Pearl the Wonder Mini

20/08/2023

Beautiful summer night. ☀️🐴💕

23/07/2023

Miss K is learning to ride with the bridle. Pearl is SO good with her. 🩷

23/07/2023

A girl and her pony 💕

05/07/2023

It’s been a while since we’ve shared pictures! ❤️❤️❤️❤️🐴

07/06/2023

Beautiful night to ride Pearl! ❤️🐴☀️

06/06/2023

Meeting her new family! 🥰❤️

06/06/2023

We’d like to welcome Pearl to the Dewald Ranch/Faul family! 💕

02/06/2023

New Roomates! Pearl is already making friends at her new home. 💗 Her new family is wonderful and I think make a perfect fit.

I will be turning her page over to them. 🙂
- Heather

02/06/2023

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)

Pearl is going to her new home this morning. The kids told her goodbye and how much they love her. Told her to be good for her new kids and teach them well. 💗

24/05/2023

Due to the kids moving up to riding their big horses and life circumstances we have decided to let Pearl go to a new family and teach more kiddos how to ride. Pearl is a super special mini and we know she will instill the love of horses in more kiddos. It is hard to part with her as she has been part of our family for 9 1/2 years. She joined us when she was a weanling. When she gets on the trailer to head to her new home I can promise you there won’t be a dry eye in the family.
She will be moving to her new family the beginning of June.

05/05/2023

It is that time of year again. (Finally!)

01/05/2023

Pearl stayed home this past weekend but her herd mates Sully and Okie were busy! They participated at the Minnesota Horse Expo representing the North Dakota Badlands Horses.

Sully and Okie were both born wild in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and were removed as weanlings to control the population in the park. Both are now excellent ambassadors for the horses still living wild in the park. Unfortunately, their future is currently foggy. NPS has announced a plan to remove all the horses from the park or at minimum drastically reduce the number to an unsustainable level.
We pray that the park hears the voices of the people who are speaking out to see these horses continue to thrive in their wild home.
If you want to find out more about the unique wild horses that call the TRNP home head on over to the NDBH page.

25/04/2023

Treats please?

21/04/2023

Me too Pearl, me too. This spring is sure feeling a lot like winter. Here in Mn we are breaking snowfall records left, right, and center. We are forecasted to receive additional snow today.

19/04/2023

When you are the littlest horse in the trailer you can squish between the big horses and be the first one out.

Throw back to 2 years ago.

18/04/2023

Buckskin breakfast buddies 💛💛

16/04/2023

Building Your Horse’s Confidence on the Trail

From I💙Horses.com

How To Build A Horse's Confidence On Trails
Modified: Jun 25, 2020 by ihearthorses

When you're out on the trails, you'll want your horse to be confident and dependable. A horse who lacks confidence can make trail riding stressful and even dangerous. But you can build your horse's confidence on trails. Here's how.

👫Ride With a Buddy
Going out on the trails alone goes against your horse's natural instincts and can build their confidence. Horses are herd animals and instinctively know that there is safety in numbers. While building your horse's confidence, try to always go out on the trails with a buddy who is already calm and confident. Your horse will be reassured by the presence of another horse, and the buddy's calm demeanor can help to teach your horse to relax on the trail.

➕Keep Rides Positive
As you build your horse's confidence on the trails, you'll want to make sure that each ride is a positive one. Start slowly - head out on the same trail a number of times to establish your horse's familiarity with the location. Keep your initial rides short, and set your horse up for success. Presenting your horse with too much too soon may overwhelm him, causing him to lose confidence on the trails. Instead, by heading out on short rides designed to be easy for your horse, you'll be reinforcing the fact that trails are positive events and that no harm comes to your horse while on the trails.

🎪Expose Your Horse to New Things

You're bound to encounter unexpected things while trail riding, such as loose dogs, joggers, or even bicyclists. While you're in the safety of your arena at home, start exposing your horse to some of these things which he may find frightening. Allow your horse to explore each new item and make sure that he becomes comfortable with it. When you're out on the trail, your horse will be better prepared to deal with the different sights and sounds that he may encounter.

🙅🏻‍♀️🤯Don't Overreact

If your horse does get nervous while out on the trails, one of the worst things that you can do is to overreact to the situation. If you punish your horse or make a big deal out of a spook, then you're just reinforcing the fact that your horse was right to get nervous. Instead, stay calm and ask your horse to focus on his work again. This approach can help to reduce your horse's spooking in the future.

By spending time building your horse's confidence on the trail, you'll be setting him up to be a more successful and safer trail horse.

Photo: Pearl on a spring trail ride. 🙂

16/04/2023

Birthday treats for our little Pearly.

