Are ponies dwarf horses?

No, actually it’s the opposite. “The other horses are the ones that are overgrown”, says veterinarian Reuel Luiz Gonçalves, a member of the International Equestrian Federation. To better understand this question about the size of horses, we need to go back in time. The common ancestor of all equines, called the hyracoterium, was the size of a fox. The evolution of this ancestor, taking into account the availability of food, is what gave rise to the most different types of horses. The saddle type, ideal for riding, developed in regions with a predominance of grasses and few bushes to hide. Thus, if on the one hand they had medium quality food available, on the other they needed to be quick and agile to escape predators.

On the other hand, draft horses, used for heavy work, lived in forest regions, with a predominance of leguminous plants, rich in protein. Thus, they had high quality food (which helped develop their strength) and ease of hiding (which didn’t require a speed boost). The horses that gave rise to ponies lived in regions with an inhospitable climate, such as northern Europe and Asia, and had a very poor diet, which hindered their growth. “Through a process of natural selection, only the smallest survived. This group gave rise to all the pony breeds in the world”, says Reuel. According to the most common definition, ponies are horses that measure less than 1.47 meters. But many of them do not even reach 1 meter, quite a difference in relation to common horses, which, depending on the breed, can reach up to 1.90 meters.