I have to start with this one because I think of the Dexter as being the original miniature cattle. That being said, there is no such thing as a miniature Dexter (got in trouble for that one.) They are a small, good tempered, dual purpose breed. They can be horned or polled, and come in black, red, or dun. I've seen some people with White Dexters recently. It's a separate registry and there definitely seems to be a bit of controversy depending on who is talking. The breed originated in Ireland and still have the hearty character of their mountain descendants. I haven't ventured into milking (yet) but these ladies are supposed to produce 1-2.5 gallons of milk daily, therefore, they have enough to share! They do have great dispositions and are easy to handle. The draw back or perhaps the best part of the Dexter... depending on who you talk to... is that they are known for carrying chondro, chondrodysplasia. This is a gene responsible for dwarfism, (not the only one, just the most talked about.) When one copy is present you get the short legged Dexter, no copies give you long legged animals, and two copies of the gene are lethal to the fetus. The American Dexter Cattle Association goes into quite a bit more detail. You can also request a test kit from UC Davis, pull out a few hairs from the tail and send it all in to test for genetic markers and coat color.