The first time Marcia Gardinier saw two little kids riding mini-horses and being led by another child, she knew she had to have one. That same day she bought one of those mini-horses, and now she breeds them. Above a baby mini-horse on the Gardinier horse farm.|
The first time Marcia Gardinier saw two little kids riding mini-horses and being led by another child, she knew she had to have one. That same day she bought one of those mini-horses, and now she breeds them.
Marcia and Jim Gardinier live on the outskirts of Clear Lake on 32nd Street. They are big lovers of animals, and if you went to their farm you would see evidence of this. They have three quarter horses, Ginnys, tame rabbits, turkeys, white pigeons, ducks, pea hens, peacocks, chickens, three indoor dogs, and many miscellaneous critters walking around.
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What catches your eye as your driving by though are those cute mini-horses. Right now, these mini-horses are having mini-horses of there own. Marcia said that so far she has seven babies and will end up with twenty when all are born.
These baby-minis are no bigger than the size of a medium-size dog. “These are not Shetland ponies, these are mini-horses,” Marcia said, making sure we knew the difference.
When we went to meet these mini-horses, we could definitely tell the difference. As soon as we walked in the pasture, they started walking towards us. “They are starved for attention,” said Marcia. “They like being around people, but can only carry a small child.” The babies aren’t so eager yet, preferring to stay close to their mother.
Like the Husky dog, mini-horses can be born with blue eyes, or glass eyes. They can have one blue and one a different color and their eyelashes extend about an inch long. “They are trusting animals,” says Marcia.
Marcia has 24-25 mares and 2 studs. The studs are kept in the barn until June, when the breeding starts. The mares have an 11 month pregnancy, so Marcia tries to time the babies to come in the spring time. When the babies are weened, Marcia sells them to her buyer in California. She has sold seven so far, and will have about twenty when all the babies are born. She don’t name them, but does name their mothers. Many are named after country music singers such as Patsy Cline, Reba, Holly Dunn, and Precious Pearl, whose mom was Minnie Pearl.
“The mini’s, at one time, were being used as ‘guide dogs’, and they’d put little shoes on them. They were better than dogs because they weren’t drawn to people as much and kept to their job,” explains Marcia.
At the end of our tour, we bought a couple dozen brown eggs, which Jim sells for $2.00 a dozen. What a nice way to spend an afternoon. Thanks Marcia for you hospitality.|
