Dwarf advert

[amysue]

I think Dragon's Wish hit the nail on the head. I think the ad is cute, and yes, it has drummed up interest in the breed. In this business you need all of the public exposure that you can get. I have had several calls and had a few people show up here, looking for christmas ponies and one of them did exactly what Minimor said, she saw my 27" pali stud and said "Oh, he looks like the lil guy in the Amazon ad. Is he for sale? My daughter wants one just like that!" I politely told her, "no, he's not quite like that one, nor is he for sale". I sold her a kid's pony instead after explaining that her kids were too big to ride a mini. Last year, people were coming in and asking me if I had any white ones like "Esteban" from the Old Navy commercial for sale. People make me laugh as they are clueless, but the bottom line is that customers with cash in hand came to my farm wanting to buy ponies from me. Yes, I would rather they come to me to make a purchase because they like my horses or hear good things about my work, but whatever gets them here works, as Dragon's Wish said. It's not so much the non-horsey people's reaction to the ad that bothers me, it is the "horsey people" more specifically the "big horsey people" who lump all mini people together, at least that has been my experience. A lot of people think all minis are dwarfs as they do not know the facts, and unfortunately the term "Dwarf Horse" is often used synonymous to "Miniature Horse" in some books and on some websites, including Wikipedia. Instead of coming off as rude or turning people away, I think that I'll take Dragon's Wish's advice and educate second to peaking their interest.

 

[Minimor]

Lucky seven...you lost me. Why did her saying 36 inches offend you? Using inches instead of hands is the generally accepted standard of measurement for minis and small ponies; welsh use hands but minis and American Shetlands is generally inches. I have small equine from 33" up to 44" and I never refer to them in hands. I don't know anyone that does.

 

[AngC]

I find it fascinating when the mini horse "breeders" start talking. ...love it!

I've only been observing this for a few years now, but I think many "breeders" are "out of touch" with their potential customers. It seems to me that the potential customer base consists of other people at the horse show (your horse better be darn good) or other people that resemble me. We stumbled onto the idea of horse ownership. I'd be really curious to know what the typical price for an unregistered mini horse was back in 2011. I suspect we overpaid for Nicky. But it doesn't matter; I was in love with him. He craned his neck up and begged for a treat between the stall bars when I first met him; I know he did it to everyone else, but when he did to me, I fell in love. Price was no object.

Then we ended up buying Coco from a Craigs-List ad; that wasn't my first choice. I checked out "breeders" first (within the four or five states I was willing to drive to for pick-up.) I don't chat about dollars on the internet, but I suspect most "breeders" would blanch at the upper dollar limit I had set for myself. I learned some new terms (private treaty, for example) and after someone trying to pawn off their rescue horses on me (I don't want an ugly horse, come on really? ...not to mention, you shouldn't even be trying to sell your medically-challenged horse to a newbie.) We ended up with Coco and saved a butt-ton of money. She might be a conformational mess. I don't know. I don't care. She had some issues with haltering but she's getting better and better. She's hugely loyal; she'll spend hours out there waiting for us.

If the horse market is shrinking (which I could see happening, due to cost) then wouldn't it make more sense for a "breeder" to lighten up regarding all the elitist issues and pursue the market? I don't know... comments like hands vs. inches, or comments about conformational messes, or?

Sorry, this was off-topic. I guess. Dwarf horses need love too. There I brought it back on-topic.

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

Lucky seven...you lost me. Why did her saying 36 inches offend you? Using inches instead of hands is the generally accepted standard of measurement for minis and small ponies; welsh use hands but minis and American Shetlands is generally inches. I have small equine from 33" up to 44" and I never refer to them in hands. I don't know anyone that does.

Nor i. Here ponies are in cms, if they are in hands they are not "quality" ones. shetlands are in inches.

A lot of horse showing is about tradition. I know for a fact here, even the younger judges, respect that. At my last show, one lady (i say lady..she was about 13) had no hat on and the judge, who was only 17 herself, asked her to get one or leave because she was not dressed appropriately lol

I like the tradition.

 

[Jean_B]

Recently a friend mentioned that she was looking for a pony/mini companion for her small pony. I mentioned that I had a gelding that was 9 hands that might be available and her response was 36 inches, lol. We are no longer friends as I felt insulted by her answer. My mini isn't show quality, is companion sound but that is what she was looking for. For someone with a small pony I think she is quite ignorant of the breed.

