Horse people! Pony aficionados!

Ok, so there are regular horses.
and then ponies, which are shorter horses.

Are the TINY horses called mini-ponies (which was my guess)
or MINI-horses (which my date thinks. WHICH MAKES NO SENSE BECAUSE EVEN SMALLER WOULD BE SMALLER THAN A PONY A PONY IS A SMALL HORSE)
Or are there mini horses which are like a medium and mini ponies which are like extra small?

and how do you go about making these tinier horses??

...I await answers.

They're technically called Miniature Horses... Although everyone just refers to them as "minis."

Miniature horses!

Well, it's a lot like dogs. You have big dogs, and little dogs, and dwarf dogs.

Similar concept. But it depends a lot on the breed, the organization/registry, actual height, and phenotype more so than it does in dogs.

Ponies have a height definition but also a conformational definition. You wouldn't call an Arabian horse a pony just because it's 14.1. The Caspian horse is called a horse even though it's pony-size, due to its conformation. I think that's what the mini people were going for as well.

Yes, what Xandra said. While "pony" heights apply to non-breed specific showing (If your Connemara is over 14.2, it can't compete as a pony even though it is still technically a pony because Connemaras are always ponies), breeds are either pony breeds or horse breeds. And Mini-horses are (in theory) horse proportioned. In reality, most of them look like hippo crosses, but in theory, horses.

Miniature horses. Which, yes, are smaller than ponies.

They are supposed to be "scaled down" versions of big horses, like, everything I'd in proportion ... just smaller. A pony is a completely different class of equine who are still measured by "hands" (I think pony height is 10.5-14.2 hands, but am not positive) I know that doesn't make sense, lol but that's the best way I can explain it lol.

I have 4 minis that I train for driving. It's a buttload of fun! There are a lot of different types and, as with dog breeders, crappy mini breeders breed some really unfortunate looking little critters. It doesn't help that most people just think of them as nothing more than a novelty or backyard pet.

There are 2 main mini registries, the AMHA which registers miniatures up to 34" at the last hair of the mane and AMHR which registers up to 38" at the last hair. A lot of the modern miniatures also have some American Shetland breeding as well and a lot are double or triple registered.

Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Miniature horses






Ponies









Okay. So that doesn't really clear anything up except to say that both horses and ponies have a wide ranges of sizes and body types. lol

It's like a whole new species!!

I know right? It makes me think of this.



vs. this



lol

That horse has dwarfism. So sad.

Yes unfortunately, dwarfism shows up more when something is scaled down it seems.

It is kind of cute, though.

Yes it's also worth saying that there are a good many crappy mini breeders out there and it's very hard to weed out the good from the bad ... most even have Shetland pony blood in them.

What's really sad is a particular breed called the Falabella, they are supposed to be the smallest and suffer from a lot of health problems because of it.

Yeah that sad critter is a dwarf miniature horse. Fortunately there is now a test for it so there is no excuse for those to be produced anymore.

I've never seen a real miniature horse like those before, that are really horse-proportioned. Only the weird dwarfy ones. Those are pretty cool.

I met the worlds smallest horse (which I have not checked current status...she may not be anymore) Thumbelina several years back. She was hard to look at, poor dear.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbelina_(horse)

There's a few mini's out there I really, really like. And Welsh Cobs have a certain spot in my heart. I was going to show a few here for Fran, but I totally blanked out on the names. Which is so infuriating, because I can see them so clearly in my head!


A whole farm with A, B, C, and D Welsh ponies...started with a G. Clearly a welsh name.

And a very nice Mini stud who stood at a farm with a lot of other nice horses, too. The stud himself I THINK was sliver....and Tobi. I think.

UUUGGGGGHHHH.

*goes to scour the internet.

Found the Welshes I was looking for, but couldn't find that mini stud.

Here are some ponies:




And some Minis...

I had no idea there were horses that tiny that aren't dwarfs or little Shetland ponies!

What are they bred for, besides as pets?