What about the tiny minis ?

[Getitia]

Well Small Herd you make some excellent points - with a key word being the smallest and most correct miniature should win all things being equal. Unfortunately small does not always equal correct nor does bigger always equal correct either. Of course the smaller they are - the greater the challenge to produce a balanced and correct horse..

For us it is a particular style of miniature horse that we like to produce be it 28 or 38 - correct and balanced is a must and that is what we prefer - This mare has to be one of my all time favorite 28 inch mares - Looking at her photo it is hard to tell that she is 28 inches and not 38 inches tall.

 

[just2minis]

Well, I guess I can eat crow LOL ! I have 2 minis now and they will both mature about 32" I think.

(Formerly "small herd" )

 

[Warpony]

Since i want the smallest horse that I can possibly have that won't make me feel guilty for expecting them to haul my big butt around in a cart I stick to the 32+ horses, but i wouldn't mind a pair of 28's or so.

One of the considerations for me is budget. From what I have seen I can get a much nicer quality pet mini for my money, conformation wise, if I take a 34'' instead of looking for a 29'' , at least around here.

 

[Viki]

Tiny's here too! My stallions are 28 & 30" tall. 2 mares under 30 (28.5 & 29.5). the rest are well under 34". 31-32". Love the small!

Viki

 

[Little Wee Horse Farm]

Ok, doesn't anybody else find this ODD that this post was originally made Jan. 17, 2006 ?

What's that about? I only noticed the date because I didn't remember posting & there I am.....but it's from January 2006.........?? A year old? And on the original post by Small Herd, it doesn't say anything, but "unregistered." Never saw that before. And in the column on the Forum main page where it lists who made the post, it says Small Herd, but it's not underlined like everyone else's names are. Just curious.

 

[Jill]

I think there will always be a market for "tiny" minis.

The thing I don't like about most of the tiny minis I've seen, is that most of them are not well put together. There are some that are gorgeous, that's for sure, but I would be scared to make a list as I would surely forget some of the fabulous ones I have seen. (Miniequine's Semi, Dona / Kickapoo's many, Charlotte, and the list could go on and on of ones I admire but I'm not focusing well on it right now)

From what I see, there are a lot of breeders out there who really don't know enough to be making animals that may live 30 or so years. They cross neat colors together or they pick the tiniest (dispite big conformation flaws). How many people do we know about who get their first ever horse then the following year, they are "breeders"? And there's a perception that the tiny horses are more prized which is not the case when they are built poorly. However, the people who are breeding horses w/o much knowledge are just seeing maybe a pretty head and a cool color and that's good enough for them.

Just like when we talk about our favorite colors, those of us who are serious always know that color doesn't matter if the horse is poorly built. That's how I see it with size as well. In general, the taller horses seem to be more well put together but that's in general. There are examples of poorly made big B's, but I don't think there are as many of those as poorly made tinies.

Another reason I myself prefer the horses over 30" (I do have one under and love her...), is that I like to drive and I don't think the tiny ones are as much fun to drive as the bigger ones.

 

[just2minis]

Yeah, the post was old, where did it come from ?? I started that post.

I am the former "small herd".... new name " just 2 minis".

I let the forum for awhile but came back, almost a new person :lol:

Hope this makes sense.

 

[Charlotte]

Some like them tall, some like them small

: We go for the small ones!

: Always have, always will. And like someone said, they just keep getting better and better!

Charlotte

 

[Katie12]

I love the tiny ones. There is NOTHING cuter than a teeny tiny mini baby.

 

[Tony]

There have been many excellent posts on this thread and it has been interesting reading them on this cold day (for Texas.) As far as the original post asking "what will happen to the tiny minis", supply and demand have always affected "popularity" and certainly price and no matter how hard one tries, the tiny ones will continue to be smaller, not only in size but in numbers, relative to their larger counterparts. Of the many foals that we had this past season, all of the tiniest, except one have sold and several of them could have sold numerous times because there just aren't that many available, comparatively speaking. As time goes on, it is my opinion, that prices will drop some on the larger minis because of the supply, which is increasing rapidly as people choose to concentrate on them, but because the tiniest of the breed are difficult to breed, sometimes mature taller than their parents, and, like miniature and toy breeds of dogs, don't produce as many/often. For this reason, I believe that the tiniest good conformation miniatures will not only hold their value, but increase because of the relative rarity.

Fifty years ago when my family was breeding Shetlands, I decided then that I wanted the smallest that was available (yes, even at age eleven!) and pestered my parents to buy the smallest good ones any time we were at a sale. At that time the smallest that was to be found was about 36" and my dad thought that I was "nuts" when I traded him a nice registered 42" Shetland mare for a 36" grade mare. He said, "She is too little and will probably never foal for you." However, even as a kid, I was head strong and made the trade. He was almost right, she only had two foals for me, but it was worth it to because they were just what I wanted: nice and smaller than her. One of them matured 33" and was the first horse that I registered when AMHA started in 1978. From that meager beginning we have developed to what we are now, good or bad.

BigUn as a foal in 1963 with me, my dad, and my baby sister

BigUn in 1978.

[SIZE=8pt](For those of you who know Quarter Horses, in the backgroud is one of the last sons of the famed Sugar Bars, Sugar Bars Junior who I owned before we were "Little America" and were part of Flight 8 Farms)[/SIZE]

To be clear, we don't have just tiny ones. We have three mares that are AMHR B division at 35" in our herd, primarily because they are truly outstanding individuals and have a special place for us for one reason or another. We have a wide variety of sizes, for example, we have nineteen head from 31-32", nineteen in the over 32 to 34" group, but most people are amazed when they see the sixty-six head that are under 30" leading most to say that we have the largest group of tiny miniatures that they have seen. I don't know if that is true, but I know it is the best and largest group that I have seen and thankfully there are many, many people with a passion for them that will continue what I have done.

I am sorry this is so long and hope that a couple of you were able to wade through it! :bgrin

:

 

[Wiggy]

Go Tony! I hope someday that I may be able to come and visit you... the very smallest ones are my love... and to be surrounded by some 60-plus of them at once... oh goodness, heaven on earth!