MID-ATLANTIC STRAINS
Descendants of the Colonial Spanish Horse
Chincoteague/Assateague
Banker Horses
Corolla
Ocracoke
Shackleford
Rachel Carson Site
Carolina Marsh Tacky
Cumberland Island
Florida Cracker
CHINCOTEAGUE PONY, also known as the ASSATEAGUE HORSE
Origin - History
It’s known that Assateague Island has had horses there since the late 1600s. The Chincoteague herds on that island have not been documented as early as that. There are beliefs that in the late 17th-century mainland farmers brought horses to these locations so they wouldn’t have to bear the cost of fencing horses and of livestock taxation. Another story is they descend from horses left on the island by pirates.
Chicoteague Volunteer Fire Company supports the Spanish shipwreck story. The National Chincoteague Pony Association agrees.
The legend of Spanish ships running aground or wrecking with horses surviving by swimming ashore is attached to all the feral horses that reside all along the outer banks, the barrier islands that protect the shoreline from the extremes of the Atlantic Ocean. Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague portrays that theory in her classic book. There is evidence along the banks of the eastern shoreline that points to the possibility the legend is true.
By the 1600s Spanish Galleons were exploring the coastline of the continent. The Spanish warship, La Galga (1750), and another, Juno (1802) sank near Assateague. Artifacts like an anchor and coins have been found. This legend is being supported by other archeological discoveries in the last decades. There is documentation of attempted settlements that were abandoned. Livestock including horses were left behind.
Genetic links from 16th-century horse remains a horse tooth, were discovered by Dr. Nicolas Delsol in the Hispaniola Colony at Puerto Real, settled in 1503. DNA links it directly to the Chincoteague strain. Puerto Real, according to Kathleen Deagan of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida was at its peak of corruption, “the industry [at Puerto Real] was mostly based on contraband: illegal trade off the north coast with the Portuguese, French, and English corsairs and pirates.” Orders from Spain were ignored until finally the people of Puerto Real were ordered away from the settlement, and it was destroyed completely. It remained untouched for centuries until archeologists examined the area. Among the finds was the tooth of a horse whose closest living relative is of the Chincoteague/Assateague herd of the eastern Maryland/Virginia area. Dr Delsol’s analysis of the horse tooth was limited to one sample of mitochondrial DNA, only the maternal line. It’s not a complete view.
“Because this tooth was buried at a well-documented site in a Spanish city that existed only from 1503 to 1578, archaeologists are pretty sure” the Spanish brought this horse to Puerto Real. And given its similarities in DNA, the Chincoteague pony seems likely, too, to have some Spanish ancestry. But Delsol and his co-authors are careful not to extrapolate much more. DNA alone cannot prove that horses survived a shipwreck. (Other writers have identified a 1750 Spanish shipwreck that they claim is a plausible origin event.) An alternative explanation, Delsol told me, could be that the Spanish brought horses with them while exploring the mid-Atlantic coast in the 16th century. This history is less well-known than Spanish incursions farther south and west, but there are still remnants of Spanish forts in the Carolinas. Perhaps the ancestors of the Chincoteague ponies came on a journey to one of these settlements.” Sara Zhang, staff writer the Atlantic, Aug. 16, 2022
“They’re of widely mixed ancestry,” says E. Gus Cothran, an emeritus professor at Texas A&M University who studied the island population using earlier methods back in the 1990s. That work, he says, also “strongly supports that there is some Spanish influence.” Original Chincoteague ponies have been bred with other strains and breeds, which means the Chincoteague ponies are hard to stand away from that breeding practice.
Horses didn’t roam this continent after their demise here until after the French, British, Dutch and other Europeans arrived. Colthran reminds us that feral mustangs in the West were originally descendants of the Spanish horses. Remember too that the settlers from Europe moved west. They brought horses with them from Northern Europe.
DNA results confirm that many horses from strains along the eastern seaboard are primarily of Spanish origin.
In 1920 Shetland Ponies were bred to the horses in these locations. Pinto colored coats were the result. Spanish Mustangs and Arabians were also introduced.
Location
Virginia and Maryland
Assateague National Seashore, Maryland
Chincoteague, Virginia
Humans Connected to Herd
Assateague – National Park Service
Chincoteague – Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department
Margaurite Henry
Nicolas Delsol
The National Chincoteague Pony Association (NCPA) was founded in 1985.
International Chincoteague Pony Association and Registry (ICPAR) was founded in 2021. The Associations maintain a studbook and register ponies from the annual fire company auction and ponies from private breeders.
The ICPAR registers half-Chincoteague Ponies from private breeders.
The Chincoteague Pony Association (CPA) was founded by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company in 1994 and closed in 2012.
The Chincoteague pony was added to the Code of Virginia § 1-510 (Official emblems and designations) as the designated pony of Virginia by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia in February 2023
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: They average about 13.2 hands but grow to at least 14.2 hands when domesticated with better nutrition.
Weight: approximately 850 pounds.
Some conformation faults developed because of uncontrolled inbreeding. Welsh pony and Shetland pony bloodlines were introduced. Twenty mustangs owned by the BLM were introduced in 1939. Arabian, Morgan, Thoroughbred, American Quarter Horse, American Paint Horse, Canadian horse, Mustang, and Spanish Mustang bloodlines were crossbred.
