The miniature is a horse that is under 34" in height at maturity, the height being measured at the withers, or shoulder blades, precisely where the mane ends.
Where did these horses originate? Their history is as intriguing as the horses themselves. Although relatively rare in comparison with other breeds, and all but unheard of until about 30 years ago, rich and colorful stories about the miniature horses weave in and out of history.
Earlist legends place them in the courts of royalty, where they were unique and fanciful gifts, and playthings for the young lords and ladies of the palace. It is reported that Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, began a fad in the mid-1800's as she used miniature horses to pull her carriage around the streets of Paris. Like all fads, however, they were soon out of fashion and forgotten about.
Discarded "toys", some of these small horses eventually found their way into the circuses that traveled across Europe. Intelligent, affectionate, eager to please and easy to train, miniatures have always made good "performers". Today's circuses, however, tend to prefer dwarfs over the true miniature. (Dwarfs may be only 12" high; they are not a true breed, however, but rather the result of a cell mutation in utero, resulting in stunted growth, abnormal proportions, and normally a very limited lifespan due to various health problems associated with the deformity of dwarfism.)
When "pit ponies" began to be imported from England for work in the Appalachian coal mines, some very tiny horses were noticed among them. These were bought up by individuals intrigued by their small stature, who began searching out the tiniest horses they could find. With the idea of reducing horses to their prehistoric size of 12 inches, they began selectively breeding them for size while trying at the same time to keep the sleek conformation lines of the larger horse, as opposed to the chunkier look of the common backyard pony.
Fascinated by the idea of horses in miniature, enthusiasm and interest in the timy creatures spread, and in 1978 the American Miniature Horse Association was formed, officially recognizing the miniature horse as a breed, and setting forth breed standards and height limits. The competition as made the American Mininature Horse what it is today: a breed devoted to perfection in miniature.
