Supplies Needed

• Pledge
• Brasso brass cleaner
• A soft cloth or two to clean with, preferably microfiber or an old tshirt
• Rubber glove (optional)
• Old toothbrush (optional)

Instructions

1. I start with the brass on my harness because the cleaner can get on the leather. Put on your glove and either put some Brasso on the cloth, or on your glove, and rub it in a circular motion on each brass part of your harness. The more tarnished the brass is, the more you’ll need to rub to clean it up.
2. Once you’ve restored the shine, use a clean portion of your rag to wipe off the rest of the product.
3. Repeat for the rest of the brass on your harness. TIP: Unbuckle each piece to work on it, then redo the buckle before you continue so you don’t change the way your harness is fitted for your horse! You can use the opposite side of the harness to remind yourself where to redo the buckle.
4. If your cloth is covered in Brasso, use a different cloth for cleaning with Pledge. Spray the pledge on your cloth (NOT on the harness) and rub it on the leather portions of the harness, taking care to avoid the embroidery.
5. For hard to reach areas of the harness, spray Pledge on the toothbrush and gently use it to clean those areas, then wipe them dry with the cloth.
6. Repeat until you’ve finished cleaning your harness!
7. Head to an AMHA show and get it dirty again!

Find your next miniature horse driving prospect with Little America. We have foals by LR Phantom’s Secret Storm, son of 35-time World Champion Single Pleasure Driving and Roadster horse, Silver Meadow’s Phantom Storm.

We also own 22-time AMHA World Single Pleasure Driving and Roadster winner, Lymrick’s Irresistible Force, “Guinness” and have his progeny for sale. Not only has Guinness won World Reserve Grand Champion Single Pleasure Driving Horse in both open and amateur, but he’s also been World Grand Champion Roadster Horse at AMHA World!

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By Alyssa McCarthy Parker in From The Field on on Feb 23, 2015

I don’t know if there is ANYTHING cuter than a miniature horse. I fell in absolute love with the little guys and gals at Little America Miniature Horses. Tony and Carol Greaves were fantastic hosts and it was great to learn so much about a breed of horses that none of us really had any experience with.

It was also heartwarming to meet Tony’s “Thursday Kids,” a group of young kids from the surrounding areas that come to the barn after school to work with the minis. They learn all about grooming, training, handling, they work on an obstacle course, and several of them practice showmanship.

Among the Thursday Kids is a young man named Kameron, who is legally blind, but comes alive with confidence while he works with his favorite horse Rainbow. Together the pair has won several World Championships.

We can’t wait for y’all to see the segment on Little America Miniature Horses! Stay tuned for updates on when it will air!

Until next time,

Alyssa

– See More Here

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I quickly finished putting out feed for the mares and drove the Gator back to the pasture to check to see if I was right.  As I got closer I saw a big flash of white on the “something laying in the grass” and thought, “Yea!  An appaloosa hopefully.  Just hope it is okay.”  As I got closer I saw the tail swish and breathed a sigh of relief to know that it was indeed a tiny little appaloosa, and best of all alive!

His dam, Little America Color’s Mandy, is a six-year-old mare and this is her first foal.  She is more difficult to handle than most of our mares and I knew that I would have a difficult time catching her in the eighty-five acre pasture, but figured that I could carry her foal and she would follow us back up to the barn.  When I reached them the foal sat up, but didn’t stand, so I was able to catch him and examine him all over.  I found that he was very correct, tiny, bay with a star and snow cap blanket.  I also found that the lashes one of his eyes were inside his eyes, so I brushed them out and checked both eyes.  They were very red but that is not too unusual for a newborn.

I picked up the tiny guy and put him in my lap between me and the steering wheel.  Mandy started running around the Gator, but I finally got her attention and she located the foal, so we started driving slowly to the barn.  As we went along I started thinking about a name, first thinking of Little Man, but as I thought more, I decided on Little America’s My Color Man.  We generally use part of the sire (stallion/father’s) name.  Since his sire is Little America’s My Oh My, I used “My”.  His grandsire is Winner’s Circle True Colors, I used “Color”.  And since his dam (mother), I used Man.

Sire:  Little America’s My Oh My

Grand Champion at the Ft. Worth Exposition and Livestock Show in January 2012

Once we got to the barn I wormed Mandy since we worm all our mares within twenty-four hours which seems to cut down on foal heat scours.  I noticed that one of her hooves needed trimming so I trimmed a little on both of her back feet then took the pair to the foaling barn which is next to our house where we can keep a close watch on new babies and mothers for a few days.

When I put them in the yard I watched long enough to note that the dam was moving away every time that he tried to nurse.  Since this was her first foal and she was “ticklish” I guess.  I brought them into the barn and tied her up and held him to try to get him to nurse.  He wouldn’t try because be had been scared trying to nurse before I found him.  I finally decided that I had to get something down him, so milked the mare and luckily he took to drinking from a syringe quickly.  I was able to get about fifty cc of colostrum down him so that was a relief.  At first I had to put a twitch on her to get her to let me milk her.  This went on every couple of hours for about thirty-six hours.  Thank goodness he finally started nursing and she started letting him nurse and is now progressing nicely.