The offspring generally show “The breed has a straight or slightly concave facial profile with a broad forehead and refined throatlatch and neck. The shoulders are well angled, the ribs well sprung, the chest broad and the back short with broad loins. The croup is rounded with a thick low-set tail. The legs straight, with good, dense bones.” Dutson, pp. 287–290.
Coat Colors
Bay, Chestnut, Black, Buckskin, Palomino, Smoky Black, Cremello, Tobiano
This strain originally was brown or black primarily. With the introduction of other strains pinto patterns are common and some primitive markings have been produced.
Current Status
There are more than 1,000 Chincoteague ponies owned by private individuals off Chincoteague Island, spread throughout the United States and Canada.
There are two herds separated by a fence at the state line between Virginia and Maryland. The National Park Service manages the Assateague herd, and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company owns and manages the Chincoteague herd. The Chincoteague herd is permitted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to graze on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. The size of the herd is restricted to about 150 horses on the Refuge.
Assateague
Horses on the Assateague Island National Seashore are managed by the National Park Service. They are treated as a wildlife population that is regularly monitored with the population managed starting in 1994 to 80- 100 horses with a fertility control program. Studies show higher numbers are necessary to genetically sustain the herd.
Chincoteague
The CVFC holds their traditional Chincoteague Pony Penning on the last Wednesday in July. The horses are rounded up and swim from Assateague Island to Chincoteague Island. The next day the young foals are auctioned with the proceeds going to the volunteer fire company.
Among the horses on Assateague Island by the 1700s some were privately owned. Inhabitants of the island and the mainland captured and domesticated these solid-colored horses. Five hundred Assateague horses inhabited the island by 1874. After a series of destructive fires, Chincoteague residents authorized the fire company to organize a festival to use pony penning auctions to raise funds. Eventually, the pony swim to Chincoteague was a public relations success so the CVFC established ownership of the Virginia herd. The pony auction helps to stabilize the population of the Chincoteague strain.
During the pandemic, the 2020 online auction raised $388,000 from the sale of 68 ponies. The 2021 auction netted $416,950 for 75 ponies. In 2022 they raised a record $450,200 for 63 ponies. $32,000 was the highest price paid for a pony and $2500 was the lowest price paid for one.
https://theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/08/chincoteague-island-ponies-horses-tooth/671151/
https://honesttopaws.com/s/tooth-solve-island-pony-riddle/?as=310&bdk=0
https://smithsonianmag.com/history/real-misty-chinciteague-once-stared-down-barrel-storm-180970557/
BANKER HORSES
Origin - History
Elders have said Banker horses have always been there. We are carried through time with legends, centuries old, telling us of a ship headed to Peru with horses to labor in the mines there. No human survivors, but Spanish horses survived and swam ashore. It’s a romantic horse story, almost mythical. There are pieces of evidence left along the mid-Atlantic seaboard and in historic records.
Columbus started setting up breeding ranches in Hispaniola after 1493. Early explorers acquired horses in Hispaniola rather than pay to transport them all the way from Europe.
There is genetic analysis and historical records that suggest the feral horses on the Outer Banks of North Carolina are from the early Spanish horse. Exploration journals during the colonization of the American continent exist and reveal events from the 16th century.
From Toledo, Spain Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón sent three expeditions to explore what is now the North Carolina coast in 1526. The journals reveal 500 men, women, and children and 90 horses were aboard the ships. Fever caused the death of Ayllón and many of the residents of the colony.
While there Ayllón sent a captain to explore a river, River John the Baptist, along the coast of North Carolina. Historians consider the possibility this place is what is now known as Cape Fear. Ayllón’s interaction with the Coree tribe turned to conflict. The area and their horses and livestock were abandoned.
Sir Richard Grenville had 5 vessels run aground at Wococon in 1585, present day Ocracoke. Journals from the exploration indicate the ships carried livestock, including “mares, kyne (cattle), buls, goates, swine and sheep.” Grenville wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham telling him that the livestock survived on the island after the ships ran aground.
Poor interaction with Indigenous tribes, the habitat and disease were the primary reasons other explorations failed to establish colonies along the Outer Banks.
Spanish explorers also traded their horses to English settlers there decades later.
While there Ayllón sent a captain to explore a river, River John the Baptist, along the coast of North Carolina. Historians consider the possibility this place is what is now known as Cape Fear. Ayllón’s interaction with the Coree tribe turned to conflict. The area and their horses and livestock were abandoned.
Sir Richard Grenville had 5 vessels run aground at Wococon in 1585, present-day Ocracoke. Journals from the exploration indicate the ships carried livestock, including “mares, kyne (cattle), buls, goates, swine and sheep.” Grenville wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham telling him that the livestock survived on the island after the ships ran aground.
Conflict with indigenous tribes discouraged permanent settlement in the Outer Banks. The location was abandoned at that time. The horses descended from Spanish horses have been there for hundreds of years. Ships ran aground there frequently. Some were lost during hurricanes and storms. It became known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. Eight Spanish ships have been found from the time period between 1528 and 1564.
The horses along the Outer Banks have adjusted to the climate and habitat with natural selection and isolation reflecting a distinct strain. In the most remote locations in the area, the Bankers are believed to be direct descendants of the original Colonial Spanish Horse. Within the Corolla, Shackleford, and Ocracoke herds are horses believed to have pure Spanish ancestry.
