--- title: Mini Horses Featured on 1952 LIFE Cover with Toddler Admirers description: LIFE's cover on December 22m 1952 featured a three-year-old girl with a three-foot-high horse, one of the cutest covers in LIFE's history. canonical: https://time.com/3680984/mini-horses/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-10T15:00:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:08.124Z og:title: These Mini Horses and Their Toddler Friends May Be the Cutest Thing Ever Published in LIFE og:description: LIFE's cover on December 22m 1952 featured a three-year-old girl with a three-foot-high horse, one of the cutest covers in LIFE's history. og:url: https://time.com/3680984/mini-horses/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7ed6655eba24b2/69877ba03c16391d2145158f/150123-mini-horse-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1653 og:image:height: 930 og:image:alt: Mini Horses, 1952 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Mini Horses and Their Toddler Friends May Be the Cutest Thing Ever Published in LIFE twitter:description: LIFE's cover on December 22m 1952 featured a three-year-old girl with a three-foot-high horse, one of the cutest covers in LIFE's history. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5d7ed6655eba24b2/69877ba03c16391d2145158f/150123-mini-horse-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Are the Cutest Pictures Ever Published by LIFE > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 10, 2015 3:00 PM UTC  3-year-old cover girl Cynthia West with Chauncey. 3-year-old cover girl Cynthia West with Chauncey. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 10, 2015 3:00 PM UTC The days preceding LIFE’s [December 22, 1952, issue](http://books.google.com/books?id=Z1IEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs%5Fge%5Fsummary%5Fr&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false) made for a slow news week. The editors could have chosen a photograph of U.S. steel mills or a harrowing image of violence in French Morocco for the cover, but—this being Christmas week—they went with the cutest photograph they could possibly find. On the cover, three-year-old Cynthia West stands beside three-foot-tall Chauncey, a miniature horse imported from England by animal trainer Willis Parker. Parker’s Lilliput Ranch in California supplied animals for movies and television, and the four 90-pound horses he had transported from Sussex were sure to be a hit not only among producers, but also among neighborhood children like Cynthia. As LIFE reported, “In California, where everything is usually bigger than ordinary, an animal trainer named Willis Parker decided to reverse the usual situation and establish a ranch where all the animals would be smaller than average.” Once he built corrals for the mini horses, Parker planned to get “miniature deer from East Africa, tiny dogs from Mexico and small ducks from England to provide the horses with suitable company.” Miniature horses have historically served a purpose beyond cuteness: their small stature made them a good fit for coal mines in 19th century England and America after child labor was outlawed. The horses came to be prized as show animals and pets during the 20th century. While some work as service animals for people with disabilities, they have a few disadvantages. Unlike, say, dogs, the mini horses are livestock animals that fare better in outdoor stables. Cedric, Chauncey and Ronnie had little Cynthia begging her mother to buy her a mini horse for Christmas. Parker’s animals, alas, were not for sale, dashing yet another girl’s dreams of owning her very own (if very tiny) pony.  Ed Clark—LIFE Magazine Ed Clark—LIFE Magazine _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  3-year-old cover girl Cynthia West with Chauncey. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ronnie getting sized up. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Ronnie stands uncomfortably with normal horse collar. He eats only four pounds of hay a day compared to 40 pounds for draft horse. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young girl with Chauncey the miniature horse. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Chauncey and 2 larger horses. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cedric being held by a trainer. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cynthia riding Cedric. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cynthia with two miniature horses at the Lilliput Ranch in California. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Cynthia showing some love for Cedric. Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Ronnie and the Great Pyrenees are taken for a walk. 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