.The first true Miniature Horses originated in Europe. As early as the sixteen hundreds, these tiny equines were being bred as pets for the European nobility. Paintings and articles were featuring the Miniature Horse by 1765. Lady Estella Hope and her sisters carried on the original English lines into the mid-nineteen hundreds. Many of the smallest Miniatures in the United States are from the Hope line. Unfortunately, not all early Miniatures were pampered pets of kings and queens. Some were used to work in the English Midlands and Northern European coal mines.