Here he is at six days: 

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Our foaling barn has six foaling stalls and we have closed circuit TV so that we can watch the mares when they are moved into the barn.  Using Breeder Alert monitoring equipment we are awakened when a mare lays down flat for fifteen seconds.  The pager, which I carry during the day and attach to my pillow while I am asleep, alerts me to check the monitors which are located in several locations in the house, to see if the mare is in labor or just sleeping.  If she is in labor I will quickly go to the barn in case she needs assistance.  You can follow our foaling adventures as I plan to blog about it.  So stay tuned.

While you are waiting you can take a tour of the ranch.

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Miniature Horses as Pets

Miniatures are great as pets/companion animals.  They’re smaller than “big” horses so they can be kept in the back yard just as you’d keep a dog or cat, and are lower maintenance than other breeds of horses.  They take up less space, eat less, make less of a mess, and don’t require shoes like many other breeds.  They can be handled by children (I started showing when I was 3), or by the elderly (one of our customers bought a mini for his mother’s 96th birthday).  Any age will do.  For people who are intimidated by big horses or had an accident with them in the past, or just don’t have the energy for them anymore, miniatures are the perfect alternative to still be able to enjoy the beauty of the horse.

Showing Miniature Horses

At shows you can do anything you do with a big horse except for ride.  That might sound like a joke at first, like there’s nothing left if you take riding away, but boy would you be wrong.  The two major associations for miniature horses, the American Miniature Horse Assciation (AMHA), and the American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR) and their clubs offer halter, color, liberty, showmanship, jumper, hunter, obstacle, driving obstacle, and costume classes to youth, amateur and open exhibitors at local, regional, and world level shows.

Miniature Horses as Therapy Animals

Many have probably heard about miniatures being used as therapy animals.  The seeing-eye-miniature horse idea got some publicity for a while there.  However, our favorite use of them therapy-wise is done by Hearts and Hooves.  Hearts and Hooves is a non-profit organization that takes miniatures to hospitals, nursing homes, and many other places to provide emotional healing.
Finally, miniatures, like many other animals, can be used as investments.  Developing a winning history in the show ring can increase a miniatures value, as can breeding.

–Lauren Greaves

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Appaloosa Miniature Horses

Many appaloosas are born with lots of color while others are born solid and gradually acquire appaloosa coloration. It is very difficult to know at birth what color the foal from appaloosa parentage will be. Below is an example of a Xenon-Light Van’t Huttenest son that was born bay. When he was sold at four months of age he showed absolutely no appaloosa characteristics. He had no white hairs, no striped hooves, no scelera, and not even a speck of pink skin. Here you see him pictured at four months, three years, five years, and six years. He is Little America’s X- Skipper and is owned by Billie Lindale in New Jersey.

Here are some typical examples of appaloosa patterns. Pictured below are a snowcap blanket which is said to be homozygous, although currently there is no genetic test to prove this. The horse is Little America’s Tex Lil Feather, a son of Little America’s Sesquicentennial Tex. The next is a black blanketed app, Little America’s Tex Two Timer LHH, another son of Sesquicentennial Tex. The next is a leopard appaloosa, also by Tex, named Little America’s Tex Kickapoo. I might add that all three of these colts were born the color that they are shown and have pretty much stayed the same color. By the way, the last two colts are out of solid mares with no appaloosa background!

Blue Roan and Gray miniature horses

The A photo is a mature mare that is a true blue roan. You will see that her legs and head are black but her body is a mixture of black and white hairs making her appear bluish in color. When she has her winter coat she is mostly black.

The photo B is two gray fillies…. a weanling and a two-year old. The weanling was born black and the lighter one was born silver. Both will be white by the time they are eight to ten years of age.

The bottom five pictures are ALL OF THE SAME HORSE at various ages. C is at one day old. You can hopefully see that he shows some white on his nose and over his eyes. By the way, both his sire and dam are gray.

D is the same colt as a yearling. You will notice that he has lots of white hair scattered throughout his face (and also his body which you can’t see in this picture).

E is about three years of age… notice the dark at the top of his tail and his legs are still fairly dark. He is also showing dappling at this age.

F is about a year older … notice his legs have lightened and the tail is lighter. He still shows some dappling, but not as much as the year before.

G is age six… note the tail is almost totally white but he is still keeping some of the black in his mane but all the dapples has disappeared. He is now eight years old… sorry I don’t have a current picture. He is almost totally white… his mane has a slight grayish tint but the body is totally white.

The horse is NFC LA Egyptian King Rapsody by Hemlock Brook Egyptian King and out of Soat’s Lil Rapsady… Here is another dramatic example of the graying gene:

Roan Miniature Horses

Not all red roans have dark faces, even if the books say they should (the dark spots in the photo are water spots from a rain). She is really the same color of mixed red and white hairs throughout, but is not a grey because she stays the same color. The mare is Littlebit’s O’Honey.

This is a daughter of the above mare in early spring. She is much darker when she sheds, almost black.

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