Representatives of the Spanish Mustang Registry came to the Outer Banks in remote Currituck County in 1982 to view the remaining strains of feral Banker horses. They observed horses that closely resembled original Spanish horses.
Representatives of the Spanish Mustang Registry came to the Outer Banks in remote Currituck County in 1982 to view the remaining strains of feral Banker horses. They observed horses that closely resembled original Spanish horses.
Several of the Colonial Spanish horses’ characteristics indicate that they share ancestry with other Colonial Spanish horses. We can’t trace their original Spanish breeding and genetics, but the genetic marker, Q-ac, suggests the Bankers share a common ancestry with Paso Fino and Pryor Mountain Mustangs.
Bankers were regularly rounded up for agricultural purposes. Their population was in the thousands by the 1950s.
Location
North Carolina
Along the Outer Banks of North Carolina’s shoreline.
Corolla, Shackleford, Ocracoke (180-acre fenced area).
As the Corolla area developed the Corolla Wild Horse Fund was established in 1989 to protect Corolla horses from being struck by vehicles.
Humans Connected to Herd
See individual strains.
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: 13 – 14.2 hands with some as tall as 15.2 hands.
Weight: 800 – 1000 pounds.
Bankers are intelligent, even-tempered, calm, willing, athletic, and are sure-footed, easily trainable and have a natural jumping ability, stamina and longevity. They exhibit broad foreheads with straight or slightly convex profiles, short backs, with low tail sets, and long manes and tails. Some individuals possess five instead of six lumbar vertebrae which suggests Bankers have a shared ancestry with Colonial Spanish horses. Atlas wings are lobed, not semicircular. Most bankers don’t have chestnuts on their hind legs. They have a long stride and can pace and amble.
These horses usually have a very long stride, and many of them have gaits other than the usual trot of most breeds. These other gaits can include a running walk, single foot, amble, pace and the paso gaits of other more southerly strains. Dr. D Phillip Sponenberg (August 2005). “North American Colonial Spanish Horse Update.” Heritage Breeds Southwest
The very low heterozygosity and low mean number of alleles in Banker horses are similar to the Florida Cracker population in the 2011 DNA report. It also revealed the DNA similarity of Banker, Carolina Marsh Tacky, and Florida Cracker to Iberian breeds. The Banker horse is the most closely related genetically to the original Spanish Horse among the horses of Spanish descent of the barrier islands.
The Foundation for Shackleford Horses set up a studbook to establish the Banker horse as its own breed and is listed in the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy as a critically endangered breed. Some Banker horses have been accepted in the Mustang breed registry.
Coat Colors
Their coat color can be any color, but is usually brown, bay, dun, or chestnut.
Current Status
Five thousand Banker Horses were on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 1920. Only the Corollas and the Shacklefords remain with a population of about 400 horses. Less than 100 horses are still in the Ocracoke herd. Issues of inbreeding and genetic diversity are detrimental to these herds because of their low population numbers. They are being crossed with Carolina Marsh Tacky, Mustang, Spanish Mustang and other Colonial Spanish horse breeds.
Corolla Wild Horse Fund was established in 1989 to protect horses from human interference via education, herd management, and veterinary services.
Shackleford horses are assigned 7544 acres on the Outer Banks. The government rounds up Shackleford horses periodically for adoption. Three thousand acres of Cape Lookout National Seashore are permitted for the Shackleford herd that are designated as Colonial Spanish Mustangs to roam free. As part of herd management mares are given contraceptives.
Shackleford horses are significant to the area because they are important economic and agricultural resources. They have been used for transportation and to pull fishing nets. Horse auctions bring people to the area and contribute to the local economy.
https://innonbathcreek.com/the-banker-horses-of-north-carolina/
COROLLA
Origin - History
The origin of the Corolla Strain follows the history of the rest of the Outer Bank area.
Historic records include the explorations and settlements of Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón from Toledo, Spain in 1521 who had a charter from the Spanish king providing him with the right to colonize on the eastern seaboard. His captain, Gordilk, landed along what is now Cape Fear and another location in the same vicinity called Chicom.
The logs of the Richard Grenville voyage, part of Raleigh’s Roanoke expedition, document events including livestock carried on the ships.
For four years, Raleigh’s ships maintained a steady traffic between England and the Outer Banks, in spring of 1584, 1585, 1586, and 1587. They followed the same general route to the Canary Islands and across the Atlantic, stopping at the same places in the West Indies such as Tallaboa Bay and Puerto Rico. They reached the Outer Banks in early summer. Dale Burrus
Details of the Spanish and English expeditions have been compiled by Mr. Burrus and can be found on the Corolla Wild Horse Fund’s website: https://www.corollawildhorses.com/spanish-mustang-history/.
The English and the Spanish were in a power struggle that led to war. There was no combined unified force applied against the natives. There were guarded observations and clashes between the English and Spanish expeditions. The relations with indigenous tribes were strained and ended in conflict. The establishment of colonies failed with less than half surviving to return to Hispaniola. The horses did survive when they were abandoned in the Corolla area of the northern barrier islands.
John Lawson, English historian, prior to his death at the hands of the Tuscaroras in 1711 had this to say about the horses of the barrier islands.
