being split in mini-size (up to 86 cm) and small-size (from 86 till 106 cm) and into two types: Base Type (100% Shetland-bred) and Luxe Type (12.5% or more foreign blood line). The overall impression should be of a riding horse in miniature. They have to be slim-built and have a good and smooth gait.

You will find more information on NMPRS’ website.

Buying

Although the size of the miniature horse gives the impression of not needing a lot of care, is this the wrong impression. Just like a big horse, he needs good care, attention and a comfortable stable. So before taking the decision to buy, make sure that you will have enough time and the possibility to take well care of your horse. This will be beneficial to both of you because a happy and healthy animal is a joy to be with. 

Each breed has its own advantages and drawbacks, its own qualities and impossibilities so it is important to know before buying what the demands and expectations for this horse will be. The financial side plays a role as well. A specific breed, depending on its qualities and/or rareness, will be more costly than others.  Thorough-bred or not, breeding qualities, stallion or mare, all this will determine the selling-price.  It is impossible to buy a well-bred horse, which conforms to all the requirements, at a low price.

In general, lovers of the miniature horse are pleased to talk about their animal and give explanations. And you can learn a lot from attending shows, taking a good look around and talking to the people there.  Also go to ‘Events’ in this website for further information. Reading books and surfing on internet will be helpful too.

Note that there is an option here to go to ‘links’ for each breed description given. There, amongst other information, you will find, for instance, the breed society and other breeders of this specific breed. We hope that our website gives you already enough information to help you along. And if you have more questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Care

Wat eten miniatuur paarden en hoeveel? Hoe vaak moet er ontwormt worden en met welke middelen? Hoe vaak moeten de hoeven bekapt worden? Hebben ze onderdak nodig of kunnen ze buiten blijven? Moeten ze dagelijks geborsteld worden? Hoeveel aandacht hebben ze eigenlijk nodig?
Allemaal vragen waar geen éénduidig antwoord op te geven is.

Wel zijn er richtlijnen die kunnen helpen, verder is het zeer afhankelijk hoe de dieren gehouden worden en wat er mee gedaan wordt. Wordt er regelmatig gereden of gemend, wordt ermee gefokt, gaan ze naar keuringen. Al deze dingen hebben invloed op de zorg voor de paarden. Dus met behulp van richtlijnen, kan door observeren, overleggen met de dierenarts en hoefsmid, een optimale zorg geboden worden.
Iedereen heeft zijn eigen mening over hoe de dieren gehouden moeten worden en het is altijd goed om naar een andere mening te luisteren. Uiteindelijk kent u uw eigen dier het best en de situatie waarin hij/zij leeft, dus volg je eigen hart. Weinig kan dan mis gaan.

Waar iedereen het over eens zal zijn is dat ze altijd veel ruw voer, schoon water, beweging en een mogelijkheid om te schuilen nodig hebben. Ook enten en ontwormen behoort tot een goede verzorging.

Some useful tips:

  • A directive for feeding is that a horse, per 100 kg body weight, needs 1 kg of hay (raw feed) and 0.5 kg power-feed. Depending on the work they are doing, add 0,2 to 0,5 power-feed  per one hour of work.  Divide the feed up into several portions a day.
  • Make sure that they always have a licking-stone. These exist with minerals or with salt. What’s available more in one, is available less in the other so I decided to offer both.
  • During August/September horse-flies lay their eggs in the horses’ coat which the horses swallow when scratching or licking themselves. So it is extremely important that the vermifuge used  also contains a substance to kill the horse-fly larvae.
  • The most important larvae are killed by “ivermectine’ contained in the vermifuge substance. The brand or the price of the vermifuge used is not important as long it has “ivermectine” in it.
  • Influenza-inoculation is usually done once a year. However, its maximum effectiveness is only about 8 months. It is often advised to vaccinate mares in foal a few weeks before giving birth and also to vaccinate for the winter months. This made me decide to vaccinate my horses twice a year.
  • Foals are vaccinated  with a long-working antibiotic which protects against infections entering via the navel. This should be administered within 24 hours after birth. The possibility of an infection is fairly small though especially if the foal is born in a clean environment and if the navel is properly disinfected. But in the case of an infection, there is the risk of an articular disease.  For me, the decision to vaccinate or not depends on the environment in which the birth has taken place. Discuss this with your vet before the foal will be born so proper action can be taken on time.

Diseases

This is not a very nice subject to read or write about. When reading about it in books I would almost stop working with animals because so much can go wrong. But then, we humans have a much longer ‘wash-list’ of problems and diseases and I am still walking around being healthy.  So I read it to be informed and when a problem arises I know where to find information. I want to keep level-headed about it and certainly do not want to panick. I try to use common sense and when in doubt consult my vet. They are the specialists.  We have to start somewhere and we learn from our mistakes.