Dwarf Miniature Horses

The horse above is an Achondroplasia dwarf. They are easy to spot as they have short limbs with a normal body. Some call them weiner dog dwarfs.

The other type is brachycephalic. These have very large heads, very short neck, lots of nostril problems, joint swelling etc.

From an uneducated point of veiw: Adorable, cute I want one.

My point of veiw: The poor things, and some people breed them because they are "cute" that makes me so sad.

Ok, I'm about to get really chewed up for this, but they are cute. You can't deny that. That does not mean people should go around breeding them. They are, in every since of the word, freaks of nature. Because of this, they have health problems, etc, etc. Everyone else who has already posted on this tread has already covered this is detail.

You wouldn't find a miniature dwarf walking using the outside of its ankles instead of a firm solid hoof cute. I watched a miniature horse have joints in her front end so loose, she got around my walking on the outside of her ankles. Her front legs were completely deformed.

She had an under bite so huge she couldn't eat.

1. Achondroplasia—(legs do not grow in length). Normal bone growth does not occur and often develops unevenly at the joints, causing crooked legs.

2. Dwarf foals are sometimes born with contracted tendons or tendon laxity. Joint enlargements and joint deviations are common, often becoming progressively serious with age. Extreme cow hocks, extremely short gaskins and sever sickle hocks all with varying degree of joint laxity and /or joint weakness are also common. Premature Arthritis is common as well.

3. Some types of dwarfs have an over bite, or an under bite. If an undershot jaw is present, the molars may also be out of alignment, requiring that the teeth be floated more frequently than for a horse with a normal mouth. Highly placed nostrils always accompany the undershot jaw.

4. Brachycephalic dwarfs have a large buldging forehead with an extreme dished face, overly large eyes (sometimes placed at uneven angles) and nostrils placed too high up on the face. A second type of dwarf has a more normally shaped head and eye and longer neck, but its head and body are still oversized when compared to the length of its legs. This second type of dwarf does not usually have an undershot jaw.

5. Head obviously longer than the neck. In some dystrophic dwarfs, the neck appears to come directly out of the shoulders.

6. Girth depth is greater than the leg length. Disproportionately oversized entrails and genitals. That is why so many dwarfs have the big “pot bellies.”

7. Vertebra deviations are common.
9. Sometimes associated with the various dwarfism syndromes are less obvious characteristics such as mental retardation, heart and other internal organ defects, sterility, shortened life span, arthritis and inactivity or depression (both of which are probably due to pain).

I find this story very disturbing, and would have suggested to this women to have got some psych consult. She put that little horse thru heck for her own sake.

A story Little Bit

i think its so sad to see these animals liek this. what makes it worse is that alot of people dont realise it wrong and see it as a normal miniature.

Here are pictures and story of a dwarf miniature horse, the poor thing is thank god, in good hands.

Daisy's Web Page

oh ow cute i have a miniature she is very naughty . my little brother ride her lol i trained her
she is soooooooo cute

It certainly is very disturbing.. in all honesty I dont class them as 'cute' at all.. of course, as an animal lover, my heart goes out to them, but I still dont believe they are cute. It's just soo morally wrong.

This thread reminds me of a website I stumbled across the other day which breeds Miniature cows. Although not on quite the same level as dwarfism, I still found these small cows to be so unnatural and just plain wrong. I cant remember the link, but google it and you should see what I mean.

OMG! So cute, so tiny