The horses are well-shaped and swift. The best of them would sell for ten or twelve pounds in England. They prove excellent drudges, and will travel incredible journeys. They are troubled with very few distempers, neither do the cloudy-faced grey horses go blind here as in Europe. As for sprains, splints and ringbones, they are here never met withal, as I can learn. Were we to have our stallions and choice of mares from England, or any other of a good sort, and careful to keep them on the highlands, we could not fail of a good breed; but having been supplied with our first horses from the neighboring plantations, which were but mean, they do not as yet come up to the Excellency of the English horses; tho we generally find that the colts exceed in beauty and strength... These creatures they continually cram and feed with maize, and what the horse will eat — ‘til he is as fat as a hog, never making any farther use of him than to fetch a deer home.
Edmund Ruffin, in 1856, a historian and agricultural authority described the regularly occurring sale of these horses by stock owners.
Twice a year on the Banks, the stock owners hold a wild horse penning, at which time all of the wild horses on the island were corralled and the colts branded. The horses pennings are much attended, and are very interesting festivals for all the residents of the neighboring mainland. There are few adults residing within a days sailing of the horse pen that have not attended one or more of these exciting scenes. A strong enclosure, called the horse pen, is made at a narrow part of the reef and suitable in other respects for the purpose – with a connected strong fence stretching quite across the reef. All of the many proprietors of the horses, and many assistants, drive the horses from the remote extremities of the reef, and easily encircle and bring all the horses to the fence and near to the pen.
Location
North Carolina
Along the northernmost Currituck Outer Banks and barrier islands of the North Carolina coast.
The Outer Banks are about 175 miles long from the Virginia line to below Cape Lookout.
Humans Connected to Herd
The Corolla Wild Horse Fund
Dale Burrus wrote a history piece about the Banker Horses while he was the Senior Inspector for the Spanish Mustang Registry. He lived on Hatteras Island his entire life.
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: 13 – 14.2 hands with some as tall as 15.2 hands.
Weight: 800 – 1000 pounds.
Bankers are intelligent, even-tempered, calm, willing, athletic, and sure-footed, easily trainable with a natural jumping ability, stamina and longevity. Bankers exhibit similar conformation characteristics.
"Genetic Analysis of the Feral Horse Populations of the Outer Banks the Corolla herd has only 29 alleles, among the lowest number of any horse population. They are in effect a breed unto themselves." Gus Cothran, Ph. D., the University of Kentucky. Isolation and inbreeding factor into those results.
Coat Colors
Their coat color can be any color, but is usually brown, bay, dun, or chestnut.
Current Status
The mission of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund is to protect, conserve, and responsibly manage the herd of Corolla wild horses (Bankers) roaming freely on the northernmost Currituck Outer Banks, and to promote the continued preservation of this land as a permanent sanctuary for horses designated as the State Horse and defined as a cultural treasure by the state of North Carolina.
A management plan utilizing fertility drugs and adoptions has been established. The organization is staffed and located in the area.
To prevent road fatalities the remaining horses were moved with a fenced sanctuary. By 1997 the southern sea-to-sound fence of the sanctuary was completed. The horses were relocated to the new sanctuary.
Development continues to happen. The horses now reside in a mixed-use area.
https://www.corollawildhorses.com/
https://www.outerbanks.com/corolla-wild-horses.html
OCRACOKE ISLAND
Origin - History
In the 1800s the US Life-Saving Service used the Banker horses for the North Carolina Surfmen and was the only service that did. The Boy Scouts cared for the horses in the 1950s. They were the only mounted Boy Scout Troup in the country. The maintenance cost of caring for the horses proved too costly and put an end to the Mounted Boy Scout Patrol. The US Coast Guard kept a small band of Banker horses for beach patrol during WWII.
The horses are an integral part of the culture and history of Ocracoke Island.
The National Park Service took over the management of the Ocracoke horses in the 1960s. There are no free-roaming Ocracoke horses. The specified number is managed within a fenced 180 acres.
As many as 300 horses have been on Ocracoke Island. The Bankers are often referred to as ponies, but they are actually horses. Historic ship logbooks document the horses as Sir Richard Grenville’s cargo. Ocracoke horses are their descendants.
Location
North Carolina
Humans Connected to Herd
National Park Service
Outer Banks Forever, Cape Hatteras National Seashore's official philanthropic partner, manages an adopt-a-pony program.
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: 13 – 14.2 hands with some as tall as 15.2 hands.
Weight: 800 – 1000 pounds.
Bankers exhibit similar conformation and behavioral characteristics. See other Banker conformation characteristics.
Coat Colors
Their coat color can be any color, but is usually brown, bay, dun, or chestnut. The horses come in a variety of solid brown and patterned colorings, with dark brown or even light gray spots. The herd doesn't have a uniform color.
Current Status
These horses no longer roam free and are managed by the National Park Service since the island is part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Since the Ocracoke horses are not a “native” species the National Park Service was opposed to keeping horses in the area. The reason they are still there is because of their cultural significance. It is also the case with other Banker horses. With their numbers so low the Park Service introduced two horses from the Shackleford herd to enhance the blood line.
