ERIN – This year marks the first time there will be a Mini Horse Show at the Erin Fall Fair. Chair of the show, Jen Ying, who cares for several minis at her farm – Hobby Acres Farm in Ospringe – is excited about the event.
There has been great success and interest in the Welsh Pony component of the fair for decades now, and when Ying was asked to bring her minis to the equine tent at last year’s fair, she agreed. “They were a huge hit. I asked why there wasn’t a mini event, and that’s what happens. You bring it up, you take it on,” she said with a laugh.
Jennifer Mitchell, chair of the Welsh Pony Show since 1996, said, “There’s not really any connection between the two breeds, other than miniature horses were developed by selectively breeding small horses and ponies – so that may have included Welsh Ponies at some point.”
The huge success, and the hard work of those involved in the Welsh Pony show prompted the Welsh Pony and Cob Association of Ontario to select the Erin showing as a Campion of Champions qualifier at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.
The Mini Horse Show seems a great fit for the Erin Fall Fair.
The Wellington Advertiser spent some time with Ying on her farm where Ying said that as chair of the event, she will not be handling any of her minis, but believes the event will be a success.
Her love for her minis is apparent in how she interacts with them. She laughs as one of her equine friends, Abby, nudges her playfully, looking for treats.
Ying said there has been “huge interest already. We’re having an open show. So, your horse doesn’t have to be registered with the American miniature horse registry or association.”
Ying brings “unwanted” minis to her farm and rehabilitates them. “Minis have so much to offer,” she said. Ying is a nurse practitioner psychotherapist and is able to use her minis to help some clients work through their challenges.
“It’s important to spread the word that these horses don’t just have to be ridden by small children. Adults can have fun with them, too,” she said.
“You can dress them up in costumes, which Abby loves to do, and train them in in-hand agility, much like when you run beside your dog for agility courses. Minis love it and Abby is really good at it.
“There is so much you can do. Some of our minis drive – you can attach a cart behind them. They also do liberty work, which is the tricks. You stand next to them, and you ask them to bow, or you ask them to sit, but you’re not actually tethered to them by a halter or lead. So, there’s lots of really amazing things that you can do. And what’s great about minis is you don’t need a huge acreage,” she said.
Ying’s minis include a miniature donkey, which she said is considered a mini horse in the equine world, and is welcome at the fair. Group A minis can be up to 34” at the wither (shoulder), and Group B up to 38”.
Ying said fair goers can expect a lot of events at the Mini Show this year. “There is going to be some fun games, like egg and spoon races. While handling your mini you’re going to have to balance an egg on a spoon. And young children who are able to mount their minis can actually try to hold the egg and spoon.”
There will also be costume events, mini cart driving and contests that feature showmanship – like handling, pedigree, and in-halter. “There will be about 15 events,” Ying said.
Ying’s dry lot is perfect for Wilma, Tonka, Eddie, Abby, Bucky and Remington. Ying said it’s important to keep them busy, active and in a dry paddock. “Morbid obesity is a huge killer for many,” she said.
“Minis don’t need fancy barns. They make great backyard pets,” she said.
Life with a mini
Small but mighty – Jen Ying of 2 Acres Hobby Farm in Ospringe and chair of Erin Fall Fair’s new Mini Horse Show is surrounded by her equine friends. Photos by Lorie Black
Sara Veenstra (née Vanderpol) has had her 21-year-old mini Sunny for 20 years. He hasn’t been in any fairs, but he has given great joy to Sara, her family and friends since Sara was 12 years old.
“It was the love of horses as a little girl that brought him into my life,” she said. Veenstra’s family got their first ponies when she was six years old, “and we haven’t looked back since.”
I wanted a young pony to work with and make my own. He was bred by good family friends of ours who offered him to us as a yearling.”
She credits Sunny with her career as a farrier. “He hadn’t been handled that much when we bought him. So, I spent a lot of time with him that summer when I was 12.”
Veenstra worked with Sunny and learned about reading equine body language and “not asking them for too much all at once,” she said.
Her business, Warrior Horseshoeing, takes her all over Wellington County where she works with many types of horses, donkeys and ponies. But she still finds time to spend with Sunny every day on her family’s farm.
Veenstra loves Sunny’s “spunky personality, his character quirks, like diving for the first grass available, having his itchy spots, swinging his head when he’s excited, always nickering and whinnying when we come out to the barn.”
Veenstra said there is an open door at the back of Sunny’s stall so that he “has the option to be outside whenever he wants to.”
She takes care of his grooming, hoof and wound care and keeps a close eye on his teeth. “Minis are prone to have deformities in their mouths and are also prone to laminitis, a condition when excess sugars in the blood lead to inflammation and damage to the feet,” she said.
“I rode him a bit when I was younger but have always been a bit tall for him even when we got him.” While he was never formally trained to ride, Veenstra said on occasion she “let him gallop across the field with me aboard.”
When Sunny was seven, Veenstra trained him to “lunge, and ground drive (have the harness on and me walking behind him, sans carriage).” Sunny’s breeder helped the young Veenstra hitch Sunny up to his cart so she could take him out along sideroads. “All of the cart pulling he has done has been at the farm or on quiet backroads,” she said.
“Sunny has a spunky personality,” Veenstra said. When the Wellington Advertiser spent some time with him, he was in sweet spirits. “As a stallion he is always trying to be the leader, as he would be in a herd in the wild,” Veenstra added.
Sunny needs regular reminders of his boundaries, Veenstra said, but “he is sweet with those he knows and absolutely loves having his mane and tail combed.”
Sunny’s braided tail swept across his flanks, and he lifted his ears as if he understood.
Like all of us, Sunny has his quirks. “He is very food motivated and easily excitable,” Veenstra said. She added that he is not fond of cats “and has been known to chase cats and pick them up by their ears!”
Veenstra said it takes time to get to know Sunny. “He tries to have a tough guy shell but really is a sweetheart,” she said.
While Sunny won’t be there, people will have an opportunity to enjoy the talents and beauty of mini horses at this year’s Erin Fall Fair.
