Do You Think EINSTEIN Is A Dwarf?

[rabbitsfizz]

And, of course, we all just knowthat the next gazillion people that see our, normal sized, for Minis, horses, are all going to carol "Oh did you see that one on the TV he's MUCH smaller than any you have, maybe you should be breeding your mares to him?"

Because, as we all know, it is only about the size........(

)

ARGH

 

[Eohippus]

And, of course, we all just knowthat the next gazillion people that see our, normal sized, for Minis, horses, are all going to carol "Oh did you see that one on the TV he's MUCH smaller than any you have, maybe you should be breeding your mares to him?"

Because, as we all know, it is only about the size........(

)

ARGH

Yep! Already got that, well, something similar. At our last show we had the minis in a pen in the shade, next to our trailer. We were eating lunch and a large group of people came over. I'm always happy to entertain questions and promote the breed but one of the first things out of their mouths, in reference to my stallion Kinson, was "There's a smaller one than him. Did you hear about him?" Then they asked their daughter (who was maybe 12-13) to tell me about the worlds smallest horse (thumbelina)

They hadn't a clue that thumbelina was a dwarf and felt she was a very cute mini and they should all be that small. I tried to explain to them what thumbelina was and educate them a little but they didn't care in the least. It was like talking to a wall. They soon went off to see the other show horses and see if they could find any smaller ones. Its those type of people that worry me should they ever decide to get a mini!

 

[Jill]

Rabbit, if all minis were like Einstein, I would want ZERO minis. It wasn't until I saw a nicely proportioned mini that could DO things that I even thought I might want some for myself. My entire "gripe" about Einstein is really that he sets such an unattractive (yeah, I said it) example of our breed. He is poorly made to put it mildly (I, like most who voted, think he IS a dwarf) and poorly handled.... not only setting a very bad physical example of our breed, but of miniature horse owners and their horsemanship skills.

 

[Sue_C.]

I can say in all of my years I have never seen a roached back Big horse, maybe one where his back bone was sticking out because he wasn't properly fed..but none that were roached back

Wish I could say the same, but I have seen two, one was a Standardbred gelding, and the other a Quarterhorse mare...that of course...had been bred.

I would love to know how he got to be registered AMHA, though

In his newborn pics, he was odd looking, (to me anyways) but nothing worse than a lot of minis I have seen here on the internet...so I suspect they allow these foals temp papers, and when new pics are sent in for perm papers, that is when a more informed decision can be made.

 

[Sandy B]

This has been a very interesting topic. It is my understanding that there are several different Dwarf types, some very very minimal and some highly recognizable. I have seen some minis being shown in AMHA performance events that looked suspicious to me but were just poor specimens and I would question if they were a dwarf with minimal characteristics. I have seen breeders with broodmares that look questionable. So my point is, just because a mini has poor confirmation does not mean they are dwarf. Until there is a test available, I think people are out of line to say Einstein is a definite dwarf i when there is not one thing that screams "obvious dwarf" say for instance like Thumbalina was. Does anyone know Einstein's pedigree and if it is a known dwarf line? Just because Einstein has several confirmation faults and he was small at birth and is not the perfect miniature horse specimen, it still brings attention to our beloved breed. Why should we not be happy that miniature horses are in the spotlight? He is cute and he is little. Most people would never come in contact with Einstein personally so when they see a real live 32" mini they will still see them as tiny, which they are. Einstein's owners were obviously smart and excited about their little guy and called the press. It may have started out to just be in their local paper and then it was turned in to a media frenzy. Honestly, who cares! Good for them, they are making money off a cute little mini (although I agree he is badly behaved and hope they geld him). I just hate the thought that we judge these people's motives when I assume none of us do not know them personally.

 

[trickhorses]

I feel that his scoliosis is but one indicator - and more issues will show up as he matures....

I think he is definitely a dwarf too. There are SO many forms of dwarfism that I would not hesitate to say he is a dwarf. He has the scoliosis like you pointed out. (curvature of the spine). Which is very typically of a dwarf! He also has a short neck with a large head. He should be gelded. I have seen recent pics of him and my opinion has not changed. What is even worse, is I see a lot of photoshopped pics of him particularly covering up his curved spine. Which means they know he has flaws are trying to hide them.

