To anyone who has worked with Miniature horses, it’s no surprise that these little horses can have mighty big personalities.

This is especially true with Henry, Maggie and Hope.

These three “minis,” as Miniature horses are often called, were more than a handful. These horses had never been trained, and after their owner died, they were taken in by another relative. Vanessa and her boyfriend had no experience with horses, but they loved their uncle, and they wanted to try to take care of the minis in honor of him.

The minis regularly escaped from their enclosure. Vanessa and her boyfriend tried their best to round up the minis, but these little guys were smart and wily, and often remained outside of their pen for days.

At the end of her rope, Vanessa posted to Facebook, saying she needed to rehome the minis. Shara Wiesenauer, our Equine Director, saw her post and reached out to offer help.

Shara and Jessica Glaab from our Equine team arrived at Vanessa’s door.

“It was mayhem,” says Shara with a chuckle. “We spent hours rounding up the horses. Henry the stallion especially did not want to be captured, and he led us on some wild goose chases.”

Finally, all three minis were in the transport vehicle and headed to the KHS barn.

Not only were the horses unsocialized, but they were also underweight. None had received medical, dental, deworming or farrier care for over two years. Our team started them on a refeeding program. Once the minis were of healthy weight, they were dewormed, vaccinated and treated for lice, and Henry was gelded.

Our dedicated team then started daily work with the minis to improve their ground manners. After months in rehabilitation, they are now healthy and well-behaved horses who love spending time together.

“Henry is a very serious guy who watches over his ‘family.’ Maggie is a very sweet, calm girl who goes with the flow. And Hope, the baby, is a spitfire who likes to make her opinion known when things are not as she thinks they should be – whether it’s feeding time or time to be turned out to pasture,” says Shara.

Finally, the little family was ready for adoption. And Shara found just the perfect match: Diana has a huge heart for animals, and wanted to keep the little family together.  Henry, Maggie and Hope now live with two other minis, and they are in training to be used in children’s programs.