What was the first miniature register with AMHA & AMHR

[MBhorses]

hey

I would like to know what the first miniature name is with amha and amhr.i would also like to learn how miniatures started? What was the height / colors /information of the first minis?Is the books we can buy about the pedigree?I wonder if the first minis had blue eyes solid pintos etc.

thanks

merry christmas everyone

 

[ruffian]

I'm certainly no expert, but I've been in minis for over 25 years, and know some of the original breeders. AMHA has always been 34" and under. I don't know who the first one was, but there was also an IMHR - International Miniature Horse Registry - that melded into AMHA.

Early breeders had all colors, but there were very very few appaloosas. Lots of the first were much more dwarfy than now, thank goodness.

Early breeders were going for the smallest horse possible, and not everybody was worried about conformation, just size.

 

[MBhorses]

thanks for information. i love the minis (they are sure great horses to have

 

[Wings]

I love breed history!

Easy and free way to start diggins is put somthing like "history of the miniature horse" into google and start digging through the search results. A couple of my miniature horse books have a chapter or two on the subject as well

Although a lot of people disagree over the french royal court connection

I'm in that camp, it's always seemed more like somthing added to make the breed more exotic in it's early days!

 

[MBhorses]

i would love to read information / see photos of the eariler minis they are the reason we have our minis now

family tree

 

[Miniv]

It was the breeders of small Shetlands that wanted to make their smaller horses more distinctive and formed AMHR. Within a very few years some of the members of AMHR broke away and formed AMHA to focus on the even smaller minis.

AMHA was very aggressive with their PR, so it became the more popular registry, even though AMHR created their two height divisions. These days, however, AMHR is probably just as successful and many people like to have their horses registered with both.

 

[Margo_C-T]

I have both of the sets of printed Studbooks originally put out by AMHA...the ones w/ the black covers and the ones with the tan covers(they messed up on the Black ones; left out the horses' colors, if I recall correctly(too lazy to go find them and check right now!)...so had to have them re-printed, and provide the 'corrected' version to all who had purchased the 'original' flawed set!! They are soft-cover, large and unwieldy, but a wealth of information!

Unfortunately(IMO, at least!),in the AMHA Studbook, the organization is alphabetical, by name, instead of numerically, by registration number(as with AQHA, where it is easy to find out that the King Ranch's stallion "Wimpy" was P-1, the first AQHA (Permanent, hence the "P")registration number issued, in honor of being named Grand Champion Stallion at the Ft. Worth Stock Show(I am relying on memory, so I *think* this is the case!)in @ 1940. The alphabetical listing makes it virtually impossible to determine what horse had the registration number "ONE" by looking through the printed AMHA Studbooks! Not sure if it could be found in the online form, as I no longer breed and don't pay for access to that...and I don't know the format of the AMHR Studbook, so can't speak to that.

Over time, there were other viable registries begun for miniature horses; one notably was the International Miniature Horse Registry(IMHR). A fair number of horses were registered with IMHR; back around the late '80's, after much 'discussion', IMHR was 'absorbed'by AMHA(the original AMHA circular logo looked odd because space had actually been 'reserved' for the word 'International' to be added,which would have made it the 'INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN MINIATURE HORSE ASSOCIATION' (what a mouthful!!)...but as I recall, a lawsuit stopped that happening, and there were some severe 'hard feelings'over it, because the agreement to do that was supposedly part of the reason notable IMHR backers had (reluctantly) agreed to the merger.

Margo

 

[kristen_tg]

I have a huge collection of old MHWs, and I've often debated undertaking the huge task of scanning them and digitally archiving them. The ones from the early 1980s are so rare. I got them back in the last 1990s in a huge lot (I posted on the salesboard I wanted to buy old MHWs and someone responded they'd GIVE me the ones they had if I paid for shipping.... I got like... 60!!!!) and I found them astonishing 15 years ago. I'm sure now they'd be eye-popping. Think AMHA would hunt me down and beat me with a stick if I built a library of them?

 

[JAX]

kristen_tg " scanning them and digitally archiving them".

LOVE that idea! I have MHW starting from about 1989, also even still have some of the old Miniature Marketsheets". Let me know if there are any you are missing and I might be able to help you with your collection. Every now and then I consider tossing them all but then I make the mistake of flipping through them and end up changing my mind. Couple months ago I found an old picture of a yearling Alvadar Double Destiny... sooooo funny to see some of these guys when they were youngsters!! I also have the "Tan" stud books from 95, I can get more info from them than the online version sometimes.

As far as the begining of AMHA, I think it was 1978? And I believe Charles Palmer was one of the founders??? I bought two of his horses a loooong time ago and I believe thats what he said... If I am remembering correctly.

I even still have one horse with IMHR papers too I think...

OMG this is making me feel ancient.

 

[kristen_tg]

I think I have a complete set from 1982(?)-2005, although I'm missing most of 2002 and some of 2003.

That's a lot of scanning.

I also have Miniature Marketsheets, the Miniature Horse Voice (a New England publication from the mid 1990s) and New England Miniature (a New England pub from the early 1990s) and a couple of other obscure publications ala 1990s that never got more than a few issues off the press.

 

[REO]

AMHR

001P Mini Pony Tony

red roan DOB 3/5/68 29"

sire: unknown

dam: unknown

bred by Russell Jackson, Owenburg IN.

 

[stormy]

Cool...Mini Pony Tony...will remember that! I have an old mare whose AMHA number is in the 300s but would also be curious to know who was #1 in AMHA

 

[horsehug]

I had always heard Shadow Oaks Paul Bunyan was the first registered AMHA horse. So I looked him up on the AMHA studbook.

And here is what it said. He was obviously put into AMHA from the IMHR when they merged. And his number is very similar to the one Diane posted for Candy. Except he has a B after it. Wonder what that meant?

SHADOW OAKS PAUL BUNYAN

NAME REG. NO FOAL DATE S CL BT ST HT

SHADOW OAKS PAUL BUNYAN I 00001B 12/15/1969 S PGR - DC 32.500

SIRE GOLDEN PENNYS PRINCE CHARMING UNREG. - - - 00.000

DAM LITTLE TEX FANCY R 00225P SWT - DC 32.750

BRDR DIXIE J. BLASINGAME

OWNR DIXIE J. BLASINGAME

Susan O.

 

[MBhorses]

wow nice thanks everyone for sharing

 

[Tami]

I bought a mare back in 1982 or 1983 who was originally registered with the IMHR and her number was 00011B and her registered name was "Tiny". Her AMHA number is listed as the same

 

[tagalong]

I once worked with and foaled out a mini mare whose was originally registered with IMHR... Ayers Mini Black Mist. Her number was in the low 200s, as I recall.

 

[stormy]

My old mare, Larga, was also registered origionally with IMHR...she is still with us raising the weanlings, she loves babies and had her last one at the age of 24...if she had her choice she would still be having a baby every year!

 

[Tripleplay]

If you're looking for information on how Miniatures became what they are today I suggest talking to John Eberth. We visited his farm on a trip to Kentucky and he was very informative. He's the chair of the AMHA genetics committee, and really knows his stuff!