Pottok Pony

History
 The Pottok Pony, an ancient breed, originates in the Basque region of both France and Spain, which extwnds from the Pyrenees Mountain all the way down to the Bay of Biscay. Not much is known about the Pottok Pony, but similar horses have been found in prehistoric cave paintings, proving it may be the descendent of an ancient horse. This horse is thought to be the now extinct Magdalenian horse, though no ne knows for certain.

 Centuries of roaming the mountains has caused the breed to develop into a sturdy, sure-footed horse with hardy hooves, strong legs, and plenty of stamina. They are well adapted to the rough, mountainous terrain.

 In the 17th century, smugglers used Pottok Ponies to carry goods from France to Spain, and vice versa. Several centuries later, in the 19th and 20th, the ponies were used for a more legal means. They had to haul coal in mines throughout France and Italy.

 Up until around 20th century, though, most Pottoks roamed the Pyrenees Mountains without being domesticated. However, cross-breeding and loss of habitat in the 20th century has almost brought the breed to extinction. It was not until 1970, when the Pottok's offical studbook was created, that the Pottok became recognized as a breed by the French administration and people became aware of the breed's plight. At that time, only a couple hundred mares existed.

 People living in the area took steps to save the breed by creating a horse reserve in the Pyrenees Mountains, near the village of Bidarray. All the horses on the reserve would have owners, something that contiues to this day. At the end of January of each year, the Pottoks are gathered and branded, with soom being sold and others remaining in the area.

Pottok Pony credit

Breed Description and Uses
 Pottok Ponies are proportioned like a small horse rather than a pony. They have a sloping croup, prominent withers, a straight back, and a short, upright neck. Their profile is straight, with small ears and large eyes and nostrils.

 Several kinds of Pottok exist: Standard, Piebald, and Double. The Standard is small, standing 11 to 13 hands high, and comes in only solid colors, such as chestnut and bay. The Piebald stands the same height as the Standard, yet comes in a pinto coat. It can either have to colors on its coat(black or chestnut with white) or can have three colors(black, chestnut, and white). Finally, the Double is usually 12.2 to 14.2 hands high and comes in the same coloring as the Standard.

 Regardless of type, Pottoks can be used as either a harness horse or an all-round children's pony able to perform various tasks.

Lusitano

History
The Lusitano and the Andalusian are one the same breed, except they sprang from different bloodlines, and the Lusitano originates in Portugal, not Spain. In the time when the Andalusian/Lusitano breed was created, Portugal was under Spanish rule. This had an effect on the horses in Portugal. When Iberian horses and Barbs were bred together, the resulting breed also made its way to Portugal. From there, the Andalusian and Lusitano's history differ. 

Look at that gorgeous color! credit

 In 1640, the Portuguese recieved independence from Spain. They bred their Iberian horses, which came from four bloodlines: Andrade, Veiga, Coudelaria Nacional, and Altèr-Real, their royal stud. Like the Spanish, they pursued classical dressage with the Lusitanos, which like most Spanish horses, are well suited for it. Royals loved the elegant Lusitanos, and even established the Altèr-Real stud in Alter do Chao.

 However, just when things began looking up for the Lusitano, a series of disasterous events nearly destroyed it. After the French Revolution in 1789, royal things such as the popularity of Baroque horses dimished, and horse racing and fox hunting became more popular than classical dressage. Then, Napoleon invaded Spain, wreaking havoc on the horses in the area. Things worsened when, at the turn of the twentieth century, the royal family was kicked out of their position, and the government took over the royal stables. The government bred the Lusitanos indiscriminately, and the quality of the breed declined rapidly.

 By the 1940s, those truly interested in the breed decided to do something. They searched for the best horses with Altèr-Real blood and rebuild the bloodlines. In the 1960s, they opened the Lusitano studbook.

Breed Description and Uses
 The Lusitano is a strong, elegant breed with powerful hindquarters and an extremely convex profile. Lusitanos are energetic and athletic, and can turn quickly and run speedily in short bursts. They canter well and excel at dressage, though they are traditionally used for bullfighting, a dangerous short that requires a fast horses. On average, Lusitanos stand 15.2 to 16.2 hands. Commonly, they are grey, bay, black, chestnut, palomino, and cremello. 

  

Florida Cracker Horse

 History
 In the early 1500s, many Spaniards came over to explore the New World, taking horses with them. A man named Ponce de Leon brought African Barbs with some Spanish blood in them to what is now Florida, making several breeding stations throughout the state.

 As their numbers grew, many of the horses escaped and formed large, wild herds across the state of Florida. The Seminole tribe, who lived in the area, captured some of these horses, but others were allowed to roaming free, natural selection choosing who would breed the next generation.

More settlers arrived in the 1700s, also capturing the horses, which they used in their cattle ranches, snapping bullwhips as they rode. Eventually, the breed was identified by the cracking sound of the whip, hence the name, "Florida Cracker Horse."

