Saturday, March 15, 2008

Mr. Shorty

Mr. Shorty is our miniature horse, who thinks that he is a draft horse. He has a bad case of LMS (Little Man Syndrome). What he lacks in height he makes up in attitude and desire to one day rule the world.

We acquired Shorty several years ago, as a badly foundered and neglected kid's pony. He was free, so why not? The price was right. He did require some foot adjustments.

Mr. Shorty (before)

And in case that you didn't notice his feet....

Shorty's Feet

Because poor Shorty couldn't stand on his other three feet to have one foot trimmed, he was stretched out on his side, while my husband and a neighbor took a hacksaw to him.

Mr. Shorty (after)

The picture above is after we had had Shorty for awhile and my poor husband had finally gotten his feet back in shape. He complains that he is the hardest horse to trim that we have, not because he doesn't behave himself but because he is so short and it is back breaking work.

Shorty and Garfield

Mr. Shorty and Garfield

Mr. Shorty is a very good natured feller when he wants to be, as you can see by these pictures of him with our cat, Garfield. Not only does Garfield like Shorty but my hens seek refuge on his back as well, to get away from the rooster. Our rooster even occasionally takes a free ride on Shorty's back. The goats like to chew on his mane and tail, stand on his back when he is laying down and play tag with him, he always wins.

But Mr. Shorty's true love is kids, he likes them for some reason. He doesn't care at all for adults though, he doesn't even tolerate them well.

Mr. Shorty, Garfield and our Grandson

Shorty and Grandson

Mr. Shorty and Grandson

These pictures are of Shorty with our Grandson when he was younger. We took Mr. Shorty to Sunday School one Sunday morning and he nickered when he saw the little children coming to ride him. He is really good with kids and he just loved our Grandson until he reached about 7 years of age, then he started considering him an adult and wanted nothing more to do with him.

Shorty looks like the perfect little pony in these pictures, but looks can be deceiving. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing. He picks a fight with horses six times his size, he torments both of our stallions, he is impossible to catch if an adult tries to catch him, however, any small child can catch him at anytime. He walks under fences and goes anywhere he decides to go. He is very hard to lead unless it is a child that is leading him, then they can drag him around anywhere.

We have to keep Shorty in a special pen that he cannot escape from in order to keep him from foundering. It takes only a small amount of grass to founder him and he has even foundered on too much hay, so we have to feed him carefully. He is also a master mind when it comes to gates and his timing is always perfect for escaping through any open one. On these occasions, Mr. Shorty gets the rips and that is very entertaining to watch, he is very athletic and fast and can leap small buildings in a single bound.

All in all, Mr. Shorty is pretty worthless and pretty valuable at the same time and we love him.

Our Grandson

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