Mini poll....

[High Meadow Miniatures]

I was just wondering it upset you when people called your minis "ponies"

: I don't mind that much because, Some people know NOTHING about horses Some people call everything with 4 legs & a mane & tail "ponies" But, Since we have tried hard to breed Miniature Horses, Not ponies, I get a little tired of hearing EVERYONE think that they are just ponies, Just another name I explain to them that Minis & Ponies are different, For 1 reason, The minis are supposed to have a better temperment than those orney Shetlands!

 

[minih]

It does not upset me at all. There is plenty in life to get upset about and calling a small horse a pony is not one of them for me. In fact I think quite a few of the shetlands I have been seeing lately are some very beautiful horses.

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[Keri]

No, I'm guilty for calling them ponies. Have a hard time with horses since I associate that word with big horses.

But when someone asks about them, I introduce them properly. But to me, they're my little ponies. :xreiter: (too many hours watching that cartoon when I was little).

:

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Nope not at all. They are ponies any HORSE under 14.2 is a pony no matter what the breed some breeds require they are ONLY ponies such as shetlands, minis, POA's and others but all ponies none the less.

And just for the record those Ornery Shetlands....well many of if not all of those foundation minis... are/were shetlands we are breeding one and the same. Just a new name for them

 

[disneyhorse]

ACTUALLY... there is currently a "renaissance" in the miniature horse world (well my opinion only I guess!) where PONY isn't a four-letter word any more!

The miniature horse IS actually a Shetland pony, just selectively bred smaller.

MANY MANY miniature horses ARE Shetland Ponies, and the double registered ones are hot right now in the show ring.

Shetlands actually are NOT "onery" with poor temperaments. Shetlands and minis seem to have the same temperaments.

There is actually NO difference between a miniature horse and a shetland pony, other than what it says on the registration papers. What do you think is the difference if the animal has BOTH papers?

This is my 34" Shetland Pony, who also has many generation of registered Miniature Horse. He is BOTH.

SO no, to most people it won't upset them if their registered Miniature Horse is called a "pony"... and after all in the horse world, a pony is any equine under 14.2 hands tall.

Lots of Forum members have AMHR/ASPC and some have AMHA/AMHR/ASPC horses too!

Mini people threw away the ASPC papers on the majority of the miniatures a while back to try to differentiate their "HORSES" but that marketing ploy is falling by the wayside a little bit, I think.

I LOVE my PONY.

Anyone else?

Andrea

 

[chandab]

The only time I'm bothered by someone calling them a pony is when they use that tone; "oh so you have ponies, what can you do with them?" I'm sure you know what I mean.

I think the reason Shetlands get a reputation for being stubborn or ornery, is because they are too smart for their own good.

 

[horsehug]

Nope not at all.

I agree with most of the others so far.

I KNOW mine are ponies bred down primarily from shetlands. And I tell people who come to my farm that if people have told them different, they are either uninformed or lying.

I have told them that way before the resurgence of popularity of the shetlands again also.

Susan O.

 

[High Meadow Miniatures]

Glad to see some people don't frown about Shetlands! Gold Melody Boy is a shetland! Yes, You are right about minis being smaller Shetland ponies

: I own a few Shetland mares & I love them to bits!

:

: I think I should re-phrase the part about Shetlands being orney, They (& minis) are simply INCREDIBLY smart & full of them selfs :bgrin We have a mixture of horses, Minis, Shetlands, a Halflinger, lots of Quarter Horses & Paint Horses, as well as some more...

: :bgrin I have a certain Mini X Shetland mare that is WAY, WAY, WAY to smart!

: She gets out of EVERYTHING! I love her to bits though

:

: I LOVE all horses, big or small

:

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[Buckskin gal]

It really doesn't upset me to have others call my minis, "ponies" but I do let them know that they are registered Miniature Horses instead of being registered as a "type" of pony. We do have to keep in mind that a Shetland can be registered as a Miniature Horse but a Miniature can't be registered as a Shetland...which right there excludes them from being called Shetlands. If Miniature horses were truly Shetlands then the Shetland registry wouldn't have a problem of allowing them into the Shetland registry. Guess the point is, we have to keep in mind that "ponies is just a word to cover all small horses but Shetland is a breed and Miniatures are a Registry for 38" and under horse {AMHR} 34" and under {AMHA] I do so love my Miniature Horses and like to let people know what wonderful "horses" they are.