Population management using fertility and adoption programs managed by the NPS and Outer Banks Forever, Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
https://www.outerbanks.com/ocracoke-wild-horses.html http://ncwildhorses.com/ocracoke.htm
https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/historyculture/ocracokeponies.htm
SHACKLEFORD
Origin - History
Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón sailed from Hispaniola in the Caribbean and landed somewhere between the Santee River and Winyah Bay in present-day South Carolina in 1526. With him came the first documented group of African slaves to set foot on the North American continent. Ninety horses were aboard the ship. Ayllón moved south to Sapelo Sound, to what is now Savannah, Georgia. Most of the colonists died, two-thirds including Ayllón. Infighting, a documented slave rebellion and conflict with the indigenous people decided the fate of the colony. Only about 150 of the 500 survived returning to Hispaniola. The horses stayed on the barrier islands.
Later in 1585 Sir Richard Grenville, the cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh captained one of Raleigh’s seven ships. They were bringing food and supplies to the Roanoke Colony. The galleons ran aground in the shallows at the opening of Pamlico Sound. The smaller ships were floated out, but the largest, Tiger, was severely damaged. Carolyn Mason, former president of the Foundation for Shackleford Horses wrote an account that has been accepted into the National Archives at the Library of Congress. She pinpoints the circumstances that placed the horses in the barrier islands.
It is at this point, many historians believe, that the animals on deck were shoved overboard either at her grounding, in order to lighten her load and float her, or when she was careened on the beach to have her bottom repaired. Carolyn Mason
Melville Chater wrote for National Geographic in 1926 about the horses of the Outer Banks. He reported 5000 – 6000 “supposed descendants” of Raleigh’s Barbary horses on the barrier islands.
Our quest landed us on a naked sun-baked spit, where men were driving the so-called Banker ponies along the beach into a coral made of timbers from old wrecks. ... The United States seemed worlds away. ... The heat drove some of them to a waterhole on the beach, where they lay prone and drank the brackish fluid. It was a wild animals drinking place, for the banker ponies slake their thirst by scooping holes in the sand with their forefeet. The gates were flung wide, and the herd trotted forth to liberty, snorting disapproval of man and his strange ways. Melville Chater
Genetic research shows evidence of Spanish ancestry in the Shackleford herd. Banker horses are related to each other as they share a similar genetic base and adapted to the conditions on Outer Banks.
Daniel Rubenstein, a Princeton University biology professor and preservation authority since 1973 speaks about how he was inspired to focus on barrier island horses.
What makes horses special is that they’re like neolocal modern Western humans: Both sons and daughters leave home to go reproduce. ... As highly social animals, how do they get those benefits [to outweigh] the costs when there’s no genetic sharing to reduce those costs? That’s what drove me to study these horses.
Location
North Carolina
Shackleford Banks, the southern-most barrier island in Cape Lookout National Seashore in Carteret County, North Carolina. The island is uninhabited and about 9 miles long. The communities of Beaufort, NC and Harkers Island, NC are nearby. The only access to the island is by boat. A Park Service ferry service to the island is available in both communities.
Humans Connected to Herd
National Park Service
Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Carolyn Mason,Melville Chater, Daniel Rubenstein
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: average 12 hands ranging between 11 and 13 hands at the withers
Weight: average 800 pounds
Coat Colors
Their coat color can be any color, but is usually brown, bay, dun, or chestnut.
Current Status
In the late 90s Rubenstein was informed the park service was planning to kill all the horses by Carolyn Mason who was a librarian at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry. The justification was that the Shackleford horses were not protected by the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burro Act. There was a protest by the people of Harkers Island, in Beaufort and other coastal towns. To save them it was going to take either an expensive study or to find out how many horses could remain and still maintain a healthy habitat for native species. It was also crucial to know the minimum number of horses that could survive hurricanes and build a sustainable population genetically. Rubenstein and others set that number at 130. Congress accepted that number and the slaughter by the park service was abandoned. The use of fertility drugs and adoptions have stabilized that population.
The Shackleford Banks Wild Horses Protection Act amended the enabling legislation for Cape Lookout National Seashore to allow the herd of wild horses on Shackleford Banks and charged the National Park Service and the Foundation for Shackleford Horses, Inc. with co-management responsibility.
In 1997, United States Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. sponsored legislation, the Shackleford Banks Act, to ensure that the National Park Service would maintain a genetically healthy herd size. Jones worked with the nonprofit Foundation for Shackleford Horses, and Dr. Gus Cothran. The Act stipulates that the feral Colonial Spanish Mustangs roaming 3,000 acres of Cape Lookout National Seashore, 1⁄2 the area of JFK airport, be managed at a target population of 120 – 130, with never less than 110.
https://www.nps.gov/calo/learn/nature/shackleford-horses-monitoring.htm
https://www.shackleford-horses.org/about-the-horses
https://www.shackleford-horses.org/
https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2021/the-wild-horses-of-shackleford-banks
RACHEL CARSON SITE
Origin - History
The first horses placed on the Rachel Carson section of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve was in the 1940s.
Location
North Carolina
Rachel Carson section of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve
Humans Connected to Herd
North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Conformation is consistent with other strains along the outer barrier islands.
Coat Colors
Coat colors are consistent with other strains along the outer barrier islands.
Current Status
A herd lives on the Rachel Carson section of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve which is a series of five small islands and salt marshes. They were first located there in the 1940s. It isn’t known if Bankers swam from nearby Shackleford or if they were placed there by residents who used the island for grazing. They are considered a cultural resource by the state of North Carolina. In the 1980s the island exceeded its capacity to manage the horses there as malnourishment and overcrowding caused the deaths of horses. Now they are managed so the herd is maintained at about 40 horses.
