Abaco Barb -

Victoria Tollman, Executive Director of the Equus Survival Trust, wrote the following in response to a query from Horse Illustrated Magazine as they prepared an article on the Abaco Barbs:

“The Abacos are part of the Colonial Spanish horses that include the Spanish Barbs, Spanish Mustangs, Banker Wild “ponies”, the Florida Crackers and the Carolina Marsh Tackys. Much like a group of Warmblood breeds, this historical group contains several related breeds and many strains within those breeds that have been greatly separated by time, distance and varying recipes but all share a common link; they trace back to the three general Spanish types (war, work, and general riding) horses that the Spanish brought to Americas during the exploration and colonization of the New World”.

(Horses first returned to the Western Hemisphere after Columbus’s second voyage. The Caribbean held important breeding stations for horses for exported both to North and South America for the colonies.Many ships transporting horses were wrecked on the islands of the Caribbean, Abaco is the site of over a dozen Spanish wrecks).“The Abacos are remnants of this and have managed to survive time, mother nature, and the march of man. A handful is all that is left. They are the most critically endangered breed on the planet.”

Initial DNA studies show the Abacos show a high degree of Spanish Barb traits, including the very unusual splash white gene. Abacos, perhaps even more so than the other Spanish Colonial breeds, are very significant as it relates to conservation because they represent a time capsule of genetics of the first area Iberian horses to reach the New World – genetics that were present during the Golden Age of Spain at the time the New World was being settled. More funds for studies are needed to better understand how the Abacos fit into the general Colonial Spanish family and what unique traits they alone may be able to contribute back to the world.

There are only about 7-8 left today.


Caspian Horse -

The Caspian is an ancient breed of small horse, believed extinct for 1,000 years until rediscovered in the 1960s on the southern shores of the Caspian sea, Northern Iran. Small numbers may still exist in a semi-feral state in the rice paddies, cotton fields, forests and foothills of the Alborz mountains.

The Caspian is now termed a ‘horse’ rather than a ‘pony’ because, size apart – and for obvious reasons - it has much in common with warm-blooded horses. Caspians are known for their good temperaments and ‘horse-like’ personalities, as well as their elegant proportions, movement and conformation, In their home country, these small horses are much valued for their speed and ability to pull or carry heavy loads in the narrow streets and bazaars of a few northern towns.


Cleveland Bay -


The Cleveland Bay is England’s oldest breed of horse with a history that goes beyond a time when records were kept. It is an incredibly versatile horse that can turn its hoof to all disciplines, a legacy of its need to adapt through the ages to the changing face of civilisation. It is a horse with substance, activity, stamina and a temperament that is unsurpassed by any other breed of horse. A brief explanation of its origins also explains its durability. In the middle ages in the county of Yorkshire there was a race of clean legged horses, bay in colour which were the general purpose horses of their time that is to say for pack and pillion work. They had always been there for the people but nobody could map out their past.

They carried the goods of the Chapmen (Travelling Salesmen) and as a result initially became known as Chapman horses. The name Cleveland bay developed later as their colour and their association with the Cleveland district of North Yorkshire linked together. Coaches were not known until the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first and the Cleveland Bay with its natural strength, activity and endurance was well suited to pull the first heavy vehicles. The Chapman therefore was developed to this new role to add to its growing list of attributes as the people of Yorkshire by now already used the Cleveland Bay to plough the land, pull their Carts, take them hunting and of course take them to church.

Fate once again however took a cruel twist and by the 1980’s numbers once again dwindled as the agricultural economy of the United Kingdom suffered. Whilst the following years saw the breed drop to critical numbers, the CBHS has remained strong and has developed breeding programmes and has subsidised semen collection from genetically valuable stallions to ensure the long term survival of this ancient horse.



The Eriskay Pony -


The Eriskay Pony we see today is a result of “human” in addition to “natural” selection. The ponies had evolved to survive on meagre food supplies, with coats, ears and tails well adapted to coping with a harsh, wet and windy climate. Eriskays were domesticated and subject to the forces of living in a society where women and children did most of the work while the men were at sea. Poor temperaments could not be tolerated. Only those ponies happy to live in close proximity with their handlers, those willing to be trained and work hard, were retained. Unsuitable specimens were culled. Over the centuries of domestication, the Eriskay ponies evolved into the hardy, versatile, people friendly characters we recognise today.

On many of the islands increasing mobility and farming pressures led to larger ponies becoming fashionable. Norwegian Fjords, Arabs, Clydesdales and others were introduced to “improve” the native stocks and produce larger, stronger animals. On the remote island of Eriskay in the Western Isles, however, due to difficulties with access, other breeds were not introduced, leaving a stock of pure bred ponies which, due to mechanisation, had declined to around 20 animals by the early 1970s.

It was at this time that a dedicated group of people comprising a local priest, doctor, vet, scientist and crofters, got together and decided to save the ponies whose numbers were dangerously low. Through their hard work and the establishment of breeding groups throughout the British Isles, numbers have risen steadily and now there are around 420 Eriskays in the world.

The Eriskay Pony is classed as critical by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust with whom the Eriskay Pony Society works closely to ensure the long term survival of the breed.



The Suffolk Punch Horse -


The Suffolk horse is the oldest breed of heavy horse in Great Britain. The breed dates from the sixteenth century but all animals alive today trace their male lines back to one stallion, a horse called Crisp’s Horse of Ufford, who was foaled in 1768.

At the height of its popularity there were huge numbers of Suffolks in East Anglia and one might wonder why it was that, despite its clear commercial qualities, the breed never moved out of its homeland. It must be remembered however that until relatively recently East Anglia was a remote area isolated from the rest of the country.

In the late 1930s the Suffolk did start to move out of East Anglia in a major way with new studs being started in a number of areas but it was too late, as agricultural mechanisation was looming. The need for a big increase in food production caused by the Second World War stimulated this and the large, level arable farms of East Anglia were ideal for early machinery.This dealt the Suffolk a severe blow and numbers fell dramatically, with large farms getting rid of forty horses in a single day. The number of horses on the market meant that the only buyers were the slaughter houses and in 1966 only nine Suffolk foals were born.

It was realized that extinction was imminent and new breeders came to the rescue so that since that time the numbers have slowly risen. It takes a very long time to secure a breed from a very low number of individuals so the situation is still far from safe.


More coming soon...