This is no tall tale.

The Stock Show has had miniature horse shows for more than 30 years, and Tony Greaves and his small equine have competed in every one of them.

The 72-year-old Buda resident and his tiny horses, which cannot be taller than 34 inches, were there Thursday for another round of competition.

An estimated 60 of the cute animals are in the competition, which continues Friday.

“I’ve brought 13 horses this time,” Greaves said Thursday as he took a short break from preparations. “It looks like we’re going to be entered in 90 classes.”

His love for the tiny horses is legendary. And why not? One look at them and your heart melts.

Greaves’s family didn’t start out raising miniature horses.

“My parents had Shetland ponies and quarter horses, but I wanted a horse even smaller than the ponies,” he said.

As a senior at Lamesa High School in the South Plains of Texas, Greaves started with one miniature. He now has 170 at his Little America Miniature Horse ranch just south of Austin.

“They are addictive,” Greaves said. “No one can have just one.”

For the last 50 years, Greaves and his small horses have gone coast to coast in competitions; this year he plans on entering at least 14 to 15 events.

And he’s been a winner. Greaves has had seven world champions at the American Miniature Horse Association World Championships. In recent years, that event has been held in Fort Worth.

This passion for the tiny horses has been a family affair. His two daughters have shown miniature horses, and his 29-year-old daughter, Lauren Greaves, will be on hand Friday.

The Greaves even had a baby shower at a miniature horse show event in Fort Worth when Carol Greaves was pregnant with Lauren.

“I have never known my life without them,” Greaves said Thursday in a telephone interview. She noted she had a pony and an Arabian horse growing up. “It was so funny. They were so much bigger.”

Like her father, Lauren Greaves said her loyalty remains with the very small horses.

“I just love them,” she said.

Not only has the Greaves’ family become fans of the miniature horses, but they’ve spread it to others. One way has been through Greaves’ Thursday Kids, a program in the Buda area that introduces kids to the animals.

That program is what got Shelley Baker of Austin and her daughters, Emily, 16, and Kayla, 13, involved.

“I grew up around a horse ranch, but nothing like this,” Shelley Baker said Thursday. “We’ve been showing with Tony for five years, and it’s been great.”

Greaves has even spread his love for miniature horses around the world.

In recent years, Greaves has sold his small horses to owners in Russia, Australia and Costa Rica.

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“Lifetime Achievement

The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a nominee who has been an AMHA member in good standing for a minimum of five years. This individual is to have demonstrated an exceptional and specific contribution toward the perpetuation, use and/or breeding of the American Miniature Horse. They have earned documented recognition and respect as a positive, active and inspirational representative of the American Miniature Horse Breed and of the Association, having clearly served to strengthen the foundation and to direct the vision of the breed and/or the association.

Shared from Pete and Jennifer Welma’s nomination letter: Many of you know Mr. Tony Greaves, either through his constant smile and friendly demeanor or for the fact that he has been involved in the miniature horse industry for over fifty years. Tony has served the American Miniature Horse as a showman, educator, breeder and most of all an advocate for the breed himself.

Tony Greaves came from a long line of horsemen. He grew up on his family’s Quarter horse ranch but was inspired to own a Miniature horse by a Bozo the Clown comic book he read as a child. Fifty years ago, in the spring of 1963, Tony’s first miniature-sized horse, “Big Un,” was born. And in 1978 when the AMHA was founded, Big Un was Tony’s first AMHA registered horse, measuring at 31 inches tall. From there Tony began breeding Miniature horses in earnest, naming his farm Little America Miniature Horses. Today that farm in Buda, Texas is home to approximately 200 Miniatures. Tony is an international breeder, selling horses in Scotland, Thailand, Mexico, Russia and France. Each horse sold proudly carries the Little America name prefix. And they number almost 900 now.

Tony’s commitment to his business of breeding and selling Miniatures is just a small part of his passion. His enthusiasm and knowledge propelled him toward a more active role in 1993 when he became AMHA’s Secretary. From there his involvement blossomed as he served as Vice President (twice) and President of AMHA (3 times). He continued to be very involved and served on the Board of Directors and in 2005 received a well deserved “A” Award for Volunteerism.

Also in 2005, Tony’s daughter Lauren started a program called Thursday Kids that allowed children of all ages to come to the ranch and learn about Miniature horses. Now, seven years later the program is still going strong thanks to Tony and Lauren’s tireless efforts to educate children about the amazing Miniature horse, all the while promoting AMHA by supporting its shows and involving families that would not have otherwise ever been introduced to a Miniature horse. Tony uses every opportunity to share the Miniature horse with his community. The list of ways he’s found to showcase them is staggering from festivals and parades to career days at schools, Pet Appreciation Days, local nursing homes and yearly barn tours in his community.