Huh??? We never refer to minis or ponies that are registered by hands....in fact, we measure to the quarter inch.

Edited: Oops, I see this has already been addressed, but not removing it because I'm befuddled by why this was offensive.

 

[paintponylvr]

On the size topic - i came from a working, full size horse background and it drove me almost literally CRAZY the way mini horse folks not only measure in inches but not even "accurately" (by more than 30 years in the HORSE business - a horse or pony are measured at his withers)... A mini is measured at the last hair of the mane and that can be upwards of 2" in difference in height when compared to the "right way" to measure a horse! Took me a LONG WHILE to realize that there are different ways to do the same thing...

Our Shetlands & Shetland Xs are measured in inches now, but I also do/know the equivalent measurement in hands. I used to deal with mostly big horse folk (H/J and working western backgrounds) and that's the way they want to "hear it"... I have lost sales over something as "insignificant" as inches vs hands - you could see it go "cold" right then and there if a pony size was referenced in INCHES (prospective buyer instantly loses respect/interest in the sale by a person who "obviously knows nothing"). One sale would have been a large one (not only in price for me, but also due to prospective contacts/references due to WHO THE TRAINER WAS), the mare was a TINY "small" at 46" (11.2 hh) in comparison to other small hunter ponies. Most H/J folk want "top of the line" ponies - smalls are up to 12.2 hh (50") and that's literally the height they want to try to get... BUT a good H/J trainer will look at other heights to get ponies that JUMP and will PACK their riders (w/o a lot of guidance from green riders,

). Oh - I did eventually sell the mare above and though not anywhere close to what I'd been looking at, it wasn't a loss for us. A couple of years ago, that same mare sold for $45,000 - however, I'm fairly certain that it MAY have been at a loss for the seller due to the mare having been kept with a trainer for years plus had transport, show care & show fees (big name H/J show circuits from the East Coast down to Florida!) invested in her (if she leased her out for fees as I had, she may not have invested all of that money, I don't know). I didn't have all that at the time I sold her - we'd only shown her at local levels with a daughter that needed the mares level of training at the time, and when she went out to a trainer for more advanced training, I recouped ALL of that $$ by then leasing her to a client of the trainer for 6 months (before the mare was outgrown & returned home - at that time the mare wasn't a "packer" and trainer didn't have another student who could ride her). That mare is officially carded in USEQ (not sure that's the current reference/name) at 11.2 & 7/8 hh and she's known as the "LITTLE PONY WHO CAN" and has quite the following of little people!!! She will be 19 yrs old in 2016, but she is still being shown/used for lessons and does very well.

You learn to adjust your "speak" to match what the person looking, uses. No different than selling yourself to a prospective employer on your job resume!

 

[paintponylvr]

For the record - I showed my hubby, Larry, the video this morning. He saw a small, cute horse. And the Doggie Door that may not be big enough for our 70# pitt mix dog...

 

[amysue]

A lot of interesting points have been made here. First, customs vary from different parts of the world and from one dicipline to another. Big horse people measure in hands, that is just how it is done. Mini and pony people in inches. Second, I do not know if a a horse's quality or image suffers because of how it is measured, that seems more like "operator error" or a matter of preference depending on how the handler was taught in my opinion. I grew up around big horses riding hunt seat at a hunter show barn, and as Paula said, we measured in hands. Later, I began showing Arabs and riding saddleseat (a completely different world than hunters) and once I got into minis, boy did I get schooled. First, I was corrected on calling them "ponies", my trainer said "we call them minis, not ponies, those are taller (even though big horse people understand anything under 14.2 to be a pony). Then I was informed on how to measure and the importance of this because essentially the breed is what it is because of the height. I was schooled on the differences between Association and Registry in regards to A and B minis and the differences between a mini and a shetland (many people do not think they are different).