Florida Cracker Horses are light and nimble.
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The first blow to the popularity of the Crackers happened in the early 1900s, when tractors and other machines started to appear, making farm work much easier. The Crackers took another blow in the '30s, when screwworms began infecting herds of cattle. In order to rope the cattle to administer medication, ranchers needed the stronger Quarter Horses.

 In 1989, a group of people who loved the Cracker horse formed the Florida Cracker Horse Association. They planned to search for the remaining Crackers and create a herd and a registry. At first, only 31 horses were registered, but today, through the efforts of several families, who have bred them for their own use, that number has grown to 800.

 On May 2, 2008, the Florida Cracker, also known as the Florida Marsh Tacky was voted Florida's state heritage horse.

Breed Description and Uses
 Though the Cracker is not a pony, it stands a minimum of 13.2 hands and a maximum of 15 hands. The breed has wide-set, intelligent eyes; a nice neck, short back, sloping croup, and slender legs. Many Crackers are gaited and can do the flatfoot walk, running walk, and amble. They come in all solid colors, with greys being most common.

 Today, Crackers are often used for endurance racing, pleasure, and ranching activities, such as cow sorting.

Criollo Horse

History
During the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadors travelled to  the New World, settling mostly in South America. They took horses of Barb descent with them. Many were lost or stolen, and began to run free across the Pampas(plains) of South America. Over the next few centuries, the number of feral horses in South America increased rapidly. At one point, in 1580, there were 12,000 of them galloping across the plains, though were captured over the years when settlers needed them for work.

 However, there huge numbers began to change in the early 1800s when European invaders came to Argentina, binging with them Percherons and Thoroughbreds, both of which greatly increased the size of the breed. Before long, the Criollo was almost becoming extinct. Only 200, held by a south American tribe, remained. It wasn't until 1917, though, that the Sociedad Rural de Argentina began making efforts to save the breed. Upon discovering the small herd, they began a breeding program. The next year, a breed registry was made, and in 1923, the breed association was formed. Five years later, a breeder named Dr. Solanet, who was interested in the Chilean Horse, wanted the Criollo to become more compact and stock, like the horse he admired. In 1934, he took over the breed association. Soon, over 70% of the Criollo had been culled from the registry because they didn't fit the criteria, and the breed became more compact and stocky, like it is today.

Criollos are stocky, muscular horses, perfect for ranch work.

Breed Description and Uses
 Everything about the Criollo reflects strength and power. Standing 14.1 hands, it has muscular, sloping shoulders, a powerful crested neck, short legs and back, a sloping croup, and burly hindquarters. Most commonly, it comes in dun, but other coat colors can be found as well, including patterns with a dorsal stripe and zebra markings on the legs.

 The Criollo is one of the best endurance horses. In fact, breeders often test the horse's endurance by having them travel 466 miles in 75 hours, divided evenly among 14 days. Despite the rigorousness of the test, no supplements of any kind are allowed. The horses must be able to make to the end without any performance-enhancing supplements.

The Barb

History:
 The Barb is an ancient breed, and is the ancestor of many Spanish horses to date. Although its complete origins are unknown, it is believed to have been established in the Fertile Crescent of North Africa, a place that surrounds the countries of Morocco, Algeria, and Libya.

 The Berbers of North Africa prized the fast and agile Barb as great war mounts, using them when their large Muslim armies invaded Spain in the eight century. The name "Barb" actually originates from the group of barbarous people.

 By 1492, the Spanish had regained control of their country and began their explorations of the New World. They took with them many horses---descendants of the ancient Barb. The horses were originally taken to several islands throughout the Caribbean, where they were bred for multiple purposes, but later they were taken to what is now the United States, Mexico, and South America. From there, they became foundation horses for many popular American breeds---Quarter Horses, Paint Horses, Appaloosas, etc.

 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, many horses had escaped and were taken by Native American tribes. At about the same time, the English had begun colonizing much of the east coast, and found these Spanish horses, thinking of them as native horses.

Barbs are the ancestors of many popular breeds, including
Spanish breeds and stock horses.

 Before long, the English began importing their own horses---racehorses of a Barb type with a little bit of added Irish blood. From there, of course, the English imports were bred with the Spanish horses, and  many horses made their way West with pioneers. However, it was during these westward treks that many of the breeds already living in the West became endangered. People didn't realize the value of the Spanish Barbs that were living in the West with Native Americans. As a result, they crossed their English horses with the ones that had been their for centuries, hoping to Americanize the ones that had seemed unappealing. Many were sold or slaughtered or extensively crossbred, nearly destroying the pure Spanish Barb. However, Western ranchers liked the breed and helped preserved the ancestor of America's stock breeds.

Breed Description and Uses:
Barbs are stocky, standing 14.2 to 15 hands high, and can come in almost every color, particularly dun, chestnut, grulla, black, bay, roan, palomino, buckskin, grey, and pinto. Their head is long and refined, with a broad forehead, short ears that point slightly inwards, and a refined muzzle that often sports crescent-shaped Roman noses. Their chest is strong, their ribs well-sprung. Much like Arabians, they only have seventeen ribs. Their shoulders are sloping. As for their back, it is proportional to the rest of the body, complete with short, straight loin, a rounded croup, and hindquarters that aren't very heavily muscled.  The legs are straight and strong, with clean cannon bones, strong, sloping pasterns, and hard hooves.