15/04/2023

🎶Happy birthday to Pearl, happy birthday to Pearl, happy birthday our bestest mini Pearl! Happy birthday to you!🎶

05/04/2023

Currently we are in the top 3 snowiest winters here in MN. We are also the 2nd longest winter in number of days below 40*. These are records we don’t care to be breaking. 🥶
The good news is the horses are shedding like crazy and we saw robins this weekend. Spring has to come soon…right?

01/04/2023

Friends Pearl and Sully the North Dakota Badlands Horse.

01/04/2023

This April Fools Joke isn’t funny.

24/03/2023

You can always tell when two people are best friends because they’re always having way more fun than it makes sense for them to be having. -Unknown

20/03/2023

Equestrians be like…

🤣 Happy Monday Friends.

17/03/2023

Pearl and her herdmates waiting for their fresh bale of hay yesterday evening. Winter here is getting mighty long and we are anxious for green grass and sunshine.

Pearl’s friends:
L to R: Maggie (24), Ivy (8), Kismet (2), Sully (8), Peppy (25), and Lena (13).

All of them are American Quarter Horses except for Sully who is a North Dakota Badlands Horse and was born wild in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Kismet is Lena’s daughter. 🙂

12/03/2023

Don’t forget to spring your clocks forward. Happy daylight savings day!

11/03/2023

“Let the storm rage on. The cold never bothered me anyway.” – Elsa from Frozen

Well, Elsa we are pretty much over it. Come take your winter back.

11/03/2023

I was talking with a friend today about sleep deprivation in horses. So I thought I would share with you some information on horse sleep.

While it is true that horses can sleep standing up they do need to lay down to get REM sleep. If they do not they will suffer from sleep deprivation. Adult horses require around 3 hours of REM sleep in a 24 hour period. Most horses get these critical hours in short bursts around 15-30 minutes at a time.

Horses can snooze standing up because they have what is called a stay apparatus. This is a locking mechanism of ligaments, tendons, and muscles and lock the major joints. However, they can not go into REM sleep while standing.

Horses are prey animals so laying down is a dangerous position for them to be in should a predator attack. This means for a horse to lay down they need to feel safe. In the wild and even in domestication. Generally at least one horse will remain standing and be a lookout while the rest of the herd sleeps.

So, what are some factors that can lead to sleep deprivation in horses?

One factor can be that the horse doesn’t feel safe enough in their group or environment to lay down. This could be if the horse is new to the group, or maybe being bullied, or even if a horse is alone. Yes, some horses won’t lay down to sleep unless thhe have a trusted friend to be the lookout while they sleep.

Another factor that is more common in older horses can be joint issues. This may cause them to not want to lay down because it is painful or difficult for them.

Horses are neither nocturnal nor diurnal. Unlike you and I they don’t settle down for the night for a long sleep. They continue to alternate between rest and activity. Horses sleep habits vary dependent on their routines.

Signs of sleep deprivation in horses can be horses falling asleep at unusual times. For instance while being trailered, saddled, or while being rode. When sleeping standing up they will slip into REM sleep and their knees will buckle. If deprivation gets bad enough they can actually fall down when they go into REM sleep.

Sings to look for to know if your horse is getting good sleep are looking for signs in bedding, grass, or now where a horse has laid down. Grass or bedding in mane and tail or dirty spots on a horses side or face can also be good signs to look for.

Here are a couple pictures of Miss Pearl getting some rest today. She is happy and content in her herd. 🙂

06/03/2023

"Let a horse whisper in your ear and breathe on your heart. You will never regret it." ~ Author Unknown

Has your horse ever put its nose up to your nose or mouth and gently blowed on you? Ever wonder what that is all about?
Well, that is one way that horses show affection toward each other. Horses will show affection to one another by gently blowing in each other’s nostrils.
So when your horse blows on your face you can blow back gently into their nostrils and show them that you care about them too.

Photo credit goes to my friend Katie. She is so talented and capture this beautiful moment of Pearl and her kiddo.

06/03/2023

🤣🤣

🙌🏼🤣

03/03/2023

Did someone say treats?

01/03/2023

“The stormy March has come at last,
With winds and clouds and changing skies;
I hear the rushing of the blast
That through the snowy valley flies.”
~ William C. Bryant

01/03/2023

Happy March 1st. March is definitely coming in like a lion 🦁. No School, No Travel Advisory, 3 foot snow drifts across the driveway and roads. Pearl and her friends have good windbreak, all they can eat hay, and fresh clean water.

27/02/2023

Pearl and the herd did the equine equivalent of eating the cream filling first on the Oreo. 🤣
This is Pearl’s friend Ivy.

24/02/2023

We’ll share this 1,000 times over.
It’s a great reminder. ♥️

22/02/2023

“A star is not honored for its size, but for its light.”
Matshona Dhliwayo

22/02/2023

Another scammer reported by a friend. 😡

17/02/2023