Horse
Pronunciation:
a-BAH-ko barb
Breed Description:
The Abaco Barb breed of horse may be the world's most endangered breed. Today only a handful survive on a preserve on the Great Abaco Island of the Bahamas. Enormous effort is underway to preserve genetic material and prevent total extinction of this historic wild horse that has wandered and fed upon the pine forest for centuries. The Abaco Barb breed of horse is descended from the Spanish Barb horses that were kept by settlers living in Cuba in the time of Columbus. It shares several traits with other modern breeds of Spanish origin: low-set tail; convex face; thick, muscular neck; long mane and tail; and a talent for survival in adverse conditions. It is believed that the Abaco Barb breed of horse is exceptionally strong for a small horse. It shares one more interesting trait with its Spanish cousins - it has only five lumbar vertebrae, rather than the usual six in horses. The coat of this breed may be bay, brown, roan or pinto. It is believed that every individual of the Abaco Barb breed of horse lives on Abaco in the pine forest preserve. At time of this writing, the most recent death was mid-October of 2009, leaving only seven alive. Those who work devotedly to save the breed are in great need of immediate financial support to ensure the breed's survival.
Height:
Averages 13.2-14.2 hands, or 54"-58" at the withers.
Health Problems:
Many, related to poor diet, local predators and destruction of the pine forest.
Living Conditions:
A wild horse, traditionally accustomed to living outdoors.
Life Expectancy:
Normal life expectancy unknown.
Origin:
The early Spanish Barb type was first brought to Spain from the Barbary Coast of North Africa. The Abaco Barb breed of horse is a direct descendant of this type.
It is unknown how the Abaco Barb breed of horse came to be on the remote, then-deserted Great Abaco, but there are some theories. Off the shore of the Great Abaco lie the 500-year-old remains of thirteen Spanish ships. Historians agree that the Abaco Barb breed of horse came ashore when passing ships were wrecked or pirated. Whether the horses swam to the safety of the island or were abandoned there is uncertain.
The island's herd of the Abaco Barb breed of horse once numbered over 200. Then in the 1960's a road was built for the lumbering industry, from one end of the island to the other. The horses were run down, captured, attacked and killed by dogs, and even shot. When finally an accident occurred with the Abaca Barb breed of horse and a child of one of the workers, a full-scale slaughter was initiated. At the end of it, the once-200 strong herd numbered only three individuals. People of the island saved these three and moved them to a local farm, where conscious effort could be made to restore the Abaco Barb breed of horse. This effort was successful and the herd grew to 35 within a few years.
As of 1992, when the Abaco Barb breed of horse herd still numbered over 30, hope for its survival was strong. Then a second period of disaster struck. The horses began to die off at an alarming rate; as fast as the herd could be added to, individuals were dying of a variety of causes. Horses were poached, local wild dog packs often preyed upon the foals, and as the forest declined the horses depended more and more upon the farms for food. It is thought that as the Abaco Barb breed of horse stopped roaming the forests and began to depend upon local agriculture for its diet, problems such as obesity and pesticide poisoning began to take a toll on the herd. With loss of its traditional diet came obesity, severe cases of laminitis, and the common weight-related injuries that plague other domestic horses. The Abaco Barb breed of horse dwindled to less than twenty within six years, and the situation looked dire.
In 1998 three universities (including two American schools and a German), veterinarians and other volunteers teamed with the Horse of the Americas Registry to intervene in the fate of the Abaco Barb breed of horse. Newly available DNA technology confirmed the origin as the Spanish Barb. The Horse of the Americas, which registers only horses of Columbian-era Spanish descent, officially recognized the Abaco Barb breed of horse in 2002, and a non-profit organization was born to work to protect the breed from extinction.
