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Origin of Dwarf Horses
Over the past 100 years there has been a great amount of disagreement regarding the origins and genetic characteristics of miniaturized horses. Some tiny horse breeds such as the Falabella horses of Argentina were developed in a totally separate environment from the tiny European horses of the eighteenth century, and independent breeding programs have been established on every continent on the globe.
USA breeders claim that because the horses were bred exclusively for size, dwarf traits have became commonplace in tiny ponies, while overseas breeders note that the rates of dwarfism are less in countries that have rejected the breeding of tiny ponies with undesirable dwarf characteristics.
Click here to read about dwarf horse genetics
Small size is important for USA miniature horses
So, does selective breeding foster dwarfism and high reproductive loss? There is evidence supporting both arguments, but there has been no openly-published research comparing the dwarfism rates between USA breeders and overseas breeders.
However, it is clear that USA miniature horse breeding registries emphasize small size.
The American Miniature Horse Association (One of the registries in the USA) publishes that the "ideal" miniature horse must be small:
“The ideal Miniature Horse of today, according to the American Miniature Horse Association's Standard of Perfection, must be small (standing at or less than 34 inches tall as measured from the last hairs of the mane,)”
The American Miniature Horse Association has published that today's knowledge of genetics has made the possibility of breeding specifically for size a reality.
"Today, knowledge of genetics has made the possibility of breeding specifically for size a reality."
Of course, the breeding of animals exclusively for size was practiced for centuries before Gregor Mendel's research and the introduction of genetic knowledge.
There appears to be a resistance to learning about the deliberate introduction of dwarfism and a clear profit motive. Someone claiming to be Tony Greaves, President of AMHA, published the following comment on June 18, 2001. Regardless of the author, it serves to validate the assertion that the USA miniature horse gene pool was deliberately contaminated and shows the breeders priority of economic profit versus dwarf suffering:
"What if the gene was isolated and it was determined that EVERY miniature horse carries it? What then? I don't want to go back into the Quarter Horse business, so I will continue to work with what we have".
Does selective breeding foster equine dwarfism?
According to some experts, a sad side-effect of breeding horses exclusively for size are the inevitable manifestations of equine dwarfism and the accompanying genetic anomalies that are well-know in animal husbandry. According to Barbara Ashby in an article in Miniature Horse World Magazine:
"Any breed of animals that attempts to reduce size has to accept dwarfism as the unwanted by-product. We as breeders of miniature horses can do everything possible to minimize the possibility but it will always be with us".
However, it is very clear that dwarf genes have deliberately been introduced into American Miniature horses, and some "famous" miniature stud horses has obvious equine dwarfism characteristics.
Bond Tiny Tim (only 19” tall, AMHA Registration number R 00015P) was said to have suffered from numerous dwarfism-related health issues, yet he was bred extensively, passing-on his potentially crippling genetic mutations to thousands of his descendents throughout the USA.
Andrea Rollins comes to the same conclusion in her publication titled Breed Standard:
"In the past century, dwarf horses were purposely used in breeding programs because of their diminutive size (even compared to the Miniature!). Thus, the Dwarf gene is floating around in many bloodlines today, and it is difficult to locate as the gene has not been identified by geneticists."
The USA Breeders Defense
On the other hand, an author who has published photographs of dead dwarf miniature horses claims that:
"The gene that causes dwarfism can be found in every pedigree, pet quality, show quality, as well as the "taller" minis."
Of course, it has been known for centuries that dwarf characteristics are inherited. There is a huge body of clinical evidence that mammals with dwarf characteristics have a higher probability of producing dwarf offspring. According human studies by the Greenberg Center for Skeletal Dysplasias:
“Achondroplasia is an autosomal dominant condition (see the genetics section for further details). This means that a person with achondroplasia a 1 in 2 or 50% chance of having children with achondroplasia.”
According to some professional breeders, equine dwarfism remains a serious problem in the USA breed and many professional breeders acknowledge that the introduction of dwarf genes into the USA gene pool has made "dwarfism a reality", even for the most careful midget pony breeder.
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