Is there an overseas market

[Becky]

For horses that are over 34"? I breed for horses that are 34" and under but do occasionally have them that go over. I had someone from overseas interested in a beautiful splashed white overo filly, but the fear was that she would go over 34" and the potential buyer said they don't recognize over 34" horses. Are there countries that do?

 

[kaykay]

i really dont think there is and this is why overseas buyers have such a huge fear of a horse going over 34". I really wish AMHR would try to become a presence overseas. A couple years ago at congress I brought this up to Johnny Robb and she said shed look into it but I havent seen where anything has been done. AMHR is missing a huge market over there!!! Also its discouraging to see overseas breeders so focused on breeding SMALL. Seems to be the main thing when they are looking at breeding stock rather then conformation etc. Please dont flame me but this is what i have found of people overseas that have contacted me about buying a horse. The first and main question is always the height and the smaller the better

 

[Meg]

New Zealand has a market for taller horses... they are very popular here, and the B classes at shows are more often than not far more competitive and have more numbers. I myself only have B horses, I just prefer them (especially for driving!) and wouldnt hesitate to buy larger stock from overseas should something really tickle my fancy.

:

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Australia too, I think. We have an overheight register- sort of "grade" and the foals can go in the under height register if they stay small- BUT we have nowhere to show over horses and the biggest problem- apart I have very reluctantly to say form dishonesty over height, has to be in the way you measure.

This has made a HUGE difference (and none at all) on some occasions- and I know it has also been used as an excuse but, basically, if a yearling is 331/2" our way, I think it fair to assume that the seller had a pretty good idea it would not stay in the book!!

Before anyone jumps on me, this is NOT a criticism of American sellers- I have seen the same and worse happen over here. :no:

 

[tini-z]

Yes, it's true.

Here the oversized horses can only start in ONE class.

And AMHR reg horses won't reg in the registries, here everybody says: only AMHA horses are TRUE miniature horses!!!!

It's unbelivable, I know. I'm AMHR/ASPC member since many years and I have to sell a AMHR horse for the half price!!! And a oversized horse is nearly unable to sell.

 

[CKC]

The buyer(from Germany) of a yearling filly we sold earlier this year was interested in her dam as well, but once she found out she was 34" she declined. She said they measure at the withers and she probably wouldn't measure under.

The end of this mare's mane ends at her withers so that wouldn't have been a problem. The measurement would have been in the same place.

 

[CLC Stables]

Sound alot like the early days of America where no one liked the B Division horses, those times are changing here, they eventually will over their too I imagine.

 

[wildhorses]

I have found in my experiences that the overseas market is for small AMHA registered horses. And yes, they do measure differently than we do in America. However, here are my thoughts about it. All of these AMHA horses are going overseas....producing offspring...some of which will mature over 34 inches tall. These people overseas will have no choice but to eventually incorporate the AMHR registry into their countries to take care of the horses that are over 34 inches tall. If they don't, they will not have a market, or an outlet for their over division offspring. Unless the day finally comes when AMHA breeders step up to the plate and take responsibility for the over division animals they produce, and allow them to be registered in AMHA, AMHR will have to become incorporated in these countries. Just my honest opinions!

 

[Meavey]

We have shows with AMHA rules and we measure exact the same on those shows on the last hair of the mane.

Our dutch studbook does accept horses until 106 cm on the withers wich is 41.3 inches.

But the dutch mini´s are much lower in price, I think it would not be worth the cotsts of getting an oversized horse here, the flight and quarantine will cost more alone then you can ever get for such a horse around here.

Honestly I have seen loades of very pretty "oversized" horses for sale, that I would not mind getting here, even if it is "just" for the dutch studbook, but it costs so dam much to get them here.

And yes most of the ones I "spotted" where overo´s , love those!

:

 

[ivytoro]

We've had this discussion before.

I can speak for Germany only, but here in Germany, our breeding associations will allow AMHA registered horses only. This is partly due to the fact that (until recently) hardshipping into the AMHR was pretty cheap and pretty easy and the association wanted to prevent people from hardshipping their horses with pure German or European background into the AMHR only to call them "American" Miniature Horse afterwards which they clearly weren't. The AMHA on the other hand acted pretty quickly when a motion was made to disallow hardshipping horses with no American background.

And even though we will eventually have to worry about what happens to the oversized horses, I don't think that there will ever be a real market for R-horses in Germany. The reason is simply that in Germany, 86 cm (34 inch) has always been the mark for "miniature" horse breeds (Mind you, in Germany, there are plenty of different small horse breeds with each breed having its own studbook PLUS partbred studbooks) and 38 inch or under is just not a size that has any meaning in Germany.

I do think that there will be a chance that R-horses or oversized horses may be allowed to be registered into one of the partbred studbooks (even though a recent motion to allow that was dismissed), but they will probably never get their own studbook as AMHA horses have. It is not ultimately necessary for a German breeder to have his horse registered in a German studbook, but it increases the value of the horse.

That is not to say that we don't want or don't need rules for what happens with oversized horses, it just means that it isn't easy for us to work everything out. But we're doing our best.

Cheers

Julia

 

[mgtman]

We exported 8 minis to England and 2 to Germany last month and the buyer's were adamant about them being under 34 inches tall. Every inquiry I have had from buyers not in the USA, except for Mexico and the so called buyers that are trying to get you to take a phony cashiers check (and there are a lot of them), have made that a requirement. This will probably change in the future but that is not the current market.

 

[Colagirl]

I have recently joined the Irish Miniature horse society and they have a section A for up to 34" and section B for 34" to 38" which I think is a good idea as the larger ones seem to be better for driving (hopefully that will become popular here) and it seems to me from going to shows that most tiny ones have a lot of leg/feet problems!! The section B`s or over 30" even, tend to have better conformation and be more balanced looking so it seems a shame that so many societies seems to be making it difficult for over 34" and people seem to be only interested in getting them as small as possible. It wont change though until classes are held for the over 34"s and only 34" and under stop being promoted as the "real" miniatures! Just my opinion.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Sound alot like the early days of America where no one liked the B Division horses, those times are changing here, they eventually will over their too I imagine.

I agree rob I mean even 10-11 years ago when I got into minis the B's were throw aways and still really even to just 3-4 years ago.. now they are going for as much or MORE then some A size horses it will happen but do agree with Kay some promotion will help