The Falabella is very unique and one of the smallest horse breeds in the world, originating from Argentina. During the 15th century Spanish conquerors and explorers settled in South America, bringing their horses with them. So, many horses in America are descended from the Spanish Andalusian and other Iberian bloodlines.
The name of the breed comes from the family that was breeding and developing the breed. In the 19th century Patrick Newtall started a breeding program in Argentina, crossbreeding local Criollo horses, which were adapted to the harsh environments by reducing body mass over generations. After his death, his son-in-law, Juan Falabella, took over the breeding methods and the herd that his father-in-law possessed. Falabella imported foreign breeds, such as the Welsh Pony, Shetland pony and small Thoroughbreds, and added their bloodlines to the existing herd. The aim was to gain constantly small size within the herd.
In 1940 Juan created a formal breed registry, called the Establecimientos Falabella, standardizing the breed to reach a constant height of less then 10 hands high (40 inches). Modern standards of the Falabella Horse Breeders Association (Asociación de Criadores de Caballos Falabella) achieved an average size of approximately only 7.2 hands (30 inches) high. The first importation of Falabella horses to the United States was in 1962 for the needs of Regina Winery in Etiwanda, California. John Aleno from Argentina purchased 12 stallions from Julio Falabella and sold them to the winery, which used them for promotion of their wine, driving a small stagecoach in parades. These horses are precursors of the most miniature horses in the USA. Today there are only few thousand Flabellas existing throughout the world.
The average height of the breed is from 6.1-7 hands (25- 28 inches) in height at the withers and they can rarely be found taller than 8 hands. At birth they stand only 3 -5.5 hands (12 to 22 inches) and are maturing by the age of three. Despite their size, the Falabella is considered to be a miniature horse and not a pony. All colors can appear at the breed, but the most common coat colors are bay, brown and black. Pintos, palominos and other spotting patterns can be also found. Black or red leopard spotted individuals also exist, but are very rare.
The Falabella horse doesn’t have a specific type of the physical confirmation. Its body is small, compact and well proportioned and it resembles to the Thoroghbred and the Arabian horse. Maybe the head is slightly larger and the neck is stronger compared to a normal sized horse. The bone is sturdy; the joints are large; the hair coat is silky and thicker, mostly around the fetlocks, the mane and the tail; and they have slim frame. All these features are cob-like from the pony bloodlines.
These beautiful, small horses are mostly used for riding small children, which is understandable due to their size. They are also used at horse shows, not ridden but led in-hand. The Falabella is easy trainable and can jump over obstacles up to almost 1m, also as at the horse shows led in-hand. Many people love them and keep them as pets.
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