Showing Miniature Horses

Figured I would start a new thread so as to not totally take over the other thread.

Endinku asked why is it that most miniature handlers do not want the smallest horse in the class.

The answer is because a small horse is going to have a hard time beating a much taller horse. Lets say the class is 34-38" 4 inches is a huge difference in minis. It will be very hard for the 34" horse to beat the 38" horse. The taller horse is going to look leggier, probably have a longer neck etc. so while its not impossible for the smaller horse to win, odds are it will not.

So if I had a 34" mini I would show it in the 30-34" class and be the tallest horse in the class as opposed to showing 34-38" and being the smallest horse in the class.

Some people mistake what the AMHA AND AMHR rulebook says. They think it says "the smallest horse must win"

It actually says "if you have two horses that are equal in every way, the smaller horse should win" (paraphrasing)

It is very rare to ever have 2 horses equal in every way. So this rule rarely is ever used.

Very good information. That really makes sense. I mean you want to give your horse every advantage that you can when showing so it makes sense to carefully choose which class.

Any who, thanks for sharing that!

Thankyou so much for addressing this =]

I can see that in the in-hand jumping, trail, driving, etc classes, because of the longer strides, size in comparison to jumps, ability to pull, etc- but does that also apply for halter classes?

Yes especially halter classes because the difference in size is much more apparent.

But I will say again it is not impossible for the smallest horse to win. I have seen it happen. But you have an advantage being the tallest.

This is why there is so much grumbling over the years about measuring etc.

And yes! Like Ndappy said it is up to the handler to give their horse its best advantage showing. This is why a good handler knows how to emphasize a horses best attributes while trying to lesson its faults from showing.