Abaco Spanish Colonial Information

These horses were imported from Cuba for logging work in the late 1800’s. They have DNA that is specific to the Colonial Spanish horse and it is known that Christopher Columbus had two horse farms in Cuba). Over the years, the horses grew to be a herd believed to be 200 strong. They worked in the logging camps on Abaco until the horse-drawn equipment was replaced by tractors. These horses, bred for their hardy disposition, were turned loose and survived. Flourishing, they found food and water and shelter until the 1960's when a road stretching from one end of Abaco to the other revealed a number of the old logging roads that had not yet been overgrown. Sadly, the horses became the focus of inappropriate human attention. Many were chased until exhausted by people in cars while others were roped from cars and dragged around. A captured, well trained horse and its owner were giving children rides. The children were warned to not approach the horse alone, without the owner. A child disobeyed and as she climbed on the horse she kicked it. Being trained, it moved off, the child caught her foot in the stirrup and died. The family understood it was not the horse’s fault, but a posse set out to slaughter all the horses, and nearly succeeded. In 1970, three horses were saved and moved to a farm where they shared food and shelter with the cattle kept on the farm. They were cared for until they had grown to 12 heads and then were returned to the wild. By 1992 the herd had grown to 35 horses, only to decrease almost by half to 17 in 1997. In 1999, Hurricane Floyd severely damaged the forest where the horses roamed and they moved themselves to the farm full-time again where they were exposed to herbicides, pesticides, and other poisonous chemicals. At first nothing was thought about it, but after four years of no foaling something was wrong. The horses had grown obese on over rich feed and were not getting enough exercise, so they developed hoof problems. Nature curbed reproduction to save the adults. In 2004 the Bahamas government granted W.H.O.A. (Wild Horses Of Abaco) the conservation group caring for the Abaco Colonials land for a preserve on their old habitat. W.H.O.A. now has an equine veterinarian who is working to support reproduction. There were three pregnancies in 2008 but they were reabsorbed. Not unusual considering what the mares had been through. There still is hope for the herd.