The American Miniature Horse is a unique breed, the limiting characteristic of which is size

.It must not measure in excess of 34 inches in height for (AMHA registry) and 38" for (AMHR registry), which is measured at the withers, at the last hairs of the mane. It must be a sound, well-balanced horse, possessing the proper conformation characteristics which are common to most of the larger breeds. In fact, if there were no size reference, the miniature horse might give the illusion of being a full-sized horse. The American Miniature Horse gives the impression of strength, agility, and alert intelligence and is available in all possible colours.

The American Miniature Horse extracted from many sources in the creation of the breed. Undeniably, it utilized the blood of the English and Dutch mine horses, that were brought to this country in the 19th century and were used in some Appalachian coal mines as late as 1950. It also drew upon the blood of the Shetland pony, several of which appear in the pedigrees of some miniatures today.

In the past decade, breeders have imported and exported miniature horses, in this growing industry, from all over the world. While others have selectively bred miniatures from the larger breeds of horses.

In 1978, The American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) was formed. It is now the only registry in existence that deals exclusively with true Miniatures, 34 inches and under.

The AMHA maintains complete pedigrees on each horse and an official magazine is published, THE MINIATURE HORSE WORLD. There are hundreds of AMHA approved shows which are held throughout the USA every year, culminating with the American Miniature Horse Association's World Show. There are also many AMHA classes throughout Europe.

The American Miniature Horse as a breed is currently being standardized. The American Miniature horse Association was organized and incorporated in July of 1978 to maintain a registry and stud-book. A Standard of Perfection was adopted in 1978 and was amended by the membership in October 1988 at the annual meeting. Recognizing that two basic body types, a "draft" type and a fine-boned "refined" type, were present in the existing foundation stock, the Standard called for a blending of the types into an elegant little horse. 

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