October 13, 2006: World's smallest horse

Daily Mail via Spluch.

Meet Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse. She's just 17 inches tall despite being an adult horse, 5 years old.

I want one!

She was born at an American horse farm that specializes in tiny horses; normally the tiny beasts are twice Thumbelina's size.

That means Thumbelina is not really a freak of nature. My high school biology teacher used the local miniature horse farm as an example, when explaining genetics. Part of the theory of evolution is that genetic mutations happen and the new changes are accepted or rejected over time, slowly leading to improvements and adaptation. The mini horse tells us that you don't necessarily need mutation to vastly change a species.

It was a good explanation, but I would have used dogs as an example. The teacup Chihuahua, the Great Dane, the English Bulldog and the Russian Wolfhound, all are the same species. We have bred them specifically for genetic variations, and created dogs that wildly vary, to the point where most of the variations would not even continue to exist without human intervention.

That's cute. I heard them talking about thumbelina on Fox and Friends (via Sirius Radio)...now I know

SMALL!

I...must...have...small...horsey!

How cute is that?

HOOF? YOu need to check this out!

Wow. A house horse. I mean, one that doesn't require reconstruction of the house in order to accomodate it.

Poor thing looks horribly deformed.
Probably has numerous health issues related to it's being a genetic novelty item.

Having a tail so long it hangs at your feet would be a pain in the ass.

omg, that is SO damn sweet my pancreas is hurting. Seriously though; where do we GET ONE? I want one to give to my wife -- a palomino one. It would be cool to see it kick the cat around the house. I would gladly trade one of my kids for one of those horses.

Name it Epony (pronounced Ee-pon-ee pun on Celtic horse goddess).

Check out my screen name. My friend and I made it up because we thought of the ultimate pet that we could design and breed: a dog-sized flying horse. A "pegusita"!

Now that half of the work has been done, we just need to add wings to the sucker. And then soon all the world will revel in taking their pegusitas for a walk/fly.

/Yes, it's stupid, but the story behind the name is true.

Does the little horsie remind anyone of else of human dwarves? Normal, *but*, stuff is sort of out of proportion...they aren't just shrunken photocopies of the so-called "normal" examples of their species?

She doesn't look half bad compared to a lot of them. Some you wouldn't even consider throwing on the barbie.

I do not see porn in this horses future!! Looks like seeing-eye horse it is.

Its illegal some places, isn't it?

France consumes tons of horsemeat every week. Years ago there was an outfit in Canada that owned 3 Boeing jets. They did nothing but carry horse meat from Canada to France, full time.

http://www.worldssmallesthorse.com/home.html

Flint and Els, you guys are RIGHT ON. This little mare is an example of equine dwarfism. The article also stated how carefully they must monitor her feed intake and that she has leg problems that require braces.

You must see the videos on xoB's linked site. The second video is kind of lame, just an interview, but the first one shows her running around.

I think she looks more a pot-bellied pig than a horse. When she runs, she has her head down, like a pig, not up like a horse, and her barrel chest makes her piggish. Of course we could tell if we could taste her.

A horse is a horse of course of course
and no one can eat a horse of course,
unless of course that horse is between two buns with lettuce, tomato, mayo, with a side of fries

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce France consumes tons of horsemeat every week. Years ago there was an outfit in Canada that owned 3 Boeing jets. They did nothing but carry horse meat from Canada to France, full time. http://www.worldssmallesthorse.com/home.html

Horse meat tastes a bit gamier than beef and isn't as fat. I used to get horse tenderloins. It has just been made illegal in the last session of Congress so I guess they will throw them away or feed them to the dogs when they get old. In fact I used to be able to buy ground horseburger as animal food in NYC in the 70s, if memory serves.

I think that big draft horse's look sez it all.. "What the hell are you?"

Can it be horse-box trained?

Can one fly on a plane with a tripping passenger?

Slang: Hi, yeah....I was wondering, now I know this sounds crazy....but I have this tiny horse and I'd like to bring it with me to India. What might the procedure be for taking a horse with you on a flight?
United: *click*

It's probably much better than beef these days. Who's heard of mad horse disease, anyhow?

Griff, I knew I could count on you.

Now has anyone mentioned "dental floss" yet?

Well, she could have a future as a guide horse for the blind!

http://www.guidehorse.org/photo_page.htm

I don't know, chris. She's awfully high maintenance for a blind person to keep.

Was she bred by the French as a special starter portion?
Or just for Tom Cruise?

Unless they used gene therapy, it's still a mutation. One that they artificially select for in order to propagate.

So, every feature of every living thing is a mutation.

She came from a miniature horse farm, but turned out to be little mare than half their other miniatures because of the dwarf gene appearing.
The dwarf gene may have been recessive for generations, but when it appeared the owners decided to stop that line by not breeding her.

Yes, but no one takes them seriously......except Homeland Security.

Hmm...I wonder if they could breed miniture cows? And how long would it take? For some reason my b/f wants a mini cow...and a guard dog bunny. I promised him that I would try.

Look into dexter cattle.

A guick google brought up this site that lists Miniature Cattle breeds.
http://www.minicattle.com/

I knew it! Why else would you want a mini-cow?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheldonrs From the web page: "For sale miniature cattle For pets, for pleasure, for fun" The "pleasure" comment has me a little worried!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shawnee123 Where's the mini-sheep?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dar512 Hiding.

There is no such thing as a teacup chihuahua.
http://www.chihuahuaclubofamerica.com/teacup.htm

Don't believe them, Stacey, why I found one in my teacup just the other day. A little water and a few minutes in the microwave made a right tasty brew.