The South African Miniature Horse (SAMH) is a breed of a miniature Horse.

About:
The development of the South African Miniature Horse began in 1945, and involved crossing Shetland ponies with small Arabian horses.

While the breed was officially recognized in 1989, it is still being developed. As part of this development process, American Miniature Horses are imported to South Africa to further improve the SAMH.

Breeding:
Because the SAMH is still being developed, is it allowed to cross a SAMH with an AMH (see the 'American Miniature Horse' for more information.) In addition, in Horse Isle, it is also allowed to cross them with Falabellas. This is because many Falabella horses in the USA are also registered with the AMHA (see the 'Falabella' for more info.)

Usage:
Similar to many other miniature breeds, SAMHs are used for halter shows, driving shows, and in-hand jumping shows (with a jumping record of 1.25m as of 2016.)

Conformation:
Because the SAMH is still being developed, members of the breed vary greatly in their conformation. While many SAMHs have the same lean build that most AMHs have, others have a "pony-like" conformation, characterized by thicker and shorter necks and legs and a deep girth.

Accordingly, many SAMHs have a mixed conformation that blends the lean conformation with the pony-like conformation. The SAMHs in Horse Isle have this "mixed" conformation, although they can be bred to look slightly leaner or slightly pony-like.

The manes and tails of SAMHs can be anything from straight and silky to wavy or coarse.
Most importantly, the breed standard specifically calls for manes to be medium or long in length. Therefore, in Horse Isle, SAMHs will be heavily penalized if they have a short mane. As such, it is not recommended to cross SAMHs with a short-maned horses regardless of their breed.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered South African Miniature Horses in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 11.6-12.5, 12.0 (0.2), 0.05.
Sprint: 17-27, 22 (3), 0.54.

Accel: 0.86-1.05, 0.96 (0.05), 0.01.
Decel: 0.85-1.06, 0.96 (0.04), 0.01.

Jump: 4.95-5.27, 5.09 (0.06), 0.01.
Pull: 0.15-0.83, 0.47 (0.19), 0.04.

Turning: 40.74-56.26, 48.54 (3.05), 0.6.
Reverse: 1.9-2.5, 2.2 (0.1), 0.02.

Stamina: 41.40-46.05, 43.76 (1.04), 0.2.
Reaction: 0.48-0.69, 0.61 (0.04), 0.01.

Coats & Height:
Colors & patterns: all colors and patterns except for dominant-black and manchado, though these two can be bred into this breed.

Height: 6.2hh* and 9.1hh**.
* While there is no official minimum height limit for SAMHs, in Horse Isle their minimal height is 6.2hh.
** The maximal height allowed for SAMHs is 9.1hh, meaning that the SAMH can be taller than the AMH, whose maximum allowed height is 8.2hh.