I still have quite a few big horse clients and students, and while I breed, train and sell minis and shetlands (many of which are doing well at shows) I primarily show the biggies u/s now, so where I may be a bit out of the loop on that end, I still keep up with the trends and try my best to keep up with breed and registry standards. As Rocklone said, much of the horse world is about tradition. Some people take pride in preserving it and work to uphold the standards, while others challenge them. Sometimes change is good and it progresses forward (like all of the work and progress on under understanding dwarfism so breeders can be better informed). There was a time when many breeders only focused on size and some breeders intentionally bred dwarfs to size the horses down, we now know the risks associated with this practice and now some breeders have devoted their entire careers to producing quality horses of small size. Today, emphasis is on producing quality horses, not just tiny ones, and the term "dwarf" stirs up a lot of emotion in people. Again, I do not think that Amazon's ad promotes dwarfism, but the response to the ad does, or at least shows that lots of people do not know a lot about the breed.

I do not feel so strongly about the topic because I am an elitist, on the contrary, I am pretty small-time compared to some of the breeders participating in this forum. I commented originally because it bothers me that so many people (many of them horse people) think that all minis are dwarfs. To me it is like profiling, like saying all muslims are terrorists or all black people are criminals...it is so wrong! I realize that is a leap, and I sincerely apologize if that offends anyone, but that is how I feel based upon my experiences and upon the comments that I have personally received in response to Amazon's ad. It is hard for me to find a balance between relating to my customers and the market in my area in regards to the type of horse produced and the price, and at the same time maintaining my standards of breeding quality offspring and gaining the respect of the equine community (both mini and biggie). Just my opinion.

 

[lucky seven]

I used 9 hands because i used the stick I purchased from Ozark Mountain. My problem with my friend was this, if she wasn't interested that's her right but at least be more diplomatic. She could have just as well said she didn't like his color, personality, or the fact that he's a gelding and she wanted a mare. There are so many ways she could have said she wasn't interested besides saying lol. I guess my skin is way too thin.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

It is interesting to note that, whilst there has been HUGE interest in this ad, not one single person newly asking about Minis has asked for a dwarf- mainly because they are not aware of dwarfism and do not realise this pony is a dwarf. It is also interesting that the breeders in the UK screaming for the blood of his owner are quite happy to answer these queries and, where relevant, fill the orders. Oh and there is now a "knitted"Ad of this ( it is on You Tube, you may have to Google it...) which is adorable but, so far, has not led to anyone believing all Minis are knitted.

Happy Christmas....

 

[AngC]

Hugely off-topic (other than it's Amazon-related) but I've been trying to get us off the DISH network (not only due to cost, but also because I'm sick of downloading that stupid program guide, again and again and again.)

I'm rather liking the Fire-TV doo-hickey.

The weather here sucks; the husband's been bouncing off the walls and driving me nuts. He yells at the horses and bangs on the window and then complains that the little fat beggars are standing out there in the rain/slush looking at the window, waiting for treats.

One 5-dollar 90's vintage climbing movie (from Amazon) put him down for a few hours. ...sigh of relief.

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

Hahaha!! Nothing like a TV babysitter (or hubbysitter as the case may be)

 

[REO]

The girl in the commercial is in my friend list on FB

I would love to know the little guy's breeding, if someone would PM me?

 

[AngC]

The girl in the commercial is in my friend list on FB

I would love to know the little guy's breeding, if someone would PM me?

I don't know his breeding, but here's a link to his owner's website:

http://www.wolfscastle.co.uk/

The girl in the commercial is as cute as a button, in my opinion.

 

[REO]

Oh! So the sire came from the USA and the dam is English.

Sure can tell he's very loved!

Thanks

 

[rabbitsfizz]

No, Robin sire and Dam both AMHA, although that is not necessarily relevant....

 

[REO]

On the website it had the name of the dam, and it wasn't the mare she bought with the stallion, but a mare of hers (had a British farm name) that he'd bred. Birchwood UK Fancy Colours Is she AMHA? I'm sorry, I didn't realize. Sorry about that!

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

Yes both AMHA.

 

[BBH]

people not knowing keep sending it to me, i have chosen not to comment too much, does it hurt the breed standard....it sure does.

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

people not knowing keep sending it to me, i have chosen not to comment too much, does it hurt the breed standard....it sure does.

There is another popular video going about at the moment and a lot of people commenting saying they want one. Worryingly, some seem to have/work with minis and say that they are all this cute and they recommend anyone to get one. No mention that the horse is in fact a dwarf.