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Robert Butler
By Jere Hough Meteorologist / Feature Reporter
Published: Wed, May 30, 2007 - 7:05 am
Last Updated: Thu, August 23, 2007 - 1:22 pm
Last Updated: Thu, August 23, 2007 - 1:22 pm
Jere Hough
Pat Foster has been raising them for about twenty-five years. She explains what qualifies as a miniature. "A miniature horse...has to have correct confirmation, kind of like a big horse, but shrunk down and cannot be over thirty-four inches tall....They measure them right here at the withers, so it's thirty-four inches here. This little horse we're looking at is 29 inches."
Some horses here measure only an inch or two over two feet
Foster says they have wonderful dispositions and are smart. Katrina proved that. Foster and her husband let the animals choose where to weather the storm. "They could run in a barn or they could stay out of the barn. We had a hundred and fifteen horses at that time and not one horse got a scratch on it. And we lost every bit of our barn, and trees were gone, and our fences were down, but not one horse got hurt, not one."
Foster says they cost less to feed than a big dog, but they can be costly to buy. "Here they range from a thousand to about ten thousand or fifteen. The highest miniature that ever sold that I'm aware of was for one hundred seventy six thousand."
The expensive ones are those who have won often in big shows.
Jere Hough is riding in a small cart pulled by a miniature horse. As pets, they can be used to pull carts. Isaac is giving a ride to his trainer, Bethany, and him. He may be a miniature, but he can sure pull his own weight, and more!
Pat Foster has a website that features pictures and more information about her horses. Here is a link
www.ImpressibleMinis.com
There is also a National Organization: The National Miniature Horse Association.
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