: Mary

 

[Katiean]

When my brother calls them ponies I do get mad. Just because he is being a jerk when he is doing it. I do however get mad when someone says "look it is a Donkey" . Actually, I am thinking "What are you looking in a mirror?" I just keep my horse walking because I am not going to dignify their stupidity with an answer.

 

[Dontworrybeappy]

Not a bit - they ARE ponies, and I'm proud of the nice shetlands in their pedigrees!

 

[Miniv]

I've been enjoying many of the previous posts.........and AGREEING.

Have no problem with people calling them "ponies". And this comes from folks who got into minis back when the word PONY was a dirty word! LOL!

MA

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Does it upset me? NOPE!! They ARE ponies

No denying it! If they are under 14.2 hands, they are ponies. Why can't something be a pony AND a mini? One of those, all minis are ponies, but not all ponies are minis.

 

[wildoak]

Not a bit, for reasons already stated above.

As to the ornery Shetlands, the few ponies I was around as a kid were ornery LOL. I think it had nothing to do with the bloodlines, and everything to do with the fact that they received precious little schooling and discipline. These were not nice show ponies or hunter ponies, more what you used to see at amusement parks or on rent horse lines. I started riding on a full sized horse, and never had the pony experience other than being dumped off the ones at the barn where I rode now and then.

Jan

 

[shadelady]

For us, it doesn't matter one bit. Unfortunately, over here in the UK 'pony' or 'shetland' are both words that are spoken in hushed whispers when it comes to describing miniature horses. As breeders and trainers our answer to the question ' what is a miniature horse' is ' any equine that measures under 34" at maturity and fuifills the registration criteria for any particular breed society.'

The best comment we have come across so far was another competitor at a local show recently ( also with minis) who told us that she really wanted a black and white filly like our 'American' that we were holding at the time. ( The filly in question is a purebred Shetland, English breeding). Granted she is way too fine boned to be ever considered as a Shetland by breed purists, but they are the type of horses, oops ponies :bgrin that we are using to try and improve our breeding programme here. If more people accepted them for what they are, instead of trying to pretend they are something completely different, then I have no doubt that , as a breed/type, we could move forward much more rapidly in this country.

 

[Jill]

Oh, I could care less if non-miniature people call them ponies or little horses or "whatever". They almost always are surprised when they meet mine and will say how pretty they are and how much they look just like little horses or even just like real horses which cracks me up.

It's also fun if they see them for the first time in winter and then let them see my sun room with all the ribbons and trophies and pictures of them at shows. They look so different unzipped.

Besides, one of my little horses is really a pony (11hh) and my riding "horse" is about a half an inch this or that side of BEING a pony. So what if it's a four letter word :bgrin

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Nope, every once in a while we are asked this question and most don't care. When it's time to do the "horses" I always say, "let's go do the PONIES".

 

[CheyAut]

Doesn't bother me. If someone asks if my mini is a pony, I"ll tell them it's a miniature horse, but if someone just calls them a pony I don't care

Jessi

 

[Minimor]

Just yesterday someone asked me something about my ponies. Then she corrected herself and said sorry, she meant Miniature horses. I told her "ponies" was fine, I don't mind them being called ponies, I call them that myself. I said some people get in a tizzy if anyone refers to their Minis as ponies, but I'm not one of them. I figure it's silly to get upset over that, since in reality they are "ponies".

I always laugh when someone tells me they want a Mini for their children, because Minis are horses and don't have the obnoxious personality of a pony. Shows how a marketing ploy can convince people of something that isn't...I used to ride small ponies when I was a kid, and the personality of those ponies was exactly the same of the personality of the Minis now. I have never had a problem with ponies & don't find them obnoxious at all, but ponies/Minis do have different personalities than full size horses.

 

[Firefall]

No it doesn't bother me either.

fftopic: I just wanted to add, Shetlands do seem to have a bad reputation. The point being, most adults will say they had one as "a kid", maybe that was the problem, kids were riding/playing with these ponies, could that be why they were thought to be onery (lack of knowledge on SOME childrens part)?????? Ok that being said, I'm sure there are some kids out there that do know what they are doing, but I for one had a shetland, loved her to pieces, but I didn't know anything about training at the time I had her.

This was mentioned to me once and the more I thought about it the more it made sense.

Just a thought..........

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