CAROLINA MARSH TACKY
Origin - History
Carolina Marsh Tackies have a Spanish ancestry. Later, horses were acquired from St Augustine in Florida and added to the previous population. The settlers used these animals as packhorses along the trading routes followed by the Choctaw, Creek, and Chickasaw tribes. These trade route horses were sold upon arrival in Charleston in what is now South Carolina.
The Carolina Marsh Tacky has been in the marshes of South Carolina before the state or the United States were established. Revolutionary War colonists mounted these horses and used them for war, exactly what they were bred for with their short backs and athletic build. Marsh Tackies carried General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and men into battle. They outmaneuvered and defeated the British on their backs and launched surprise attacks from hiding places in the dense landscape.
David Pratt Lowther heard feral Marsh Tackies were being removed from South Carolina’s barrier islands. He brought them home. His herd grew to more than 100 horses. His life changed and D. P. Lowther will always be associated with the Carolina Marsh Tacky.
The Livestock Conservancy’s Jeannette Beranger put together a three-year study collecting hair samples from horses that had the Marsh Tacky traits. The samples were shipped to Cordoba to the University of Spain for DNA analysis. The Conservancy is a nonprofit organization that preserves and promotes rare breeds of livestock.
Beranger reported that DNA results confirmed the Marsh Tacky’s unique breed still is present in contemporary Tacky horses that are related to the original Spanish horses. Beranger states that Marsh Tackies developed from different sources. There were the horses left here by Spanish and English explorers that that had purchased from the Spanish stock in Hispaniola. Another source came along the Native American deerskin trade round from Florida to South Carolina. They would bring horses back from their trading expeditions. Another source were the Spanish horses transported to the colonies during the Seven Years War in mid-18th century America. Beranger also noted that most Grulah families had a Marsh Tacky.
Beranger found photographs of the Coast Guard riding Marsh Tackies on the beaches of Hilton Head Island. She quoted the naturalist James Audubon who described them, "as tough as pine knots."
A studbook/breed registry was created by Beranger as the first official record of all the remaining Marsh Tackies and their lineage. One hundred and fifty horses are listed here. Only 50 were unrelated to each other. One hundred came from Ridgeland, the farm of D. P. Lowther.
Location
South Carolina
Daufuskie Island
At their peak of popularity, the Carolina Marsh Tacky ranged from St. Simon’s Island in Georgia to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
Humans Connected to Herd
General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion
D. P. Lowther
Jeannette Beranger
Daufuskie Marsh Tacky Society
Carolina Marsh Tacky Association
Carolina Marsh Tacky Breeders: https://marshtacky.info/mt/horses/marsh-tacky- breeders/
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: average 14.2 hands. Can range 13 – 15 hands.
Weight: average of 800 pounds
Deep narrow chests with long inclined shoulders, resembling the Banker horse and the Florida Cracker that have common histories and origins that started in the Colonial Era.
Marsh Tackies have a flat or concave head that transforms to convex at the nose; broad forehead with widely spaced eyes; angled croup, well-developed withers, and a short and powerful back.
They have adapted for 500 years which produced a horse that can survive in hot and humid conditions. Carolina March Tackies have a common ancestry and share characteristics with the Banker horses and the Florida Cracker, but genetic test results show isolation of the Tackies has created differences from the other breeds.
In 2007 Beranger and a program at Mississippi state published research that searched the source of the Marsh Tacky’s smooth ride and agility. Videos were produced showing the Marsh Tacky trot, a unique gait. It has been described as a gait that replicates the feeling of a rocking chair.
They moved in such a way that they had more foot in motion at any given time than other breeds of horse, meaning that if you're in a muddy, mucky situation, you've got your feet moving more independently of each other. And so we hypothesize this is a way for them not to get stuck in the mud as easily as other horses." The Carolina Marsh Tacky Association sponsored a contest, and the gait was officially named the ”Swamp Fox Swamp Trot”.
The Marsh Tacky exhibits a four-beat ambling gait, most similar to the marcha batida of the Brazilian Mangalarga Marchador, another breed with Spanish heritage, although also compared to the fox trot of the Missouri Fox Trotter. However, the Marsh Tacky's gait shows a period of quadrupedal support where all four feet are planted and diagonal foot pairings, whereas the Fox Trotter shows tripedal support and the Mangalarga Marchador lacks the diagonal foot pairings. Molly Nicodemus; Jeannette Beranger
In 2006, the ALBC began investigating the Marsh Tacky to see if it was truly a descendant of Spanish stock, and during the organization's initial field investigations, it was found that many surviving members of the breed fit the physical type of Colonial Spanish stock. In 2007, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy collaborated with the Equus Survival Trust to collect DNA samples and photo-document the largest herd in South Carolina, considered to be the largest remaining herd, with a heritage tracing back to the American Civil War. DNA testing was undertaken in an effort to identify horses for a new studbook, reveal what DNA markers the breed carries, and map the breed's genetic place among all other horse breeds worldwide. Sixty horses were tested in the effort. American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, Equus Survival Trust
Coat Colors
Multi-colored patterns including Pinto were found in the past, but now different colors such as bay, roan, dun, black, chestnut, and grullo are seen.
