History of the American Miniature Horse #miniaturehorse.

Hello everyone and welcome to Barefoot Minis. I thought I would talk today about the origins of the American Miniature Horse and let Gilean out. We got Vanessa right here, beautiful Nessie. Then I have Dove, little Night Blossom, and then Jamie, aftershock, got some flies on her. Get those flies off you, my sweet girl. And then we have Niobe here and Amelie. And I gotta go let Gilean out, so I'm gonna head this way. It poured in the dry lot yesterday and you can see the ground is like in waves. I'll talk to you more about the dry lot in a few days, the use of a dry lot, the importance of a dry lot, the pros and cons of a dry lot. Over here we have Victory and Romeo, the little stud herd. Hello Victory. Ducks are still taking a nap. I have a little time before I have to start my day, so I wanted to scoot out here. Then pretty soon I'm gonna share with you the history of the miniature horse. In my own words, everything I say is in my own words. I'm more of a writer. I am definitely more of a writer than a speaker, so bear with me. Hello? Alright. History of the breed, you winning and everybody, Guy Bugs? You happy to see your mares? Hello herd, the flies are disgusting, huh? You can escape the flies by going in the barn, they don't light on the horses as much in the barn. Flies are yucky this time of year, though. Get close to August and the flies kind of take over. Alright, history of the breed. The 34 inch and under American miniature horse began as a registered breed in the 1970s but has been around long before they were a registered breed in the United States of America. They came under different names, but they were still considered miniature versions of large horses and not ponies. American miniature horses are measured at the last hairs of the mane, at the base of the wither, or shortest part of the back. In one historically significant registry, minis are required to be no taller than 34 inches in height. Another historically significant registry allowed for a bee-sized mini. He may surpass 34 inches up to 38 inches tall at the back. There are several small breeds that minis are derived from and related to. The Shetland Pony of the Shetland Islands of Scotland and the Argentine Falabella. Falabella has been around since the 1800s and is said to be derived from Creole ponies, Welsh ponies and small thoroughbreds. Now, you do have to be mean to everybody. Your son comes out and you turn into a royal pain in the tush. Don't bite my toe, Dove. I nez you, nez me, me, sweet girl. The Shetland Pony is famous as a childhood pet known for rugged strength and larger-than-life dispositions. The Shetland Pony has been around since the time of Jesus Christ. Shetland ponies carried peat from the bogs. Peat was mainly used for fuel, heating houses, etc. Were used in farm chores like plowing and harvesting. Were used as coal mine pit ponies because they are ruggedly tough and small enough to fit easily in the mine tunnels and were treasured family pets. They had the strength of horses twice their size and needed less feed to survive. They also had an unflappability uncommon to larger breeds. The pit pony needed to be calm and predictable to do this dangerous job safely and efficiently. Why miniature horses? The miniature horse is technically a height breed. Other breeds fitting the standard and height criteria can be occasionally hard-shipped into the registry. So the miniature horse can be more genetically diverse than the Shetland or the Fella Bella. He can be every color, pattern, and coat color modifier in equestrian existence including Silver Dapple and Brindle. Silver is uncommon in large horse breeds and Brindle is an extremely rare pattern among horses. While the registry is comparably new, the breed's heritage is very old. Tiny horses were used to entertain royalty as pets and continue to be enjoyed but now by just about everyone if they are fortunate. How do minis differ from Shetland ponies or Fella Bella? Shetland ponies have historically been very dense and rugged. The features of the average pony are long back, short legs, and a large head. They are often stocky and coarse in conformation. While some mini horses do have rugged characteristics, this is not sought after in breeding minis. Fella Bella, in contrast, tend to be extremely refined and small and have conformation that is very specifically Fella Bella. His conformation characteristics differ from what we are accustomed in the modern miniature horse. The mini is between the two extremes of rugged and tiny and is selectively bred to have a more large horse-like appearance but conformation type varies widely. The modern American Shetland is very refined and can contain the influence of the Hackney and Welsh ponies. The breed is changing with the times but the breed goal remains the same. The goal is to breed for the smallest perfect horse in miniature. He should not have the traditional stereotypical rugged pony characteristics. He should have the proportionate conformation and gait of a large horse. So I thought that would be a synopsis of my breed, the breed that I've been proud to own for over 20 years. I think we're on year 27 this year maybe? But I'm going to have to look it up, maybe year 28. How long have we been doing this, Niobe? Probably 27 years. But they've been, they're still fun to me, they still bring me a lot of joy. They still, every day I come out and I wonder, I wonder at what I have to learn today about this breed. What I need to do to improve this breed. What do I need to do, what are they going to teach me? What lessons do I have that I need to learn? We have Amelie over here, everybody's looking a mess and covered in flies but she's already putting on a winter coat and it's only July. We have Jamie here that is a little bit too thin and she needs a dental. She's my oldest homebred mini at 23 and she's holding up well but she's a little sunken in the flanks. We have Vanessa here who looked like she was putting on weight and all of a sudden is thin again because we had a cool night. We have Gilean here who likes to boss everybody around and be in charge and run everybody and frustrate me. We have Dev here that's just going to be real chunky and it's okay Dev because as she gets older she'll get skinnier. We have Niobe here who's 22, she's in really good shape. She probably also needs a dental but when I feel her teeth they may have some hooks and points because they feel rather dull to me. She's also been kind of thin this year. It may be that I need to up my game when it comes to my deworming regimen. Zymectrin has been the same brand forever but it has changed and the company changed. So I don't know, I kind of like to stick with what works and what is successful and if Zymectrin has changed companies they may have slightly changed their formula or their inactive ingredients or maybe not but for some reason sometimes that makes a difference. Victory over there, too thin also. Romeo looking good but has a cough so I have to work on him, make sure to figure out that cough and then as the herd ages I have to learn with them what I need to do to make them better. What do I need to do to increase their health and help them to thrive. I've had to learn how to raise bulls, I've had to learn how to handle stallions, I've had to learn how to deal with mares, I've had to learn how to train. I'm still learning, I'm still learning constantly and that's also what I love about this breed is how there's never a dull moment. There's always something to learn, right guy bugs? And I need to trim your front hooves, your back hooves aren't too bad. I guess one important thing is just don't get too big in miniature horses or in anything and then you'll always have room to grow if you don't get too big too fast. You keep growing over the years, you don't get overwhelmed, you can enjoy them a lot longer. It'll be harder for me to find things to share in the wintertime because I don't like to take my equipment out in the winter. But anyway, I've talked my head off with you guys. Jesus loves you.