October 13, 2006: World's smallest horse
 

http://cellar.org/2006/thumbelina.jpg

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).

Ahem.... Don't you think it's just intelligent design?

I wonder if she wears tiny little horeshoes. And how much weight can she carry?

I saw a program a while ago where these really small horses are used like guide dogs. The horses in question wore sneakers so that they wouldn't make too much noise indoors.

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.

Speaking of that, has anyone here ever had horse meat? Is it used in dog food? I wonder how it tastes. I know horses are rendered into glue and such and maybe even into jello, but is there any place you can get horse meat for consumption?

These little guys look like they might be tender.

Its illegal some places, isn't it?

Wendy's. They also had kangaroo for awhile, unless I have my urban legends mixed up.

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.:yum:

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.

I had seen another story of a tiny mini foal that was allowed in the house, they wrapped her hooves with a product called 'vet wrap' which is a stretchy bandage with latex in it. It was grippy enough for the foal to get around the floors of the house without slipping...

America's misdirected-PETA converts and knee-jerk-reaction bleeding hearts are currently trying to ban horse slaughter for human consumption, with the ultimate goal of banning horse slaughter altogether...
Would it surprise you to learn I, a self-proclaimed horse lover, am pro-slaughter of horses?

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.

Europe and Canada. My grandmother used to say it was more common than any other meat at her local butcher's shop in Belgium.

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

I just saw an article about American horses being stolen for the meat to feed Europeans. Modern day rustlers. Do they still hang 'em? And don't they have horses over there they could eat? I guess if they did they wouldn't be importing from Canada.

Where you draw the line on the food chain is arbitrary anyway. Meat is meat, I say. I think cows are cute but I still loves me some burgers.

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*

"They're made of meat..."

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?

Ohhh you are nasty!!





but friggen funny :D

Uh, and exactly what do you think cause the small size other than a mutation? Actually it could be multiple mutations that all worked together to make an exceptionally small horse based on the parents or it could be a spontaneous germline mutation that occured with just this horse. Either way, the tiny horse does not have the same wild type genes as the big horse.

Uh, and exactly what do you think cause the small size other than a mutation? Actually it could be multiple mutations that all worked together to make an exceptionally small horse based on the parents or it could be a spontaneous germline mutation that occured with just this horse. Either way, the tiny horse does not have the same wild type genes as the big horse.

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. :cool:

Wait a minute, are people still allowed to talk like that?

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

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/

From the web page:

"For sale miniature cattle
For pets, for pleasure, for fun"

The "pleasure" comment has me a little worried! :eek:

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

Where's the mini-sheep? :eek:

Hiding. :hide:

Portable CheeseSteak.

When I heard that one, it was always McDonalds. The claim was never direct, however ... just that "they are the largest importer of Kangaroo Meat in the United States," leaving the listener to draw his or her own conclusions.

Sorry, was that b-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ad?

:p

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. :yum:

:headshake

What else have they lied to me about?