Miniature Horse History

The History of Miniature Horses & Ponies

The earliest history of miniature horses was in the 1650 A.D. records at the Palace at Versailles where King Louis XIV (The Sun King) kept a vast Zoo, replete with unusual animals, including tiny horses.

In the mid 20th Century, many distinct small horse breeds emerged including the Miniature Shetland Pony, the Miniature Toy Horse and the Midget Pony. These breeds formed this historical foundation for the Miniature Horse breed.

The American Miniature Horse breed

In 1978 the American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) officially established the "Miniature Horse" as a separate horse breed

Click here to read how AMHA created the American Miniature Horse breed.

There are many other US miniature horse registries , but the AMHA is credited as establishing the American Miniature horse as a separate breed.

Foreign Miniature Horse History

There are many independent histories of miniature horses across the world, all with varying foundation stock and differing bloodlines:

Australian Miniature Pony history - The Australian Miniature Pony became a recognized breed in 1974, and was established as a result of crosses with small Shetland ponies and Falabella ponies.
Falabella horse history - This describes the evolution of the Falabella breed.
Miniature Toy Horse History - The founder of the British Miniature Horse Registry describes the evolution of the Miniature Toy Horse breed in England.
Monastery Miniature Horses - The Catholic Sisters (Franciscan POOR CLARE Nuns) have an interesting page on miniature horse history.
New Zealand Miniature Horse History - This site claims that their breed was the result of selective breeding with the Icelandic ponies.

While many have unique versions of the history of miniaturized ponies, it is very clear that many names and breed standards for miniature horse have evolved over the past century.

The History of Miniature Horse breed standards

In the 20^th Century, independent miniature horse breeding programs were established around the globe.

Because of the different historical origins of miniature horses there is widespread disagreement about the "ideal" conformation standards for miniature horses and miniature ponies. This issue is further muddled by the historical breeding of dwarf miniature horse stallions in some USA breeding programs.

Click here to read about each miniature horse breed.

Some miniature horse breeds standards prefer short, stout legs and elongated torsos while others prefer large-horse conformation. This infighting has led to the creation of more than 20 registries were formed.