Miniature horses have been around for around 500 years. The earliest known "miniatures" came from Europe in the 1500's. Kings and wealthy nobles kept them as pets. The little horses were very popular. Farmers tried to breed them smaller and smaller and would sell the foals to rich families. King Henry VIII feared that farmers would quit raising large horses, so he passed a law against breeding the miniatures, afraid there would not be enough big horses to carry soldiers in heavy armor. The king ordered all horses less than 56 inches to be killed. English farmers loved their small horses and refused to obey the law. Since that time, England has produced more small horses than any other country. In the 1800's, thousands of small horses went to work pulling coal out of mines. These "pit ponies" sometimes spent their entire lives underground. In the 1900's, power equipment replaced the ponies, but people still liked having the little horses as pets. In 1956, a pony breeder by the name of Smith McCoy, after realizing that he could get the highest prices for the smallest horses, went around the country searching for small horses. He only bought those that were less than 32 inches. McCoy bred his miniature horses for about 10 years on his farm in West Virginia. In 1967, he had the largest herd of miniature horses in the world, and put his horses up for sale. In 1972 the American Miniature Horse Registry was founded. There are two height divisions in this registry: Division A includes horses 34 inches and smaller, and Division B includes horses from 34 inches up to 38 inches. In 1978 a second registry was founded: the American Miniature Horse Association. In this registry horses cannot be taller than 34 inches. Miniature horses continue to gain popularity. The number of miniature horses DOUBLED from 1990 to 1995. Miniature horses reside in almost every North American state and province, as well as in many foreign countries.