Current Status
At one point the population of the Carolina Marsh Tacky was in the thousands. Now the estimated population is 497. Crossbreeding with other breeds has been a factor in the preservation of the Marsh Tacky.
They were believed to be extinct during the 80s and the 90s. The Carolina Marsh Tacky Association was founded, and appropriate management has improved the population, but the American Livestock Conservancy and the Equus Survival Trust still lists them as critically endangered.
On June 11, 2010, legislation was enacted and signed by Governor Mark Sanford that designated the breed the state’s heritage horse. The bill was supported by the Carolina Marsh Tacky Association and The Daughters of the American Revolution.
A 200-year-old articulated skeleton of a horse, thought to be a Tacky, was dug up at an archeological site in St. Augustine in 2015.
The breed registry became a closed registry on August 18, 2010, and is maintained by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Pedigree Registry. Although closed, outside horses can be registered upon proof of origin, visual inspection and DNA confirmation of parentage.
http://www.carolinamarshtacky.com/
CUMBERLAND ISLAND
Origin - History
The Cumberland Island horses are comparable to the bands of horses living on the islands of Chincoteague and Assateague, but area residents believe the horses are most likely descended from English horses arriving in the 18th century.
The Cumberland Island horses have similar challenges as other mid-Atlantic horses of the barrier islands along the eastern coast. The horses are not native, some studies show some native species are impacted, while others believe the cultural and historical value balances what negative impact they might have. When the population of the horses goes too low, then inbreeding occurs. The National Park Service has not set up a management plan for the 150-200 population there. Jack Kingston who is a member of the Georgia House of Representatives blocked the attempt made by the NPA to establish a management plan.
Robert Stafford allowed visitors during the 19th century to capture and buy the horses he called Marsh Tackies. Like other barrier island horses, they were used in the Civil War. Some were slaughtered for horse meat after the war. Thomas Carnegie bought plantations on the island and introduced Arabians, Paso Finos, and the Tennessee Walker trying to improve the strain. Other islanders introduced other breeds. Since the NPS has managed the island few horses have been introduced.
Location
Georgia
Cumberland Island National Seashore Humans Connected to Herd
National Park Service
Wild Cumberland
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: up to 15 hands
Weight: 880 pounds
Similar conformation of other barrier island horses. Deep narrow chests with long inclined shoulders, gaited, resembling the Banker horse and the Florida Cracker that have common histories and origins that started in the Colonial Era.
.
Coat Colors
No specific markings or colorations; Black, White, Chestnut, Light Brown, and Gray are all possible
Current Status
There are approximately 150 – 200 Cumberland Island horses on the Cumberland Island National Seashore. Like other barrier island horses they are feral and not native and are not given any food or veterinary services.
Researchers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1988 reported that the population of horses on Cumberland Island was having an impact on plants and causing damage to the ecosystem. They suggested the maximum number be 49- 73 to prevent the damage, not considering other studies that recommend a higher number so inbreeding doesn’t occur. Larger numbers, fertility drugs, and managed adoptions can be confined to address both issues as it does in other barrier island locations. Destruction of the herd has been suggested even though they are popular with tourists and a significant part of the culture and history of the island.
A lawsuit was filed on April 12, 2023, in US District Court (Atlanta) relating to the feral horses of Cumberland Island. The suit calls for a short-term and long-term solution for the horses and the wilderness of Cumberland Island. It seeks a humane transition of the horses from the island. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Director of the NPS South Atlantic Gulf Region Mark Foust, Cumberland Island National Seashore Superintendent Gary Ingram, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark William, and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper are named as defendants. Federal officials have 60 days to respond and state officials have 21 days.
Wild Cumberland believes it should NOT take a lawsuit for the NPS to do the right thing. The agency has all the data it needs to create a path forward. Management should (and could) have already fulfilled its responsibility to the Seashore, its Wilderness, and the public. https://wildcumberland.org/feral-horses/
One of the plaintiffs, the Georgia Equine Rescue League’s, Patty Livingston, represents the organization. She points out that other barrier islands in the U.S. with feral horses have programs in place to care for horses. She said, "They’re feeding the horses. They're vetting them." She said one herd even has an equine expert check the horses' teeth. The National Park Service’s website states “Cumberland has the only herd of feral horses on the Atlantic coast that is not managed (no food, water, veterinary care, or population control).” They also acknowledge the negative impact on wildlife and vegetation.
The question is, why removal? Adopting management plans as other barrier island populations seems the logical solution.
https://www.nps.gov/cuis/learn/nature/feral-horses.htm
https://www.horsebreedspictures.com/cumberland-island-horse.asp
https://wildcumberland.org/feral-horses/
FLORIDA CRACKER
Origin - History
Cracker - The Term
British, American pioneer settlers who first came to what is now the state of Florida in 1763 were called Crackers. When Great Britain was the victor in the Seven Years War with France, Spain traded Florida to Great Britain. Their descendants of the early Florida Crackers are also referred to as such, even now, as a subculture of white southern people. The first crackers arrived in 1763, but traditional cracker folk culture goes to the 19th century.
In describing braggarts and boastful individuals in the Elizabethan era the term cracker was used. The word crack, as in to crack a joke, is the root of the English word. The Scottish/Irish word craic evokes a sense of fun. By 1760 the term was applied to Scot Irish, Scottish, and English American colonists in remote back country locations.
