A or B, which do you prefer?

[Performancemini]

Disney: Know what you mean about fitting everything in! That's why, sadly, we don't have our Shetlands anymore. The minis and their equipment fit in better.

I like A's and B's. We started with small B's, and now have two taller B's and one taller A and my mom's "medium" A. My husband likes the B's for hitch; but we have a friend with a team of 30" A's that work super. As far as confirmation: well, they don't all have to be show horses; but you do need generally good confirmation so a horse can do the job you wish him to do and a good mind too!

 

[Margot]

We have all A size double registered minis. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I just do not like the very shetland looking bigger horses with big plain heads, and some lack the body depth and spring of rib that I think is important. I can appreciate the hackney like action but do not like it for my horses. It is harder to get the big horse look in the smaller minis but that what is many breeders are striving for and certainly when you compare minis of years ago to even the smaller minis of today you can see a big difference in refinement. It is personal preference, I love all dogs but I prefer the smaller ones in them too .

 

[targetsmom]

I have a great deal of respect and admiration for those that breed the really tiny ones and strive for that most perfect tiny horse, 30" and under. But I have to admit I prefer my minis to be a bit taller, say 32-34" because we like to do performance, including driving. That does not mean I like the trend toward Shetlands though... I am not a Hackney fan (never was, never will be) and am not fond of what I consider plain heads on the Shetlands. So while we prefer our minis to stay A size, our crosses don't always work out that way, and we will probably end up with a couple of B size minis in the near future - but EXCELLENT driving prospects. One thing about conformation - people who see Clyde, our B mini - tell us he doesn't look like a mini he looks like a HORSE. We agree.

All our minis are AMHR and PtHA registered, and AMHA registered unless/until they grow too tall.

 

[Minimor]

I am not sure why so many people think that "Shetland" = "hackney movement"???

Most of my Shetlands have more sport horse type movement than hackney movement...

 

[disneyhorse]

Yep, minimor... It's HARD to find good hackney movement in the Shetlands!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

My tiny 28.5" mare aside (she was bottle raised and is special to me) I prefer the larger miniatures and LOVE the shetland influence that often seems to give the horse better movement and angles. That said, I am not a fan of the hackney and altho I can appreciate and enjoy the single pleasure horse movement, as well as I can a tiny horse with its pit a pat trot, I have no wish to own one. I think my ideal is a B mini with a stride like a warmblood.

 

[susanne]

[bTW -- Has anyone else had their written post disappear when they hit the delete key? I wanted to delete a word, not the entire post! I've had this happen several times now...]

I am not sure why so many people think that "Shetland" = "hackney movement"???

Most of my Shetlands have more sport horse type movement than hackney movement...

Exactly. I'm not looking for a high stepping trot, but rather a reaching, ground-covering extended trot. One seldoms sees a mini with a true extended trot -- typically they just move their legs faster.

As for heads, the big Bs and Shetlands I'm seeing do not have Hackney heads. Modern Shetlands, yes. Modern Pleasure, sometimes. Horses of these divisions are rarely small enough to register AMHR. The Shetlands I see in the AMHR show rings have gorgeous heads proportioned more like big horses than ponies. What I strongly dislike is the type mistakenly referred to as an Arab-type head. I love Arabians, but this ain't it. I call these "Pamela Anderson" heads, with dome foreheads, overly wideset eyes and no jaw to speak of. While it is a bit silly to compare a mini head to a big horse, I guess my taste runs more toward the Morgan -- beautiful AND sensible, without being gooey or cutesy.

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

I like larger As and small Bs. I enjoy doing Hunter/Jumper and I can't imagine using a 37-38 inch horse. I do appreciate the taller horses for driving. Of course there is something adorable about a well proportioned 30 and under mini.

 

[Becky Horat]

In our situation, we are drawn to the Mini shows. Mainly because they have so many classes to enter. We enjoy all the obstacle, Hunter, Versatility, etc. The local horse shows, just aren't much fun when you're showing in the same class as all the big horse breeds. The closest shows for us to travel to are all AMHA. Our local club has put on a 1 day AMHR show on Friday before the shows and sadly the turnout was very low. We have stayed with all "A" size mainly for that reason. We also do trail driving and sometimes think a bigger horse might be fun. Ours are all just under 34." We like the big, ground covering trot, of course. The small, cute factor plays into this so I might not enjoy a "B" Mini...but I've also never had one.. If we had more "R" shows in our area, we might try a larger Mini. Love them all, that's for sure. And the refined "horse" like conformation is important to us.