But the most personal way Tony has found to share his love of the Miniature horse is with the hands-on approach that he uses with the numerous children that visit the farm every week. Kameron Welma is one of those fortunate kids who won the friendship of this amazing man over the past four years. Kameron soon learned the rules of the barn, “brush, water, check and clean the stalls and no running in the barn area.” In appreciation of the responsibility, knowledge and skills Tony bestowed, Kameron is now more confident, has a better attitude and his self-esteem has grown leaps and bounds. During the four years, Kameron has been involved in the Thursday Kids, he has won countless ribbons, belt buckles and other outstanding rewards. But he counts Tony’s friendship as his biggest win so far.

It seems fitting to award Tony Greaves this lifetime achievement award for his continued drive and faithful service to promote the Miniature horse and the AMHA on this 50th anniverary of the registration of his first Miniature horse.

Congratulations Tony!”

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For their April/May issue, AMHA ran an article in the Miniature Horse World about how Thursday Kids began.

Here are some of our favorite pictures from other shows in 2012.

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Quite by accident, a group of children who wanted to learn more about Miniature horses became Lauren’s Thursday Kids at Little America Miniature Horses.

In 2005 as a sophomore in high school, I showed one of my horses in an FFA/4-H county open-breed horse show. When I went into my two halter classes, I would keep an eye on the judge to make sure my horse was showing if she was looking. Both classes came and went, and the judge never so much as glanced in my direction. It was as if I wasn’t even in her class! I was frustrated, so I decided that I would work to get more Miniatures in the show the next year so she would HAVE to look at me.

So I spread the word that FFA and 4-H members were welcome to come to our ranch on Thursday afternoons an I would teach them to show the horses. I had a few members respond, but was surprised to have many outside of those groups who wanted to participate. We called the group Thursday Kids while I tried to come up with a better name, but I never did, so it stuck. Over time it really transformed more into a service event than teaching FFA/4-H students to show. The Leo Club (youth version of the Lion’s Club) would offer it as a way to gain community service hours, and students would come out and I would teach them about the horses as they would help halter break foals and clean stalls. I would work with the ones who wanted to show on Thursdays and extra days as needed, teaching them to show and about horses in general. I had a quiz I had put together of random horse facts that I would talk to them about/ask to test them while they cleaned their horses up for practice. I documented hours logged in from 2005-2007 and I worked with 49 students from the age of 3-18 who participated in the program for a total of over 400 hours. I guess the real reward was during my senior year of high school, my mare won Reserve Grand at the Hays County Youth Horse Show. My good idea finally paid off!

When I left for school, my dad kept Thursday Kids going and in 2009 he began taking them to AMHA shows. I worked with them on showing on Thursdays and extra days whenever I was home from college. We have a few really great kids with equally great parents in our group right now which makes it fun to work with them on Thursdays.

Little America Miniatures had a great time with the horses at the 2012 Fort Worth Livestock Show. My dad (Tony) myself and five Thursday Kids had over 80 entries and came home with over 50 first place ribbons from the two judges at the show. Add to that the five grands, three reserves and a surpreme, totaling 146 points total!

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FORT WORTH — Kameron Welma led a miniature horse around the ring, feeling the dirt floor with his small feet clad in cowboy boots.

Kameron peered out from under a large black cowboy hat and squinted at the judges. Born four months premature, the 9-year-old is legally blind.

Kameron, of Kyle, a suburb of Austin, won two third places Sunday at the Stock Show miniature horse show.

“I can’t see out of this eye,” Kameron said, pointing to his right eye while carrying his ribbons. “I can see really big stuff, just not the small stuff.”

Kameron was among the children from Thursday Kids, started by Lauren Greaves in the Austin suburb of Buda to introduce children to Little America Miniature Horses. Every Thursday after school, kids spend a couple of hours feeding, cleaning, brushing and learning about the horses.

Greaves, who began Thursday Kids as a high school student, asked her father, Tony, to continue the program when she left for college. She returned this year after graduating from Texas A&M and runs Thursday Kids with her parents.

“It gives the kids a sense of accomplishment and leadership and a creative outlet,” Lauren Greaves said. “And it teaches them about this wonderful breed.”

A miniature horse is no bigger than a large dog, according to the American Miniature Horse Association.

Drawn to the horses’ kind, gentle nature, the Greaves family owns about 170 miniature horses and provides them free to Thursday Kids families. Children as young as 3 have participated in the program.

More than three years ago, Sarah Johnson, 14, of Lockhart visited the Greaves’ home on a 4-H trip and then begged her mother to let her return. As an animal lover, she now looks forward to Thursdays all week.

“I just love the horses and love spending time with them,” Johnson said. “They’re smaller so you don’t feel scared at all.”

For Kameron, who cannot play team sports because of his eyesight, working with the horses has built self-confidence, said his father, Pete Welma.

“Having a commitment one day a week to clean stalls, brush and clean the horses and practice showing has taught him a lot about responsibility,” Pete Welma said. “It has been incredible for all the kids.”

  

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Paula, Tyler, Kameron, Anijah had a fun time with their families at the Youth Calcutta party. Kameron won High Point Boy 7 & Under for the show as well as Special Needs Showmanship World Champion.

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