Horse Trading : Miniatures Bred in U.S. Could Make It Big in Japan

The Japanese have discovered the mini whinny, the little horses that have a way of fascinating almost everyone who has seen them.

And what the Japanese like, they buy. There are about 100 of the miniature horses in Japan and the number is growing.

A prime source for the Japanese stock is Winners’ Circle Miniature Horse Ranch in Petaluma, about 35 miles north of San Francisco. Eight of the horses, all less than 34 inches tall, were recently quarantined in a separate corral awaiting shipment to Kyoto to join 32 others that the Petaluma ranch has sent to Japanese buyers.

“Miniatures are just catching on over there,” explained Barbara Norman, who operates the 10-year-old ranch with her husband, Nolan, and her parents, Ray and B.J. Kaliski. The family runs 70 to 80 head of the tiny horses on their 25 acres, and from their breeding stock they sell about 30 young animals each year.

One of their best customers is Shuichi Nishimura, a Kyoto industrialist who recently sent a trainer to Winners’ Circle for six weeks to learn more about the care and feeding of miniature horses.

Nishimura “feels miniature horses will take off like a firecracker in Japan,” said Barbara Norman. “Mr. Nishimura is starting a miniature horse breeding farm in Kyoto. He asked if it was OK to name his ranch Winners’ Circle Nippon Kyoto. And we said sure, as long as he keeps buying his foundation stock from us.”

A Japanese film crew recently visited the ranch, so the family expects that interest will be heightened further. Russell Walker, executive secretary of the American Miniature Horse Assn. in Fort Worth, Tex., agrees.

“It’s a product tailor-made for the Japanese. They are restricted in land mass. Their homes are small. They’re into bonsai trees and all kinds of miniatures. These little horses fit in perfectly,” Walker said.

California, said Walker, is No. 2 in the nation in the number of miniature horses registered with his association. Texas leads with 5,000 horses, followed by California with 4,000 and Florida with 2,500. In all, there are about 35,000 registered in this country with the association.

“People from all walks of life, from average income to multimillionaires, have them as pets,” said Walker, adding that the little horses have sold for as much as $100,000 each. In recent months, he added, the association has had numerous requests from Japan for information about the animals.

Miniature horses can be traced to the 16th Century, when they were developed through inbreeding as pets for European royal families.

Wars and famines, during which many horses, including miniatures, were eaten, thinned the herds drastically. The few that survived were owned primarily by traveling Gypsies and circuses. Some were exported to this country at the turn of the century to work in coal mines. Then in the 1940s, a few breeders began raising miniatures for sale as pets.

Here in Petaluma at the Winners’ Circle ranch, two miniature horse shows are held for visitors on Wednesdays through Sundays from June to October.

The horses jump hurdles and pull people in elegant, scaled-down Victorian carriages and buckboard wagons. One of the Victorian carriages pulled by Winners’ Circle miniature horses appeared in the 1987 Tournament of Roses Parade.

Because the ranch shows have become a popular stop for buses of Japanese tourists coming from the Bay Area, Winners’ Circle has published a brochure about the place in Japanese. Anyone asking about prices will find the stallions selling from $1,500 and up and mares at $2,500 and up. Contrasted with Japanese prices, Norman said, that’s a bargain. In Japan, they sell for three to five times the U.S. price.