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Abaco Wild
Horse Preserve
For many years
the people of Abaco debated the origin of a herd of horses that
galloped through their pine forest, but in 1998 they came to
believed that they might be “Spanish Barbs.” In August of 2002,
their identity was finally confirmed through three separate DNA
analyses, photos and video records. They were subsequently accepted
by the Horse of The Americas Registry as the “Abaco Barbs,”
descendants of horses brought over at the time of Columbus’
explorations. It is believed that Abaco is now the curator of
possibly the purest strain of these horses in existence today.
In the 1960’s, there was a mighty herd of 200 strong, but the Barbs’
journey to extinction began in the 1970’s when the herd was reduced
to only three. By 1992, they had reproduced and increased to 35, and
today they are once again fighting for survival as the herd count
has dwindled to nine. Throughout the world, the Barbs are recognized
as critically endangered. With assistance from the Government of The
Bahamas, a preserve area in Treasure Cay was designated so that they
could be back in their ancestral forest home, their normal habitat.
Also playing an active role in their survival is Arkwild, a
non-profit organization that is campaigning for funding and support
to ensure the wild horses of Abaco survive as a living part of the
island's history.
Tours are available to persons interested in exploring the habitat
of the Abaco Barbs.
The History of the Beautiful Abaco Barb
Once, they were a mighty herd, perhaps 200 strong: pinto, bay and
roan horses rippling through thousands of acres of pine forest. They
were as free as the sea winds that blew across the island they had
conquered.
Their origins remained unclear until 1998, when it was recognized,
by a few individuals, that the horses probably were Spanish Barbs.
In August of 2002, based on three separate DNA analyses and photo
and video records, the horses were accepted by the Horse of The
Americas Registry as the Abaco Barbs, descendents of horses brought
over at the time of Columbus's explorations.
Throughout the world Barbs are recognized as critically endangered.
The Abaco Barbs nearly went extinct in the early 1970's. Today they
are once again fighting for survival. The horses have been returned
to a preseve in their ancestral forest home. Their history, as we
know it today, follows.
Few horse wise people would have expected those domesticated horses
to survive in this place. Whether you come by air or by sea, this
does not look like horse country. After years of being fed, groomed
and cared for, suddenly the gates were open. The halters were gone.
The mangers were empty. After a sea voyage that could have lasted
six weeks or more, with little food or water to reduce manure they
either were wrecked or abandoned on this island.
The horses stood for a while, blinking in the sun. It grew hotter
and hotter as the sun rose. Slowly, they moved off seeking shelter,
food, and in the manner of horses, companionship. And survive the
horses did, as they had been bred to do under appalling conditions.
In fact, they flourished. They came from sturdy stock, with compact
bodies and strong legs. Long tails and flowing manes and gleaming
coats made them beautiful.
Abandoned on a sun-drenched and salt-seared island, they found
shelter in pine forests
The pine forests of Abaco are something few visitors know exist. In
the Bahamas, the Caribbean pines (Pinus caribaea), exist only on
Grand Bahama, Andros, Abaco and New Providence Islands. On Abaco,
the forests provided a home for the tough, romantic and equally rare
wild Spanish Barb horses.
In the dappled shade of the pines the horses escaped the burning
sun. They tramped out a network of pathways among the grazing places
and the sloughs and springs where they watered. The pine forests had
for millennia sheltered flocks of wild parrots and migrating birds.
Scores of species of orchids, other plants and thousands of insects
lived in the forest. The forests sheltered the wild hogs, also
abandoned by the early settlers, and they sheltered the horses.
In addition to shelter, the forests provided food. After fires set
by lightning bolts swept away the underbrush, fresh grasses sprang
up and provided a change of diet from the grasses that grew in open
areas.The nourishing grasses probably had arrived as seeds in the
crops of migrating birds Even in the worst droughts the horses had
water. They had enough room to roam and graze, and they grew sleek.
Only an occasional horse was lost to people from the outer islands
who captured a few for work at sugar cane mills.
Then, in the 1960's, disaster struck. Neither a hurricane, nor a
catastrophic drought nor a tidal wave. No impossible fire, flood or
disease. A road. A simple road was carved out of the chalky
limestone surface of Great Abaco. A road running from one end of the
island to the other so that Owens-Illinois could harvest the
remaining forests for pulpwood. The shelter of the pines was
shattered.
Suddenly humans had access to miles and miles of long-abandoned but
still passable logging roads from earlier operations. Sometimes
people ran the horses down these narrow roads until they were close
enough to be roped out of the windows or until they dropped from
exhaustion. Many of these animals became legends, for their
anecdotal lives, the vicious cruelty visited on them, and their
tragic ends.
A tragedy involving the death of a young child who tried to ride a
tame wildhorse while unattended resulted in a wholesale slaughter.
Former Senator Edison Key said in an interview, "When we were
clearing the land for the farm in the early 70's, we found carcasses
and bones everywhere. I started thinking. It just wasn't right."
At that time two wild mares were still alive at the farm, Liz and
Jingo. A pinto stallion named Castle was brought up from Marsh
Harbour. Those three horses were lucky. They were able to share
buidlings, shelter, feed, grass and grain with the cattle on the
farm. When a vet came to check the cattle, he checked the horses.
One farm hand was assigned to the horses full time until they became
acclimated and were released. Today's horses, descended from the
last stallion of the original wild herd, returned to the pine
forests. The herd is growing slowly in spite of wild dog attacks
which kill several foals a year. The farm now covers 3000 acres and
the grasses imported for the cattle have spread. In the
savannah-like areas of the farm -- planted in limes, grapefruits and
oranges -- are acres and acres of forage the horses relish.
In 1992, the future seemed bright. However, by 1997 the herd had
dropped from over 30 to 16. Individuals horses previously
identified, and known by sight had vanished. Corpses and skeletons
were turning up in alarming numbers. As usual, it is human pressure
that causes concern and it is the goal of the Abaco Wild Horse Fund
to try to remove that pressure. By 1998 with the survival of four
fillies, the herd was up to 21. It is hoped that this is a trend,
and not a glitch .
And the horses, to be truly wild, need the forest. They survived
before without the farm. The forest shelters the horses from the
sun. The limey outcroppings keep their hooves pared down and
naturally trimmed. After a burn, the forest floor is covered with
succulent new grasses for forage. If the horses are to remain wild,
some of the forest must remain wild too.
The AWHF, working in conjunction with the Boy and Girl Scouts of
Abaco, hopes to have the forest surrounding the farm declared a
preserve. Wildfire is a critical part of the wild forest cycle.
But too many of these fires are started by man to clear land for
cultivation and to drive hogs from the dense brush. Although often
severely charred, adult pines are seldom killed by flames. The
younger pines are less fortunate, though reseeding takes place
quickly aorund the bottoms of the adult trees whose pine cones are
burst open by the heat, thus releasing the seeds. But constant,
deliberate burning will upset the forest cycle. New pine growth will
burn with the brush and the juveniles will never get a chance to
mature. Orchids and wildflowers die out.
The saga of the wild horses and their home in the pines teaches
several important lessons. Left to their own devices, things tend to
seek a natural balance. Over-hunting, over-cutting, over-burning all
upset this natural order and the inevitable result is too much
dying. The inevitable result of too much dying is extinction. Many
people feel that the horses' survival may point the way to a better
future in Abaco.
The Abaco Wild Horse Fund, Inc., established to help support the
wild horse herd, gains support for its Projects by offering Gift
Sales, and a How to Help section. In addition, a portion of the
profits generated by sale of items through ARKWILD is donated to the
fund.
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