Horse
Breed Description:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse is an endangered one, with fewer than 300 individuals now living. The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse is an excellent trail horse, agile and sure-footed. Carolina Marsh Tackies generally have wide heads at the eye area, tapering to a fine muzzle. Both the neck and the tail are attached relatively low. The chest of the Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse is narrow but deep, making up nearly half the height of the horse. They have flexible legs. They range in color from bay,black, grullo, dun, and chestnut to blue roan, bay roan, and strawberry roan. Some Carolina Marsh Tacky horses have extensive white markings on their legs and heads.
Temperament:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse is easygoing and level-headed, alert but calm, and responds well to training.
Height:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse stands about 14.3 hands high or less.
Weight:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse
Health Problems:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse has no known breed-specific health problems.
Living Conditions:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse is known as an easy keeper.
Life Expectancy:
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse has an expected lifespan in the mid-thirties.
Origin:
Although the exact origin of the Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse is unclear, it can be attributed to Spanish stock that arrived on the coast and islands of South Carolina as "drop offs" by Spanish explorers and to stock brought over by Spanish settlers in the 1500s.
The Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse was largely managed on islands in the Carolina lowlands and on the coastal islands. Whenever local inhabitants needed horses, the Carolina Marsh Tackies were rounded up. For most of their history, the Carolina Marsh Tacky was the most common horse in the swampy and marshy Lowcountry region stretching from Myrtle Beach in the north down to St. Simon's Island in the south.
However, the advent of the automobile took its toll on the Carolina Marsh Tacky breed of horse, and it was -- until recently -- thought to have disappeared altogether during the 1980s and 1990s.
