I decided to send some pictures to Long Hopes, the place we adopted Whimsey from. Kathy, the owner promptly told me Whimsey was getting too fat. *lol*

But actually, it isn’t really funny. Letting mini mules, as well as horses, get too fat can create serious problems for them.

For one thing, as with all of us, it adds stress to their already little legs and makes it harder for them to get around.

But more importantly, it can cause “foundering” which can kill them.

Foundering is:
Laminitis, commonly called founder, is an acutely painful inflammation of the foot. It occurs most often in the front feet although it can affect the hind feet as well. Founder is the name given to the resultant tissue damage and complications following one or a series of acute attacks of laminitis.

In the worst case, permanent damage to the laminae can result and the attachment of the coffin bone to the hoof wall breaks down. The whole weight of the horse bears down on the coffin bone, and without the attachment to the hoof wall, the bone rotates down and can actually be pushed right through the sole to the ground. Thanks to Acreage Equine.

And if a horse can’t stand on its feet, well, I don’t even want to go there.

So sometimes we think we’re spoiling out pets, when really, we’re harming them. I’m guilty of this, but trying to be better. This shows once again, we need to educate ourselves about out pets.

It’s interesting, but after losing 35 pounds myself, I can attest to feeling better.

Have you ever had equines?

We adopted Whimsey, our mini mule in early July ‘08. We are really enjoying having her as part of our family. She so cute! Only about 38 inches tall.

Before we adopted her, I knew very little about mini mules, mini horse, mini donkeys, or the like. We have horses, (more on that later) so I’m a little familiar with how they think and act, but as I continue my research, I’m finding there’s very little in common between the donkey and the horse.

To help understand them a little, we should begin with the mule. A mule is a 1/2 donkey and 1/2 horse, but apparently the donkey is the more dominate when it comes to the foal.

Donkeys have a strong sense of self preservation. Unlike horses, their flight reflex is not strong. They are very aware of changes in footing, thus making them great on trails such as the Grand Canyon.

It can take a donkey a very long time to trust you and it’s best to allow him/her time. Prove to them that you are trust worthy. Often times, we call an animal stubborn or stupid, when we are the problem. As the human, it’s our responsibility to grow in understanding about the wonderful animals we’ve been given the privilege to care for.

As with any animal, it’s vital that WE learn THEIR language and not expect it to be otherwise.

Do you have any experience with a miniature animal? If so, please share.

I’m an animal lover from way back, and have had many of them over the years.

My daughter and I recently opened a pet jewelry website and I wanted to have a blog to go with it.

I plan on talking a bit about each of our special pets, over the course of this blog and to share some of our fun, as well as educational experiences with you.

Currently we have 3 horses, (actually one of them is mini mule), 4 dogs, a macaw and a few fish.

Unfortunately, we’ve lost several over the last 3 years. I guess we all get old.

But it is not my intent to share anything sad. This is to be a fun way of sharing the wonderful funny times we all have with our pets.

I hope you join in.

How many pets do you have now? And what kind?

Next post: my mini mule