{"id":69,"date":"2020-08-22T19:08:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T19:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horseycounsel.com\/?p=69"},"modified":"2021-09-18T14:09:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T14:09:24","slug":"worlds-smallest-horses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horseycounsel.com\/worlds-smallest-horses\/","title":{"rendered":"World’s Smallest Horses and Smallest Horse Breeds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Horses come in different sizes depending on their breed and their native environment. Interestingly enough, while some of today’s horses boast impressive heights, their ancestors were actually rather small and incredibly agile. Nowadays, a horse can measure somewhere between 5 hands and 18 hands in height, all thanks to human intervention and selective breeding practices. Today I wanted to talk a bit about the smallest horses and horse breeds in the world, ponies included.<\/p>\n
While some of these horses owe their small stature to a condition called dwarfism, others are perfectly healthy and act just like a regular horse would. Naturally, they’re not as strong and they’re not used for riding or any farm work. Instead, the world’s smallest horses appear on TV shows and tour around the world alongside their owners and caretakers.<\/p>\n
Before we get into the smallest pony breeds, let’s talk about the 3 horses that were officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest of their kind.<\/p>\n
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Black Beauty was one of the first record holders for the title of World’s Smallest Pony. The horse was included in the famous book in 2001, and it held on to the record until 2006 when it was overthrown by another incredibly small horse.<\/p>\n
In order to qualify as a record-holder, Black Beauty had to be carefully measured by a veterinarian. Indeed, this very small and beautiful horse measured in at 12 inches or 3 hands (30 cm) in height and weighed less than 10 lb (4.5 kg).<\/p>\n
As she grew, she gained a bit of height, and at the age of 5, she was 18.5 inches or 4.6 hands (47 cm) at her withers. She lost a bit of height later on, as she was 17 inches or 4.2 hands (43 cm) at her last measurement.<\/p>\n
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Thumbelina was not as healthy as Black Beauty was, but she was definitely smaller. She suffered from a condition called dwarfism, which caused quite a bit of health problems. She had shorter than normal legs, a slightly deformed skull, as well as other less obvious issues.<\/p>\n
She wasn’t debilitated in any way, though, and she lived a healthy life surrounded by people who cared for her deeply. She went on tours across the United States and met the world’s tallest horse, Big Jake.<\/p>\n
Thumbelina became the world’s smallest horse as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2006 when she overthrew Black Beauty. She measured 17 inches or 4.2 hands at the time, and she weighed just 57 pounds.<\/p>\n
She was born in 2002 in St. Louis, Missouri, and she died in 2018.<\/p>\n
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Einstein is a famous miniature horse from New Hampshire. When he was born, he weighed just 6 pounds (2.7kg) and he wasn’t taller than 14-inches or 3.5 hands. Unlike Thumbelina, Einstein does not have dwarfism. He genuinely looks and behaves like a miniaturized horse.<\/p>\n