The Pony of America (POA) resulted from an "accidental" breeding, less then 50-years ago. A neighbor of Les Boomhower - Les was a Shetland Pony breeder and an attorney, in Iowa - offered Les an Arab/Appaloosa mare, that had accidentally been bred to a Shetland stallion. Les waited until the mare foaled that spring, before purchasing the mare. The colt was white with what looked like black paint smears all over his body. The spot's resembled a "black hand," hence, the naming of the colt Black Hand.

Calling together his fellow Shetland pony breeder friends, Les decided to establish a new breed line, and create guidelines for this new breed. The pony had to be between the height limits of 44 inches to 52 inches. The head was to be small and dished, like an Arab's. The body well muscled like a Quarter horse, and the coloring had to be Appaloosa, visible at 40 feet.

PoA, blanket pattern, roan

From the onset, the POA was a breed for children. These gentle child-size equines can give a boy or girl the confidence to develop strong horsemanship skills. The POA is perfect for trail and endurance riding, ranch work and family outings of all kinds. The name Pony of the Americas was chosen as the original stock came from North and Central America - Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.

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The POA has a gentle disposition, a good and willing temperament combined with working ability and durability, and beauty and personality as well as stamina and stability. POA's possess a lot of heart and will always give their riders that little extra when it is needed.

Today, the height requirements have increased to between 46 inches and 56 inches, with the appearance of a small horse. The POA should have sufficient body to be able to do a full day's work while having refinement to make it attractive.

PoA, roan blue ribbon halter class

Coloring is important -- a POA must have one of six distinctive coat patterns, to be included in the breed registry. The most common coloration is a blanket pattern - as seen in the first picture above. This pattern is seen as white over the loin and hips with dark, round egg-shaped spots. The leopard pattern -- as seen in the background image -- is where the spots cover the entire body. The other three patterns are snow-flake, marbelized roan -- seen in picture directly above -- and frost.

Like the Appaloosa, the POA has mottled skin at the eyes, muzzle, and genitals. Its hooves are stripped, and it has a distinctive white sclera around the eyes. The POA has good shoulders, deep chest, short back, rounded body, strong hindquarters and clean legs. This gives the POA long strides and free action -- allowing it to be an excellent mount for young riders.

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Pony of the Americas Offical Breed Site

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