Einstein Horse – The Smallest Horse in The World?

When you hear about the Einstein Horse you’re probably thinking of how smart it could be, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. It is a famous horse but for a completely different reason.

The Really Small Einstein Horse

So how small was this horse after all? To get an idea, the average horse will usually be over 5 feet in height and will weigh somewhere around 1,500 pounds. A miniature horse, or pony, will usually weigh just around 250 pounds and will be half the size of a normal one. Well, when it comes to Einstein, at only five months old, this horse was way behind his peers. This very small miniature horse had a weight of just 47 pounds, with a height of no more than 20 inches. This is what made Einstein a curiosity right from the start.

Most miniature horses will weigh around 21 pounds at birth, but when the foal Einstein first came to life, he was just 2.1 kg, or 6 pounds in weight, and just 14 inches, or 35,5 cm in height. This is why it is still considered the smallest stallion in the world.

Aside from his weird dimensions, everything about this horse was well-balanced and on point, some people going as far as calling it a wonder, from his height, weight, length, legs, to his head.

The history of Einstein, the Smallest Horse in The World

Einstein was a brown or a dark bay miniature horse. His reed was bred by Fazenda Mondesir in Brazil and the horse was born in New Hampshire in 2010. Upon birth, he became the smallest horse in the world. He was sired by Spend a Buck which was the actual American Horse of the year in 1985. His dam was Gay Charma, a well-known Brazilian Champion in 1998, Three-Year-Old Filly. He also had a damsire called Ghadeer, which was the son of Lyphard and a very strong stallion in Brazil, that managed to sire 25 Group One winners throughout his life.

His sire and dam were both champions, holding titles in miniature horse tourneys, and were 30 and 32 inches tall.

As soon as Einstein set foot in the United States, his new owners consigned his race conditioning to Helen Pitts, the person responsible for taking over their stable when Kenneth McPeek decided to retire. McPeek and Pitts are both known as successful American trainers of Thoroughbred horses.

The Mini Horses Einstein and Thumbelina

Thumbelina held the world record for the smallest horse ever, being a dwarf miniature horse that was born on May 1, 2001. She eventually died in 2018. She is considered the world’s smallest horse, having a height of just 17 inches, which translated into 43 centimeters, and a weight of just 57 pounds, which is roughly 26 kg. This made her get in the Guinness World Records.

She had a head that was very large compared to the rest of her body. Her torso was also very big, while her legs were small. Although she was a few inches shorter than Einstein, her weight was twice as big. The case of Thumbelina was basically a clear dwarfism condition. Einstein, on the other hand, had perfectly balanced dimensions despite his size, making him the smallest horse without a medical condition.

Einstein got the world’s smallest living horse title just after Thumbelina passed away in 2018.

Einstein’s Surgery

At the age of just two months, Einstein the mini horse was able to set another important record, being the only horse in history to ever get surgery by a neurosurgeon that was a canine specialist. Einstein suffered a spinal cord injury that required an 8-hour-long surgery. This surgery managed to save his life and was done at Cornell University.

Just eight weeks after this surgery, the horse become one of the stars invited to the Oprah Winfrey Show.

His Racing Career

Einstein horse won his first of the two Gulfstream Park Turf Handicaps on February 25, 2006, the tourney also being his debut appearance. This was followed by other races won on three different track surfaces. One was won at the Clark Handicap on dirt, the other at the Turf Classic Stakes on turf, both of the races being held in 2008 at Churchill Downs. His third race was won on Pro-Ride synthetic dirt, at the Santa Anita Handicap, in 2009.

Einstein was also able to successfully defend his championship title on May 2, 2009, On May 2, 2009, in the Woodford Reserve-sponsored Grade I Turf Classic Stakes. He then attempted to set a world record on June 13, trying to get the achievement of being the first-ever horse to win a Grade 1 race on all three different surfaces within the same year. He won his first at Santa Anita, his second at Woodford, but the third race had him finish in third place in the Stephen Foster Handicap on dirt.

He also raced in the Arlington Million in 2009. This is where he went head to head with some of the best turf horses in the world, including Presious Passion and Gio Ponti, two American-born talents. This was also the race that had international stars like Stotsfold, Cima de Triomphe, and Gloria de Campeao, a french horse that got second place in the Dubai World Cup of 2009. Other American entrants in this competition were Recapturetheglory, Just As Well, and Mr. Sidney.

Recaptureglory was also the horse to finish fifth in the Kentucky Derby in 2008. Einstein’s performance was nothing to brag about, not being able to display even his usual late burst. He was only able to finish sixth, after Gio Ponti, which at the time was a rising star.

On September 3, 2009, Frank Stronach announced that he was able to buy Einstein from Midnight Cry Stables. Einstein continued to race under the new owner. participating in the Pacific Classic Stakes held at Del Mar Racetrack in California. He was only able to win second place in this race after LongShort Richard’s Kid.

He then competed in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, on November 7th. He wasn’t a favorite especially due to the presence of Zenyatta and Rip Van Winkle, although he did manage to win the race in the past on the same surface, the same track, and the same distance. This was a very bad race for Einstein, who managed to only get the 11th place out of 12 participating horses.

The next memorable race for Einstein was on November 27 at Churchill Downs, where he raced in the Grade II Clark Handicap. This race had him finish a good third after starting from outside of the gate, in the 14th Post Position.

Stud Career of Einstein the Horse

Einstein was retired and was kept as a stud at the start of the 2010 breeding season, at Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm, which was near Paris, Kentucky.

The Passing Away of the Miniature Horse

He was permanently retired on March 11, 2019, to Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, Kentucky. Some cancer complications led to his euthanization on October 28, 2020, when he was 18 years old.

Einstein was very close to the perfect gift for a child. He was so small that you could keep him in your lap or pick up with your bare hands. He would have been a great yard pet.

His size made Einstein one of the most well-known horses in the world.