MiLo Minis
Well-Known Member
I am seeing the beginning of what to me is an alarming trend. At several shows I have attended this year I have seen what are essentially Hackney Ponies being exhibited and winning as Miniature Horses. What I find alarming about this is that we all know what wins in the show ring is what becomes the goal to breed for. I started out breeding Miniature Horses because of my love for what they were - wonderful, sweet natured, family friendly small horses. I did not choose to breed Hackney Ponies because I don't find them to be what the Miniature Horse is. That is not to say that no one else can love them but if they do, and they choose to own and breed them, there are already venues out there for them to show their ponies. I realize that the Miniature Horse registries are height registries alone but we do have a breed standard of perfection in our rule book and it does not to me describe a Hackney or Modern Shetland type. Perhaps it is time that we have a more distinct, less open to interpretation, standard of perfection written for our breed?