THE FALABELLA PONY
These little horses often live to 40-45 years. They are gentle and docile, love the attention of human fans, and are good natural jumpers. At only 7- 8.5 hands in height, however, they are not strong enough to be ridden except by tiny children. Their heads are small and refined, unlike the Shetland Pony, whose head is large in comparison to the rest of its body. The Falabella has fine, silky hair and thin skin and has only 17 vertebrae in its back. There are lots of variations in color, ranging from bay, chestnut, black, and brown to many variations of pinto and even leopard spots. Diane Jones
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When
the Spanish conquistadores came to Latin America, they brought
some Andalusian horses with them. Those Andalusian horses that
escaped or were abandoned were forced to survive unfavorable
conditions like scarce water and pasture, cold southwestern
winds, fierce storms, animal predators, and human persecution.
As a result of so many harsh conditions and a small genetic
pool which resulted in inbreeding ( breeding among closely-related
individuals, such as brothers and sisters), the descendants
of the original Andalusians, when spotted in the 1850s in the
herds of the Mapuche Indians of Argentina, were the size of
our modern-day miniature horses. The Falabella family of Argentina
became so entranced with these pretty little creatures after
many years of selective breeding that they became known as the
developers of the breed. Today's Falabella Pony is the smallest
and rarest horse in the world.