 

[Riverrose28]

I have both and love them all, they are all special to me. My heart horse is a "B" just 34 and a half inches. I supposed I really am drawn to the 35 inches or so, but love them all, big and small.

If they look like a horse, smell like a horse, loet me kiss their nose, hug em, I don't care what size they are.

 

[ckmini]

We have had a little bit of everything over the years (our first mini was a 29" mare) but we mostly drive and jump and tend to like B's better. Provided this last sale goes through we are, for the first, time split evenly between minis and shetlands (we've always had mostly minis). In a perfect world I'd shrink the Olympic-level dressage horse down to about 37-43" (my ideal height range).

That's the beauty of the miniature horse, so many "body-styles" in one small package!

 

[HGFarm]

Gosh I have to say I like them all......... I dont think I really have a preference. As long as it's a nice horse with a good disposition and athletic abilities. Actually I like anything with four legs that whinnies, but.......

 

[amysue]

Hmmm...a mini hackney...CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!. J/k I think people get confused because the AMHR/ASPC registers so many different breeds and people make generalizations. Non small equine enthusiasts think that mini= short fat dwarf horse and shetland pony= mini saddlebred racking horse. Forgive me for exaggerating to make a point about stereotyping. Lots of people dont realize that the registry has so many varieties: Minis have two height classes, then shetlands are classified as foundation, classic or modern. Then if you add hackney you have an American show pony and dont forget the sport performance pony.They really have something for everyone. I like the R better personally because they seem to better accomodate the horse market and change with the times. I have the utmost respect for breeders preserving heritage, but from a genetic stand point I believe a bit of diversity is a good thing. For generations people bred the breed smaller, but dont forget the stereotype minis face from "big" horse people that claim all minis are inbred. I think the B registry combats that stereotype which is beneficial to the breed. Just my opinion.

 

[Debby - LB]

for myself to have here and handle the answer would be A sized. But to look at and drool over? B's all the way.

 

[horsehug]

I love horses period. But for minis I much prefer the tiny ones. Tony Greaves has been one of my mentors for years

Susan O.

 

[horsenut50]

Both of mine are B size and I prefer my Mini's to be on the bigger size because..... I don't know, I just like them bigger.

 

[Melinda Dean]

I like them all... For me, it depends on the job they are doing.

I do not show but do lots of recreational driving, trick performances, and play with children and Seniors doing in hand trail and hunter stuff. I love all 3 of my geldings. One 30" (unregistered Fallabela blend) who is AMHA, one 34" AMHA/AMHR built like a tank, and a lovely high neck, long legged 36" who out grew his AMHA. All of them do tricks and drive. My littlest fella does about 40 tricks and is the one most requested for public visits, but if folks want to go for a ride in my 4 wheel surry, the large 'B" takes us down the road. My 34" may turn out to be a terrific eventing VSE. For me, it is not their sizes that matter as much as their disposition, and of course good conformation helps with good health. I have a blast cantering the little guy down the trails. The large B was a successful Arena diving Pleasure mini who takes us down the road in style. The 34"... well, if eventing doesn't work out, ...Chariot racing? He loves to be first!

 

[Tab]

I can appreciate a beautiful horse any size. That said, the smaller the horse the greater the challenge to produce a "horse-like" mini. Always an A gal, always going to be an A gal. You will see with the triple-registered minis, there is going to be an ongoing process in reducing their size. I just love A minis, no matter what comes and goes!

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I love my 36" B mare for lead-line riding, eventually getting back to driving and for being a bit more "mini" to love.

I love my 32-33" A Minis for therapy work- going into nursing homes, schools & other events. And probably driving when my gelding is old enough. They are perfect size to me, not too big, and not too small.

I love either size for hugging, trick training, introducing children to horses, owning more than 1 or 2 because medications, dewormers, feed, etc costs a lot less than if they were big horses!

When I was breeding my goal was 32-34" because it seemed to fit my market, but now I'm not breeding so I've kept my favorites and they are each the perfect size.