One of the driving factors why I am focused on the Colonial Spanish horse as a breed, is not only the important role they played in our history, being the first horses to be brought over from Spain by the conquistadors to America in the the late 1400s, or that they are one of the very few breeds with a truly pure blood line, where neither Arab or Thoroughbred can be found, but the fact that they are considered critical on the endangered breed list. Meaning only 100-300 breeding mares and under 2000 horses world wide remain.
Abaco Barbs displaying the very rare Splash White makings
As the horse spread through north and south America and the islands, they were given different names including The Spanish Mustang, Spanish Barb, Kiger mustang, Crollo etc. All are rare! One of the rarest of all of the strains was the Abaco Barb taken to the Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas by a logging company from Cuba sometime toward the end of the 1800s.
With the introduction of mechanical farm equipment the horses where no longer needed to work, so 200 were set free. In the 1960’s a child died attempting to ride one of the wild horses and the locals took their “revenge”, slaughtering ALL but 3, a stallion, his mare and a foal. In 2009 they were considered the most endangered horse breed on the planet, by the Equus survival trust
Nunki, The last of her kind
The herd recovered to approximately 35 horses, but with the restriction of their natural habitat and the use of pesticides the number dwindled to just one horse, a mare. Her name was Nunki. She was 20, and she sadly passed away today.
One amazing women has been tirelessly working to keep this breed alive, fighting for 20 years, Milanne Rehor. She will not give up. A tissue sample has been sent to Austin, Texas for an attempt at cloning to bring back the breed.
Nunki, Extinction is forever
For more information please visit the Wild Horses of Abaco facebook page
It is our hope, that the Windchaser Ranch will become a part of conserving this magnificent breed for our children to enjoy and help avoid yet another strain becoming extinct.
