Miniature Horses were supposedly first used or bred in the United States to be used to pull coal from the mines because of their very stout conformation and ability to pull loads many times their own weight. Moorman Field of Bedford, Virginia is accredited by many as being the first true breeder of miniature horses in America. Moorman also brought imported miniatures from Holland because of the unique colorations. Today, miniature horses most likely have the widest color variation of any equine breed. There are Pintos and Appaloosas, as well as solid colors that include Buckskin, Chestnut, Palomino, Grey, Sorrel, Black, White, Duns, Roans, and Bay.
Silver Dapples are also very evident in the miniature horse breed.
McCoy Smith of West Virginia was also a widely acclaimed early miniature horse breeder. J. C. Williams of Dell Tera Miniature Horses in South Carolina as well as many other significant American Breeders of Miniature Horses often brought imported miniature horses into the United States to enhance their breeding programs. Their farms are well-known throughout the world as the producers of the some of the finest and smallest miniature horses ever bred in the United States. The Falabella Miniature Horse of Argentina may well hold the most prominent place of miniature horse recognition because of the early concentration of breeding a miniature horse that was a true counterpart of a full-sized, very refined horse. The coal-carrying days are over and now and the much more refined miniature horses often enjoy being driven with pleasure carts, roadsters, and even racing sulkies.