Educational Dwarf Pictures

[Tremor]

So let's do some educating. Would you say my little guys have dwarf characteristics or poor conformation, or both? In my area, this is what a typical breeding stud looks like.View attachment 8571View attachment 8572View attachment 8573

*sigh* I lost my first post.

I believe that these boys have multiple things going on with them.

1. Poor Diet (Notice big bellies and weak/thin necks. I would suggest having a fecal exam done by your vet and talk to them about a worming program)
   
2. Poor Conformation (Sickle hocks, possible cow hocks on the bay, butt high on the bay, over at the knee, etc.)
   
3. Poor Hoof Care (No hoof, no horse. Right?)
   

On the topic of Bow again, I do not right out believe that she herself is a dwarf. I do however recognize her as having dwarf characteristics.

• Cow hocks
  
• Monkey Mouth (Severe underbite.....)
  
• Nostrils on top of face)
  
• Short, squat, wide face.
  
• Butt high
  
• Domed head (and not the pretty kind....)
  
• Small ears (I stand by this as a trait.)
  
• Short neck
  
• Long back
  

That's nine conformational faults just off of the top of my head.

Now, just because I feel bad for dissing her I feel the need to say some good things about her. Lol

• FANTASTIC mother!
  
• Easy breeder (Obviously....)
  
• SUPER foaler! (Not a single dystocia and births from water breaking - foal completely out is less than two minutes)
  
• Good manners
  
• Good mover (Shocker!)
  
• Super willing
  
• DID in fact produce some nice foals
  
• Good jumper
  
• Really good at setting up and ground tieing
  
• Would be a heck of a showmanship horse
  

Yes, I worked hard to get ten good things about her. You can I care about the old gal (Gosh, she's only ten!)

Needless to say that I will forever be cautious to sell her. She is everything a BYB would want. Color producer, fantastic foaler, and horrible conformation! Perfect for making lots of babies!

I know of a stallion that is her HALF-brother and is DROOL worthy. His bottom side is Boones through and through. LOVE him. Does he look like Bow? Polar, freaking opposites. If anybody is interested I can PM them the link because it is mind blowing. I wish I owned him....or could even pet him.

 

[Tremor]

The following post was made by the user Mona in a Dwarf discussion thread in the main forum. With her permission I am quoting the post and saving the pictures to the gallery for a more permanent source.

Just to show you the change they can go through, here is one I had born here several years ago. When "Star" was born, I could immediately see she was much "clunkier" than a normal foal, and had that bull-doggy type chest/shoulder combination and short neck. I think we as breeders find it harder to identify these ones that are a little more minimally expressed at birth, than perhaps onlookers can see. We fall instantly in love with them, like they are our own, making it more difficult. I remember when Star was born. immediately thinking dwarf, but then going back and forth, argueing with myself whether she was actually a dwarf or if she just had poor conformation instead. I got to the point where I knew if I knew deep down that she wqas a dwarf and if I was questioning myself that strongly, she must be! (and I was right!)

When she was born, she looked fairly normal while still wet.



Then as she dried off and stood, I started noticing the signs that had me questioning her. This next set of photos were take of her when she was a few days old to a few weeks old.







Then this one at just a little over 2 months old:



And this one I think was sent later that Summer/Fall after she went to her new home.



So my point in posting these, was just sort of to let you know that sometimes we seem to know in our hearts that they are not "normal" but find it hard to accept unless they signs are BLARING OBVIOUS. This was the second dwarf foal born to this mare (2 different sires), and she was not used again for breeding.

I would like to thank Mona for making the original post and for letting me use it.

 

[Mona]

You're welcome. Glad I could help.

 

[little lady]

Being new(what I consider new anyway) to the miniature horse world I greatly appreciate this thread. When I deicded to switch from Paint horses to Miniatures I would look where ever I could for any and all information(and still do). I attended a miniature horse breeding and foaling seminar at Little King Farm a couple of years ago and John Eberth spoke about the dwarfism in the miniature horse. It was amazing and I would like to tell anyone interested that to listen to him speak and be able to ask questions was a most pheonomenal experience! He has such a wealth of knowledge for this. I do beleive he has more updated information than what is posted here on the Dwarfism foroum here. I am hoping someday to go listen to him speak again.

Tremor I applaud you for trying to educate and share with others. That is fantastic! I too am a better hands on/picture learner. I certainly would hope that some day you will be able to meet and hear John Eberth speak I think you would love it!

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

North Carolina has some of the BEST breeders around!!! You just need to find them. Some I would recommend are

ganderhill.com

aksminiatures.com

luckfourfarms.com

ravenwoodminiatures.com

 

[earthchild]

1

 

[Jill]

If I'm the "Jill" you all mean, I'm in VA

But have nothing for sale at this time, and don't stand the guys to the public... But I am flattered to be thought of and mentioned

And would love to help a fellow mini enthusiast in any other way

 

[ozymandias]

If I'm the "Jill" you all mean, I'm in VA

But have nothing for sale at this time, and don't stand the guys to the public... But I am flattered to be thought of and mentioned

And would love to help a fellow mini enthusiast in any other way

Sorry, don't know why I thought it was NC

 

[Mona]

LOL! Well Jill, looks like you're a "worldly woman"! We've got you living all over the place! LOL!

 

[Tremor]

I feel the need to go back to the topic of Bow and her offspring.

I think that this would be a fantastic image of how dwarfism can pop up; even among normal offspring.

Dam:

Sire:

Dwarf Offspring:

Normal Offspring:

I hope that this helps paint a better picture for some people.

 

[D W 2]

Just wanted to add some pictures

this was taken at 3 hours old

This picture is of her at approx 6-8 weeks old

This one was approx 4 months old

This is the picture we got of her as a yearling

Hope this all works or I will have to retry when I figure this picture thing out.

 

[ClaraN]

Does anyone have any more photos to add to this older thread?