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Court rules in favor of Miniature horse for neighborhood subdivision
In a protracted Rhode Island court battle, a homeowner successfully challenged a anti-livestock law, winning the right to keep Sonny, their miniature horse in a neighborhood subdivision.
In one of the most eloquent statements in jurisprudence, the judge finds that Sonny the miniature horse is more like a dog than the conventional horse:
Sonny's shoulders will never be higher than 3 feet from the ground and his weight will never exceed 150 pounds. The animal, by all descriptions, as well as by the Court's view on July 6, is gentle, amiable and not high strung or vicious in the least. His stature and weight will never reach that of a Great Dane, a Bull Mastiff, or a Saint Bernard; and it is unlikely that any training could make him into a guard or attack animal along the lines of a Doberman Pincher, a German Shepherd or a Pit Bull.
Indeed, the popular name for this animal--"miniature horse"--is an apt one. When Shakespeare's Richard III cried out to his deity and the fates to supply him with a horse in return for his kingdom, if Sonny (or one of his ancestors) had appeared from the underbrush into the clearing, the distraught king surely would have uttered an Anglo-Saxon expletive that would make an Elizabethan audience blush and then fallen on his sword. [FN1] Alas, Sonny the miniature horse cannot be ridden nor used to pull a plow through a field.
FN1. "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" from William Shakespeare, King Richard III, Act V, Scene 4.
Further, the judge deemed that a miniature horse is not considered livestock within the legal definition:
"As I indicated above, the intent of the drafters of the restrictive covenants was not to bar a pet such as Sonny, but rather to prohibit cattle and horse farms, chicken coops and the like."
However, it should be noted that Sonny performed a service for a disabled person. The judgment notes:
"Balancing the equities, the Mignaccas have found a gentle pet and wholesome activity for Christian, whose weak legs, problematic growth plates and braces prevent him from participating in other competitive activities, such as baseball and football, with his friends and other children of his age, and this clearly outweighs the undifferentiated fears of the Homeowners Association and the individual plaintiffs."
The full text of the decision can be found here:
http://www.courts.state.ri.us/superior/pdf/01-2615.PDF
The appellate case is here:
http://www.guidehorse.com/law_mini_ri.htm
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