Yes, he is a cute little guy and his parents love him and take really good care of him. However I do not feel it is right to promote him with way they do. I for one would not want him to be associated with being the standard of what a miniature horse is suppose to look like!!

 

[trickhorses]

Does anyone know Einstein's pedigree and if it is a known dwarf line?

Funny you should bring that up. I know his sire does without question. Because I have TWO dwarves who happen to have the same exact lineage as Einstein. They are direct relatives.

 

[Riverdance]

And there you go......a horse that should never be bred. I will state again, he is a dwarf.

 

[Royal Crescent]

I think he looks even more dwarfy as time goes by. I went on his Facebook page and you see all the comments ignorant people make. I keep thinking about writing a comment about his dwarfism. I bet my comment would be deleted quickly!

 

[rimmerpaints]

He has a fb page? I cant say yes or no cuz i really dont know. I start to say no then look again and think well maybe but then IM so not even close to expert. I know in human you can do blood work to check chromosomes. I assume you can on horses. I also thinking promoting the dwarfism is wrong because you get all these people who think OMG how cute I want a really small one like that but they dont have any idea about the health issues that go along with special needs animals. pecial Needs Animal needs alot of medical treatment and close monotoring on health related issues. Any animal with special needs needs this and owners need to also know this. Do i think they are cute well of course they are. I love them but also know the needs that is required. I personally dont have time for that so i wouldnt be a good dwarf owner. This is just my opinion

 

[rimmerpaints]

also my daughter has been begging for one of those mini pigs and Im in way getting one. I told her there has to be health related issues with those also and we are not going to do that. I told her have enough vet bills on me!

 

[mini horse mania]

I went on his page,,its einstein minihorse...someone asked if they planned to use him as a stallion...no reply....in one picture he has on splint boots. I am undecided as to if he is a dwarf or not....i cant even determine if my filly is a dwarf....she is teeny also,but does not have conformation flaws as he does.he did have a large head and roached back,and had the boots..i think he may be minimal,but I would not care to use him as a stallion.

 

[Riverdance]

This has been a very interesting topic. It is my understanding that there are several different Dwarf types, some very very minimal and some highly recognizable. I have seen some minis being shown in AMHA performance events that looked suspicious to me but were just poor specimens and I would question if they were a dwarf with minimal characteristics. I have seen breeders with broodmares that look questionable. So my point is, just because a mini has poor confirmation does not mean they are dwarf. Until there is a test available, I think people are out of line to say Einstein is a definite dwarf i when there is not one thing that screams "obvious dwarf" say for instance like Thumbalina was. Does anyone know Einstein's pedigree and if it is a known dwarf line? Just because Einstein has several confirmation faults and he was small at birth and is not the perfect miniature horse specimen, it still brings attention to our beloved breed. Why should we not be happy that miniature horses are in the spotlight? He is cute and he is little. Most people would never come in contact with Einstein personally so when they see a real live 32" mini they will still see them as tiny, which they are. Einstein's owners were obviously smart and excited about their little guy and called the press. It may have started out to just be in their local paper and then it was turned in to a media frenzy. Honestly, who cares! Good for them, they are making money off a cute little mini (although I agree he is badly behaved and hope they geld him). I just hate the thought that we judge these people's motives when I assume none of us do not know them personally.

SAndy,

Einstein's owners sold him almost at birth, so they are not the ones promoting him. I have said before, and I will say it again. My feeling is they bought him just to promote him. They have no idea how to handle a horse, especially a stallion.

If you go to the web page about him, there are no pictures of him as an adult, only baby ones, but most of all, pictures of the owners. You can not say that they do not want to be in front of a camera. Also, they post first of all, what all the media that has run a story on him. If they were more interested in Einstein, then themselves and what the media has written about them, then Einstein would be the only thing in the pictures and they would not have so much of what the media has to say and so may pictures of themselves. Now he has a game coming out....

what os with that?

