Facilities for Miniature Horses at Dragonara Miniature Stud

A view of our L-shaped stable block in which our minis are
housed in total purpose built comfort.

A lot of my time is spent on the yard in the dark so it is very important that
everywhere is well lit. I always check the horses late at night before I go to bed.

Rusty has a very large stable 12' x 12'even though he is small. I feel it is important to give a stallion plenty of room for his happiness. He has bars on top of his door so that I can tease the mares over the stable door with safety, however he can still see out which is important even though he is turned out every day unless it is raining-which he hates even with a rug and hood on.

The stable doors were purpose built to allow our minis to see ober the door. Jack is actually standing on the ledge so he does not miss anything! When the weather is very bad -for example snow is forecast mu husband swaps all the doors over for full height ones that we had when we had ridden show ponies.

Our horses have won many, many titles and consequently they often have door plaques awarded (pictured here are Horse of the Year Show, The Royal International and The Festival of Champions) Rather than hide them away we like to display them on their doors.

Rusty's stallion paddock. Again the gateway is smart and practical
as this is next to the house.

This is our small outdoor manege which I had built approximately two years ago. It was built for outdoor turnout in bad weather to avoid churning the paddocks up and for working the minis. Unfortunately I have not got the rubber/plastic chipped surface right I have far too much down so it is due to be replaced with silica sand I think.
(If anyone wants 5 tons of very nearly new rubberised/plactisised chipping surface it is available TOTALLY FREE OF CHARGE-you will just need to collect it)

A very large field shelter is a must.
All the minis turned out in this paddock can get into this one if it rains or in complete
contrast it is simply too hot-it is always well used by everyone.
We plan to add a gate to it in case anyone needs to be isolated from the others.

Lil Beginnings Miniature Horse & Tack Top Sites / Bowens Design

Check out the Top 50 Miniature Horse sites!

We are very keen on security and we have many cameras.
We like to think our horses are safe!

Our Miniatures are housed right outside our kitchen back door.
This useful in so many ways-great security (although we have CCTV on the yard too),the horses see us going about our daily business
and lastly it means I can feed morning and night
with my dressing gown and slippers on!

For extra safety there is a gate which is kept shut when any of the Minis are in their stable.
The sign on the wall says 'Tinkers Row'-I spotted this at an antique fair and
although it is an old road sign I thought it rather
fitting to be on the wall as you enter our stable yard.

At present the horses are bathed on the yard. I have had non slip mats fitted for this purpose as it also stops water splashing back up on their legs.

A new project for 2010 is a purpose built wash room with hot water and heat lamps (Presently the heat lamps are fitted in a stable for the purpose of drying and the hot water for bathing is fetched from the kitchen)This will be in addition to a new foaling box that is much nearer to the house. These two new buildings will be added to the existing block and will replace my husbands two sheds (see below)

We use permanent post and rail with wide 40mm electric tape in between. In addition I have a 'bum' height strand inside the fence to protect my tails. The horses really respect it and we do not have any rubbed manes and tails! All the paddocks that border our long drive have sheep net too-just to deter an adventurous little foal. Larger paddocks are split using 4'plastic posts and 40mm electric tape.All paddocks have fresh water in all weather black tubs. I prefer these to the galvanised piped water option because I can keep them really clean and palatable.

We are situated right in the heart of the country, just North of the beautiful Cathedral City of Lichfield. We benefit from excellent road links being able to access the M1, M5, M6, M42, M40 and the A38 easily which makes attending shows less stressful for the horses.

We live in a very small hamlet consisting of 6 properties. We live in a converted barn that was originally built in 1885. Since purchasing we have added a new L shaped stable block and totally refenced all the land. Two years ago we added a miniaturised outdoor school.

We have divided our land into 10 paddocks of different sizes. None are very large but it enables me to give the horses their daily freedom (all horses are stabled at night all year round)but monitor the right amount of grass to keep their figures too.

Our paddocks and fencing have been adapted to suit the needs of miniatures and are very well maintained. Our fencing is electric, greatly respected by all! We find this fencing very adaptable and great for keeping manes and tails intact.

Fields are chain harrowed, rolled and fertilised in the Spring and droppings removed weekly. The horses have shade from the trees, hedges and field shelters.

This is a view of the manege and front paddock.

Here is a view across one of our drive paddocks through to the conservatoty
paddock. Ella is grazing peacefully under one of the Cherry trees
that we planted to give shelter from the sun.

We believe in a very safe ,smart environment for our horses.All paddocks have safe spacious gateways most have concrete access to eliminate mud!.
(The horseshoes on the gate are not miniature ones they are our memory of four National Champion show ponies that we used to own)