I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode. The Earl of Dartmouth
Later cowboys of Florida and Georgia were referred to as crackers. Floridians who have resided there for generations take great pride in the term, especially with the influx of people migrating there in recent decades.
Some say it suggests the name is associated with cracking sound of cattle whips. Florida cowboys did not use lassos to herd or capture cattle, they used dogs and cow whips.
The Horse
The Florida Cracker Horse originates with the Spanish horses that arrived in Florida during the 1500s. Like the horses of the other barrier islands Spanish horses were abandoned to fend for themselves when the explorers set sail back to Spain.
In 1521 Ponce de León landed on the southeastern North American mainland with horses and other livestock as cargo on his second voyage. Officers, scouts and livestock herders used them. Later expeditions brought more horses and cattle to Spanish Florida.
They descended from the Iberian Horse and the bloodlines were influenced by the North African Barb, Spanish Sorraia, Gerranos, Andalucians, and the Spanish Jennet. They are closely related to the Colonial Spanish Horse, or Spanish Mustang, the Peruvian Paso and the Paso Fino.
Cattle raising starting with the Great Depression changed from driving free-roaming cows to roping and holding cattle and the Quarter Horse was more suited for that. Demand for the Florida Cracker Horse decreased.
In 1984 John Law Ayers, a preservation breeder donated his herd of pure-bred Cracker horses to the state of Florida.
With them, the state started three small herds in Tallahassee, Withlacoochee State Forest, and Paynes Prairie State Preserve. By 1989, however, these three herds and around 100 other horses owned by private families were all that remained of the breed.
1989 the Florida Cracker Horse Association was founded and in 1991 a registry was established. After the registry was created, 75 horses were designated as "foundation horses" and 14 of their offspring were immediately registered. These horses came mainly from four lines of Cracker bloodstock and were designated as purebreds by breed experts – part-bred horses were denied entry to the registry. As of 2009, around 900 horses had been registered since the foundation of the registry. Fran Lynghaug
The Chickasaw Nation bred the original Chickasaw horse with horses they captured from Hernando de Soto's expedition. They are extinct but they were used to influence the Florida Cracker Horse and the American Quarter Horse as well as the Bankers, Carolina Marsh Tacky, and the Chincoteague Pony.
Florida Cracker Horse are also referred to as Florida Horse, Florida Cow Pony, Chickasaw Pony, Mash Tackie, and Seminole Pony.
Location
Florida
Humans Connected to Herd
Family names of preservation breeders: Ayers, Harvey, Bronson, Matchett, Partin and Whaley.
John Law Ayers
Florida Cracker Horse Association
Particular Conformation Distinctions
Height: 13.2 to 15.2 hands
Weight: 700 to 1,000 pounds
Like other horses of Spanish descent along the eastern seaboard, the Florida Cracker has a straight or slightly concave profile, a strong back and sloping croup. This gaited breed is smaller than most horses and has a strong herding instinct.
The Florida Cracker Horse Association “recognizes two gaits, the running walk and amble, in addition to the regular walk, trot, canter and gallop. The single-footed ambling gait is known as the "coon rack" by some breed enthusiasts.” FCHA
Florida Cracker Horses are small saddle horses, standing from 13.2 hands to 15.2 at the withers and weighing 700 – 1000 pounds. The head is refined and intelligent in appearance. The profile is straight or slightly concave. The throat latch is prominent, and the jaw is short and well-defined.
The eyes are keen, with an alert expression, and have reasonable width between them. The eye colors are dark, with a white sclera, gray or blue. The neck is well-defined, fairly narrow, without excessive crest, and is about the same length as the distance from the withers to the croup. The withers are pronounced, but not prominent. The chest is medium to narrow in width with an inverted “V” formed between the two front legs. The shoulders are long and sloping with a 40 to 50-degree angle.
A well-laid back shoulder with smooth muscling is preferred. The back is short, narrow and strong with well-sprung ribs. The point of the withers and the point of the croup are equal in height. The underline is longer than the top line. The croup is sloping and short, and the tail is set medium-low. Florida Cracker Horse Association, https://floridacrackerhorseassociation.com/
Coat Colors
Cracker Horses are found mainly in bay, black, and gray, although grullo, dun, and chestnut are also seen. Roan and pinto colors are occasionally found.
Current Status
Since the Great Depression, the Florida Cracker has become very rare. During the last 50 years, some ranching families bred Cracker Horses for their own personal use, and are largely responsible for preventing the breed’s extinction. Today, only about 1,000 of these horses exist.
The Florida Cracker Horse Association was created in 1989 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the Florida Cracker Horse Breed.
Both The Livestock Conservancy and the Equus Survival Trust designated the Florida Cracker Horse to be a critically endangered strain of horses.
In 1989 there were only 31 registered Florida Cracker horses. Today the population has grown to 1000. There are 200 members who have established a registry and blood type and a comprehensive application process.
A list of horse breeders is available on the FCHA website. https://floridacrackerhorseassociation.com/
“On July 1, 2008, the Florida House of Representatives declared the Florida Cracker Horse the official state horse.” McAllister, Toni (18 September 2007). "Official designation for the Florida Cracker Horse". Horse Illustrated. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
https://www.thesprucepets.com/florida-cracker-horse-breed-profile-4777777
https://floridacrackerhorseassociation.com/
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