Whoever said a horse
was dumb, was dumb

 ~ Will Rogers ~

Companionable Miniatures

The miniature horse, if you don't compare size, should be identical in characteristics, conformation, and proportion to a full-sized horse.  The average height of a miniature will vary but is usually not more than thirty-eight inches or one meter. 

Though widely used as family pets they must be treated like an equine.  Today, there is a growing trend to train miniatures as assistance animals for people with disabilities. Their life span on average is longer than larger breeds of horses and certainly longer than dogs used in the capacity of service animals.  Miniatures also make good companion animals.

Owning a miniature for showing is as popular as it ever was.  Dozens of independent miniature horse shows, some  with their own standards and rules, are active across North America. 

Miniatures enjoy being groomed, rubbed and scratched.  They seek companionship and affection, but not so much as a canine will.

The history of the breed shows that miniatures developed from multiple sources and those practices vary by country.  The ones bred to be the pampered pets of kings and queens had different breeding  than those miniatures destined to work as pit horses in the mines.   In some countries, to refine the size of the breed dams and sires from different breeds were utilized, as well as inbreeding, to strive for smaller horses.  

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