Does anyone show/breed for the more "built" miniature?

[RhineStone]

I insist all my horses have 'substance', yet their legs, etc... are refined. A horse can be well built or have muscle and still be refined, or fine boned- not 'clunky' if you know what I mean.

As long as they don't end up like some QHs that are too heavy for their "refined" legs, and then have soundness problems. Breeders created that problem to the QH breed's detriment. I would rather have a more substantial horse that I don't have to worry about lameness than one that is overly refined for the sake of "style" and then I have to be concerned with overfacing and soundness. The best horses have both style and balanced substance, both front to back and top to bottom.

And then there are the Arabs....we found out after we bought an Egyptian Arab that those are the "feed 'em and lead 'em" Halter horses, and not known for being great performance horses. Polish, Crabbet, and Russian lines are not as refined, but have more performance attributes. IMO, breeders have chiseled the Egyptian Arab's brain right out of that pretty head.

They're the ones that give Arabs a bad name. I'd hate to see that happen to the minis for the sake of "pretty".

Myrna