Is there such a thing as a pygmy horse?

[minis3]

While watching Animal Planet yesterday I watched a show about amazing animals setting new guiness world records. There was a 30" (if I remember right) horse that was setting a new world record for a jump. The gal called it a pygmy horse due to it's size. It jumped a 24" jump which made a new world record for a horse it's size. Are minis under 30" referred to as pygmys?

 

[disneyhorse]

No, miniature horse enthusiasts do not ever refer to minis as "pygmys". The only term ever referred to, besides "miniature horse" is "dwarf" and a "dwarf" is a horse that is genetically impaired in varying degrees.

It is not uncommon for a quality Miniature Horse that measures 30" and under to jump well in jumping classes, so perhaps this show was a bit sensationalized and uneducated.

Andrea

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I have heard the term pygmy used before as well as midget ponies and really that is what they were called years ago when the pony market was failing and someone got the huge brainstorm to market there ponies under a different name something that made them sound different then pony so the terms pygmy and midget ponies were thrown around until they decided to call them miniature horses.

 

[Marty]

I"ve heard the term pygmy associated with the term dwarf.

I've also heard the term "Micro-Mini" and I never did quite figure out what that was supposed to be.

 

[Voodoo]

My guess would be that the show was somewhat uneducated in the mini horse world just as disneyhorse said. I know the little ones can jump very well and 24" isn't much for many of them. I have never heard a mini horse enthusiast call a small mini a pygmy, so I'd say it's just a way for them to get people interested in the show on TV.

 

[Jane=P]

I watched the show and I couldnt believe it when they called it a pygmy horse, the host asked her what it was, because he had heard of miniature horses, she said that a miniature horse was 32"-38 " and a pygmy horse was under that, and her horse was only 30", tried to make it sound like very rare and she tried to jump 24" 3 times and knocked down jump everytime, The mini was nice looking horse, just young girl who owned him didnt know what she was talking about, sad to see misinformation about minis on a TV show ...JANE

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

While watching Animal Planet yesterday I watched a show about amazing animals setting new guiness world records. There was a 30" (if I remember right) horse that was setting a new world record for a jump. The gal called it a pygmy horse due to it's size. It jumped a 24" jump which made a new world record for a horse it's size. Are minis under 30" referred to as pygmys?

Wow, then I should submit my 29" stallion, he can jump that with his eyes closed....

: He absolutely just LOVES to jump- his ears are forward, and if horses could smile, he would!

Lucy

 

[Steph G]

I've heard people call them that. I have a friend who asks me all the time if she can come see my midget horses. I don't know where she heard that.

It seems to me the guinness stuff is always uneducated when it comes to the animal stuff. Someone just wants their fifteen minutes of fame I guess. I was watching another one where someone was getting into the book because their miniaure had the longest tail in the world(miniature tail). It only drug the ground about two inches! :no: I've seen them draging the ground as long as three feet behind them and I'm sure there are some longer. And, yes, I'm pretty sure any of mine could jump 24".

 

[Dona]

That is funny! :lol: Lots of mis-information out there! Gosh, I saw mini mare who was only 30" who could jump over 40"! And I'm sure there are many more out there. It's astounding just how high these little guys can jump!

:

 

[Mercysmom]

While watching Animal Planet yesterday I watched a show about amazing animals setting new guiness world records. There was a 30" (if I remember right) horse that was setting a new world record for a jump. The gal called it a pygmy horse due to it's size. It jumped a 24" jump which made a new world record for a horse it's size. Are minis under 30" referred to as pygmys?

Discovery Channel does not care if they provide the wrong information to viewers. (No such thing as a pygmy horse, either.) I called twice, emailed and sent letters about an Animal Planet show that incorrectly said "that AMHA had B division horses", showed by their example that it was safe to tell your dog to chase your pregnant mare to "speed things up" (labor wise), to allow a child to run around horses barefoot and to lead horses by their forelocks, without a halter, with the same chasing dogs around. Oh yeah, and to have the same child ride said very pregnant miniature mare at a brisk trot and canter...and to have the foal get stuck in a water pipe fitting that tangled around his neck when he was turned out with his mom - they tried to hide it but it was not edited out of the show. And the person featured on this show was a "trainer" getting paid to teach people?! :no:

I copied the Standards of Perfection and some basic rules for AMHA and AMHR for Discovery Channel but the wonderful ladies answering the phone said they could not "pull the show off the air as it had been airing for a year." I said, "So Discovery Channel does not care about factual discrepancies? People do watch your shows to learn something and why should they learn the wrong information because your producers cannot take the time to make sure the info was correct?" The trainer did have to sign a release - I have a copy of a release for that same series she was on and she had to sign that she would provide correct information. The show was slightly edited but it was a horrible train wreck of everything not to do with a horse, packaged as something the trainer must have thought would have people say "awww, that is so cute." Not me... I was angry enough to have Mercy go on to another Animal Planet show to set some of the information correct - the producer of our show wanted to have a good product that was correctly informative.

All of our minis do a lot of good as just they are without being "sensationalized". Too bad the media does not usually appreciate the smiles a mini brings to children in schools or elderly folks in nursing homes. For what little press I do get in my hometown, one major paper and the 4 TV stations in town have ignored what we do with Mercy on a volunteer basis. The other paper gave us the front headline.

:

Just my humble opinion even though I strayed a bit from pygmy horses. (Yawn)... "24" inch jump by a little horse being a world record"? We have lots of minis on the board who can do that in style and do it often! Guess we better let the Guiness Book of World Records (or whoever was keeping track of that one) know the real facts!

Denise

Silversong Farm