2018 Article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, By Domingo Ramirez, Jr.
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.
