Middle School
Worksheets
Royal Beginnings: Miniature Horses
Caption: Scout is a miniature horse that works as a guide horse.
The horse is a descendant of a prehistoric mammal called Eohippus. The Eohippus lived between 60 and 45 million years ago. Eohippus was the size of a dog. It measured about two feet high at the shoulder. Since then, the horse has grown and changed in many ways.
In the 17th century, miniature horses were bred as pets for Europe's nobility. Records from the Palace at Versailles say King Louis XIV kept miniature horses in his palace zoo. These miniature horses were bred with other small horse breeds to produce new varieties of small horses. Some of these small breeds include the miniature Shetland pony, the miniature toy horse, and the midget pony.