 Barbs makes excellent endurance and trial horses due to their stamina and agility.

The Abaco Barb

 During the time of the Spanish exploration of the New World, many Caribbean islands were used for the sole purpose of breeding cavalry, work, and saddle horses. Some researchers believe that not all of horses made it to the chosen destinations and were shipwrecked on the island of Abaco, located in the Bahamas, while others think that horses were taken there by a Cuban logging company in the late 1800s and later abandoned for some reason or another. Either way, the horses have remained there for perhaps over a century, untainted by human influence.

 Throughout the centuries, they have adapted well to the climate, finding both protection and forage in lush pine forests. With no natural predators, they multiplied almost exponentially and began to thrive, becoming a large herd, probably 200 hundred strong, that roamed pine forests and beaches, the sea wind in their face. They were free. Yet all that changed during the twentieth century. People began settling on Great Abaco, the main island of the group, and took advantage all natural resources. That included the feral equines.

 During the '60s, a road, stretching from one end of Abaco to the other, was made. Often, people would chase horses down the road until it collapsed from exhaustion or was roped by a man waiting at the side of the road. Legends about the horses and there tragic endings began to arise.

  Things became even worse for the horses when a young child climbed upon the back of one of the horses, getting killed as the equine bolted in fright. A bloodbath followed. Villagers, angry at the death of the child, slaughtered over a hundred horses, leaving only three horses, which were taken to a cattle farm by other residents, alive. once their numbers increased to 12, they were released. Thirty years later, in 1992, their numbers increased to a small band of thirty-five horses. But that didn't last. By '97, the number soon plummeted to seventeen, with many dying from pesticides, lack of medical attention, and mortal wounds inflicted by both humans and dogs alike.

 After hurricane Floyd, the horses returned to the farm. Yet something was not right. Four years passed, and not a single horse was born. One organization---Wild Horses of Abaco Preservation Society(WHOA)---has been working hard since 1992 to save the rare, endangered breed by publicizing their dilemma. In 2004, WHOA brought the remaining horses to Treasure Cay, Abaco, where a large piece of land given to them by the Bahamian Government was used as a sanctuary. Today, only five horses remain, and there have been no reproductions since 1998. WHOA plans on sending the horses to a University in the US to see why they are not reproducing. For the time being, WHOA runs on private donations, yet it is running out of funds.

Abaco Barbs are the world's most endangered breed.
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 In 2002, scientists tested the DNA, finding that the native horses were related to the original stock of Barbs brought to America from the Barbary coast.  The breed was therefore named "Abaco Barb" and was added to the Horses of the Americas registry.

 Abaco Barbs stand 13.2 to 14.2 hands high, and are small, sturdy, and compact with strong legs and white patches underneath their bodies. Their hooves were once tough, yet pesticide have weakened them. Because they have had so long to adapt, they are nimble, surefooted, and have a lot of endurance.

Paso Fino

Click here for original photo.

The Paso Fino(Paso Fino means "fine step") is an incredible horse. They are definitely unique because of their special, natural gaits, and they do have a long history. In fact, their ancestors date back to the early 1500s.

 Back in the 1500s, when people from almost every country began to settle the New World, Spanish conquistadors brought horses with them to Santo Domingo(which is in the Dominican Republic). The horses  that came with them include Barbs, Andalusians, and the now extinct Spanish Jennet. The Paso Fino's unique gait, a key trait in the breed, is believed to have come from the Jennets.

  Only in the 1940s did Americans finally begin to import the unique horse from Columbia and Puerto Rican. After years of selectively breeding the finest horses in the group, a new, even better horse was created: the American Paso Fino.

 Today, the Paso Fino is recognized for its smooth gait and for how surefooted it is. Because of these traits, in conjunction with its stamina, speed, and agility, it also excels in endurance competitions, barrel racing, and pole bending. Furthermore, it has a wonderful gait unique to its breed.

 In shows, riders must ride their horses on long, wooden boards known as sounding boards. The judges listen carefully for the breed's hallmark, which is a rhythmic, four-beat gait, and judge the horses and riders by how evenly spaced the beats are.

 There are three versions of the Paso Fino's gait. The slowest, known as the Classic Fino, includes a short stride and rapid footfalls. The Paso Corto is unhurried involves slightly longer strides. Finally, the fastest gait, Paso Largo, has long strides and is not very collected.

Click here for original photo.

 However, the most prominent trait, in my opinion, is temperament. The Paso Fino is a people loving horse, full of spirit and eager to please. Even when riding the horse, you will find that it is reliable, consistent, and responsive to your commands. That is what makes a great horse, not anything else.

Paso Finos are all-round horses, great for competitions or just for riding. They are friendly and great around all people.