 

[supaspot]

a gamer ???? :-0

 

[Forever Farm]

I don't know if it's been mentioned on here yet, but there are some horses that the dwarfism does not become apparent until they are much older. My dwarf mare is a daughter of a well known stallion, and this is her as a five year old. ...

Ignore the date, this is her at about 19 yrs old. The roach back is still prominent, ...

Her right after we got her in 2008. I don't have any that show her domey head, but it is very prominent...

She stands 26 inches. has been confirmed as a bracheo dwarf, though her legs are straight and has a dead on bite. We rescued her from a farm that had no problem breeding her. We were told that all of her foals either died at birth, or did not live long after they were born, leading me to believe they were all dwarves. She does hold a set of AMHA papers, but we have never bothered to have her transferred inot our names. What's the point? AMHA is going to see her updated pics and refuse to reissue the papers to us. She's a pet anyway.

 

[ohmt]

You know what they say about assumptions riverdance....

I do not know his owners so I will not pretend to know their intentions. There are plenty of adult pictures posted on facebook by the way.

And again i'll say that Einstein is a well fed, obviously well taken care of little horse. With so many horses starving to death and abused in this world, I cannot understand all of the energy put into bashing the owners of a horse who is taken care of.

On a side note-i apologize if this comes across as rude, but I have had a long day and all I can say is "come on people!" Life is too short to be spending so much time griping.

 

[Minimor]

I'm sorry--but I have to say this.

It is, to me, irrevelent how well fed/well cared for this horse is. Miniature horse people promote their horses as being "true horses in miniature". Some even rant about how they are not ponies, they are horses. They have horse proportions, they move like horses, they are not ponies. But then....here is all this publicity about this tiny little equine. People who ordinarily don't see Miniatures and don't know anything about miniatures or even horses in general are seeing Einstein. So, now when these people hear "Miniature horse" they think of Einstein--that famous little stallion.

What a wonderful introduction to the Miniature horse. Is that what you want people to know of the breed? As I see it, if you grew Einstein up into a 15 hh horse he would look very much like an oversized "pony", a dwarf pony no less.

I find it a shame that this is the Miniature that is being promoted, probably promoted more than any other Miniature horse on this continent.

 

[Wings]

I'm sorry--but I have to say this.

It is, to me, irrevelent how well fed/well cared for this horse is. Miniature horse people promote their horses as being "true horses in miniature". Some even rant about how they are not ponies, they are horses. They have horse proportions, they move like horses, they are not ponies. But then....here is all this publicity about this tiny little equine. People who ordinarily don't see Miniatures and don't know anything about miniatures or even horses in general are seeing Einstein. So, now when these people hear "Miniature horse" they think of Einstein--that famous little stallion.

What a wonderful introduction to the Miniature horse. Is that what you want people to know of the breed? As I see it, if you grew Einstein up into a 15 hh horse he would look very much like an oversized "pony", a dwarf pony no less.

I find it a shame that this is the Miniature that is being promoted, probably promoted more than any other Miniature horse on this continent.

I very much agree with all of the above minimor, bad examples of our breed get so heavily promoted due to a novelty size and it does, at best, nothing fr our bredd. At worst it makes a poor example that heaps scorn on our breed and once again we get stuck with stigma of being 'less' then other breeds.

 

[ohmt]

I will do my best to educate when I can those that have the wrong preconceived notions regarding miniature horses-they came long before Einstein ever did by the way. Never have I heard Einsteins owner ever call him show quality or say that he was the perfect example of a miniature horse. The owner has said that they have zero intentions of ever breeding him as well. Isn't his book a children's book about finding friends? Oh my gosh, that is HORRIBLE! (Insert eye roll-no fun emoticons on my phone, unfortunately). Do I have horses of much better quality than Einstein? Yep-so do thousands of others. Do I have any 20" at his age? Nope, and not many others (if any) do. Let's give it a rest already.

How in the world is it ever irrelevant if a horse is being well fed or being cared for properly by the way?

I'm going to go concern myself with my OWN horses now...these threads are always just plain sad.

 

[horsehug]

Great post, OHMT. Thank you.

Susan O.