Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Miniature Horse Could Be Smallest in the World



Meet Cotton Eyed Joe!!  :-)  ~Declan


Miniature Horse Could Be Smallest in the World

Posted: Jul 07, 2014 6:50 PM EDTUpdated: Jul 07, 2014 8:26 PM EDT  As posted on newschannel5.com

by Mark Bellinger



<CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO>


COFFEE COUNTY, Tenn. - In one mid-state community there is a small horse getting a lot of attention. If all goes as planned he'll make it into the record books as the smallest horse in the world.
The miniature horse's name is Cotton Eyed Joe and he lives in a big red barn out in the middle of nowhere between McMinnville and Manchester.

His owners, Tony Teal and Teresa Hinds run a mobile petting zoo.
Last year one of their miniature horses gave birth.
Teal said, "He came out healthy. The only problem he has is being ornery."
Cotton Eyed Joe is small even by miniature horse standards.
The veterinarian told the owners Cotton Eyed Joe is the tiniest horse he's ever seen.

Teal said, the veterinarian said to him, "Have you all ever checked on smallest horse in the world?" I said, no. I never thought anything about, and so we did."

Cotton Eyed Joe is competing to be the smallest male miniature horse in the world.

Right now he measures about 20 inches, but the 14 month-old is not expected to get much taller.

Competing to be the world's smallest horse is serious stuff. There's competition from a horse in Italy, but right now Cotton Eyed Joe is the leader.

Teal said, "He's smaller, about two inches smaller."

Cotton Eyed Joe is smaller than a car built for toddlers and he fits comfortably into the back seat of a car or truck.

Hinds said, "He's a chance of a life time. If he doesn't make it just going through the process has been very rewarding, yeah."

A miniature horse reaches maturity at 3 years old. That's when the Guinness Book of World Records will decide if Cotton Eyed Joe is the world's smallest male miniature horse.

He's only 14 months old, so there's still time to wait.

The Guinness Book of World Records is quite a process.

Cotton Eyed Joe's owners have hired an attorney to make sure they correctly follow the process and fill out the necessary paper work.


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