I was not going to add my two cents to this threat, but why not, it's a public forum and what it is here for. I have watched Oprah for years and am a big fan of hers. The show in which this horse was featured on simply featured amazing animals in the world. A dog that rides a skate board, an elephant and dog that are best friends, a girl that is obsessed with spiders, etc. I am sure the people that raise bulldogs are not up in arms about their breed being misrepresented by having a bulldog ride a skateboard. It is cute and amuzing to the average joe. I have had horses all my life and enjoyed the clip about Einstein. Do I think he is perfect...no I don't. My years of breeding minis tells me that. Does my next door neighbor think he's perfect...absolutely. She isn't a horse person and doesn't know any different. She saw a beautiful little horse that was loved by his owners...and I truly do believe he is loved. She called me so excited and thought it was a great story.
In the rough economic times, when a quality breeder is having difficulty selling thier quality horses, myself included, I think this was good publicity for the miniature horse breed. It was an introduction of our breed to the world. Was it the best sample to choose...no. If they had featured Miss Kentucky on the show, it wouldn't have gotten people as excited I don't think...because she is not a "novelty". She is perfect in my eyes...but in the eyes of any average joe, they would say, yes she is a pretty miniature horse, but what's so special about her???. But bring Einstein on the stage who is going after the world record as the smallest horse in the world, now that is what catches peoples attention. I still will never forget the first time I saw the woman on TV that had the longest fingernails in the world....had they shown people with just long finger nails I wouldn't have remembered...but they showed the woman with the longest, and that I remembered 25 years later! Get where I am going with this???
This Oprah episode introduced the miniature horse to the world...to many people who didn't likely know they existed. This ten minutes of fame on Oprah did more promoting for our breed and introduced our breed to more people than AMHA, AMHR, the Nationals, the World Show, magazines, private advertising, etc. could have done. 25 million plus people saw a cute little horse on the Oprah show, and for those that do take an interest because of it and go out and want to buy a mini, hopefully they will be informed by the people they are purchasing from and educated about our breed. Some will not, that I know, but hopefully good things can come from the Oprah show. Bad things will result as well. Its no different than when Walt Disney releases a movie featuring a certain dog...there is a large increase in the number of those dogs on the market and sadly even larger numbers in the pounds six months later.
A few weeks back, I saw a post on Facebook that AMHA posted stating they had been contacted by the Oprah show. Never heard anymore about it but I think it is safe to assume that it was in reference to this story. If Einstein is so obviously a dwarf I guess AMHA or AMHR shouldn't have registered him if he is a registered horse. As far as the harness, I found it a little odd too, but the more I thought about it, can you imagine how hard it would be to lead him safely with a halter when he is so little. Maybe this is a little better way...I am not defending it, I just like to look at things from different perspectives.
I think this horse is truly loved by his owners. I think they are very proud of him. There are some spectacular breeders in this world that do some pretty horrible things to horses in order to make them win in the show ring. There is plenty of abuse that happens by members of our own breed, by some of our trainers, and some of the owners. Some of the things that I see some show horses put through for our simple enjoyment sickens me. Some of it just goes too far, and to be quite honest, when I walk through a horse barn on a 110 degree day and see horses double wrapped in neck sweats, etc. it bothers me. These horses don't seem happy to me. Some spend more time in a trailer and stall than they do a pasture. What a life. This is just one example, and we all know the extremes that people will go to in order to win. So when I see a horse that is loved the way that it is by these people, it makes me happy, as there are many, many, many animals in this world who are not loved.
I remember the horse that made me fall in love with Miniature horses when I was a kid. Smidget, the worlds smallest horse. He had his own fan club and I was a member. Clearly now I know he was a dwarf...but as I child I dreamed of one day owning a little horse like him. It's like the lady said on the Oprah show...what little girl doesn't dream of owning a tiny little pony...
In closing, while maybe this little horse isn't the perfect example of the miniature horse breed, Einstein is a much better example than what has previously been protrayed...and we are moving in the right direction. People are taking this a bit too serious in my opinion, and hopefully it will generate interest in our market that has been struggling in recent years. It isn't going to stop the junk breeders, it isn't going to stop the rich from buying a tiny little pony no matter the quality, and we can't rely on Oprah to educate the world about every aspect of our breed of horses in her short clip about a cute miniature horse. This little horse has created quite a buzz.
I just wanted to voice my views and am sure I will condemmed as it goes against what most on this thread feel. But sometimes you just have to speak what you feel, so please don't bash me for my opinion. Thank you.
