Viggo at a SFHA function | ||||
 The earliest history of miniature horses was in the 1650 A.D. records at the Palace at Versailles where King Louis XIV (The Sun King) kept a vast Zoo, replete with unusual animals, including tiny horses.
In the mid 20th Century, many distinct small horse breeds emerged including the Miniature Shetland Pony, the Miniature Toy Horse and the Midget Pony. These breeds formed this historical foundation for the Miniature Horse breed. | ||||
Miniature horses, since their inception, have been bred for the sole purpose of being pets or companion animals. Miniature horses are already being used by some as service animals for guiding the blind. They can live for more than forty years and can learn to do most anything a guide dog can do and make awesome pets.
These two things distinguish them from animals that others try to classify as livestock. Livestock are farm animals. Miniature horses have zero farm utility and are not farm animals. They are very fun loving, gentle and will make you laugh and smile daily. Most horses, miniature or not, are basically kept as pets these days. Face it, how many people do you know who raise horses for meat or milk? For hair or leather? There are no fields to plow anymore. The ordinances in most cities are outdated when it comes to livestock. Look around you. Where are the farms now? No...these tiny sweet loving pets are keep for pleasure. | ||||
Miniature horses are almost exclusively pets. They are too small to be ridden except by the youngest children, and have few other uses. They are the size of a large dog and are less noisy to disturb neighbors.
In our modern world and in today’s ecomonic down turn, it is getting harder and harder for people to keep full-sized horses because of urban sprawl. What once was cheap farmland and a rolling rural landscape may now be a strip-mall or movie theater. That pasture-land you see today might just be a Wal-Mart next month. | ||||
Allowing mini horses to live in urban or suburban areas would allow some horse lovers a chance to enjoy horses, who otherwise wouldn't be able to. The same could be said for the elderly, or anyone who wants a horse but can't ride or keep a full-sized one.
But as our society steadily gets more and more urbanized, and "regular" horses get more and more out of reach for many people, we need to look at alternatives before equines in general are just another animal you see in the zoo. | ||||
If you are interested in seeing our miniature horses, we will bring these wonderfully small companions to your birthday party, school function, assisted living homes, church, corporate or community events. Please contact us for details: Trac@Sherwoodgoldens.com
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