Horse of the Americas Newsletter

For further information, see www.msindianhorses.com

Saving a Dying Breed

Wild mustangs have been roaming the Outer Banks of North Carolina for several hundred years.  Descendants of horses brought to the New World by Spanish colonists; they numbered over six thousand as recently as the 1920’s.  Now only two herds remain wild on the Outer Banks, the Corolla herd that numbers less than 125 and the Shackleford herd of approximately the same size located 175 miles to the south near Beaufort, North Carolina.
      
For several days in late February, a team of inspectors from the Horse of Americas Registry and the American Indian Horse Registry studied the two herds to determine whether they still demonstrated the characteristics of the ancient Spanish horses.  The inspection included views of the horses in the wild along with observations of a few captive horses from each herd.  The team searched the Corolla Wild Horse Sanctuary looking for skeletal remains order to confirm that the herd was composed of horses that bore the unique vertebra of the original horses of the Spanish colonists.  Several skeletons were found and the official report of the team of inspectors made it clear that the horses are just what they have been reputed to be—descendants of Colonial Spanish horses.
Steve Edwards and Rebecca Stevenson were invited to join the team of inspectors on behalf of the American Indian Horse Registry.  Edwards had previously been granted the opportunity to adopt a young Corolla stallion.  Manteo, a wild colt who was removed from the herd for emergency surgery, became the only Corolla stallion in captivity who was available for breeding.  Edwards was quickly taken with the colt.
     
“We got him home at 4:15 and he was completely halter trained in 45 minutes.  Within twenty four hours he comfortably wore a saddle and took a child on his back,” according to Edwards.
     
Manteo was soon joined by Baton Rouge, a three-year-old mare who went from wild horse to gentled trail mount in a little over three weeks.  A few weeks later, the Director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund asked Edwards to take in a mature stallion who was removed from the herd because he had learned to escape the sanctuary and enter the town of Corolla.
   
 “He came to us on March 2 and took a rider within a week,” he said of the stallion.

Edwards, who has trained wild mustangs captured from the western ranges, marveled at the gentle nature of their eastern cousins.  “So far, it appears that they are much easier to train than any domestic horses that I have run into.”
     
Edwards was not the only member of the inspection team impressed with the wild horses of the Outer Banks.  Vickie Ives, of the Texas-based Karma Farms, adopted a filly from Corolla and within a few weeks of the expedition had agreed to adopt a young stallion along with a mare that was captured with him. Then just before leaving Texas to come pick them up, she had the chance to add another yearling Corolla filly.  She and her daughter Tomlyn drove 2550 miles round trip to pick up their four Corollas.  By doing so, she raised the number of breeding age Corolla stallions in captivity to three: Manteo and Croatoan in Smithfield, Virginia and Up N’ Adam in east Texas at Karma Farms.
     
“Karma Farms, the nation’s leading breeder of Colonial Spanish Horses, is proud to add the Corolla horses to our breeding program. Our emphasis is on sound horses who perform in the show ring, in speed events and on the trail.  We have produced National Champions in all of these areas of competition.  Most of our clients are looking for all-around horses, not one event marvels.  These little Corolla horses have a wonderful  Colonial Spanish type in a compact size with tremendous trainability, real Spanish action, and a unique desire to please.  They will make excellent mounts for our younger riders and for our senior clients.”
   
These captive horses may become part of the foundation stock of Corolla horses of the future.  The management plan for the wild herd at Corolla requires the herd to be maintained at a level of 60 horses or less.  According to Edwards, sixty horses are not enough to provide the genetic diversity to keep the breed alive.   “Most experts agree that at least 100 horses is the minimum number to provide a healthy breeding program.”  Vickie Ives of Karma Farms agrees.
   
“They are already fairly closely related with only 27 alleles found in the Corolla herd according to genetic testing done by Dr. Gus Cothran of Texas A&M, one of the nation’s premier researchers in the genotype of domestic horses.  Reducing the herd size to only 60 horses limits the genetic diversity tremendously.  I would hate to see such a wonderful strain of Colonial Spanish horses threatened by extensive inbreeding.  Hopefully other serious breeders will come forward to establish other captive breeding groups of Corollas so there will be Corolla horses for generations to come,” Ives commented
With that in mind, he is seeking to develop a pool of breeders who will work to create a healthy breeding population of domesticated Corolla horses.  He actively promotes the adoption of these horses from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund and urges all adopters to promptly register their horses with the Horse of the Americas Registry so a close check can be kept on the bloodlines.  Recognizing that not all breeders are in a position to maintain a stallion on their property, he will offer his stallion’s breeding service free of charge to any owner of a Corolla mare.  Karma Farms in Texas will do the same with Up N’ Adam to interest potential southwestern adopters in bringing home a Corolla filly or mare.
     
Rebecca Stevenson, a talented young horse trainer who works with difficult horses at Edwards’ Smithfield, Virginia ranch, will gentle several young Corolla horses that have been captured and await adoption. In July, Stevenson and Edwards will appear at the Wild Horse Days Festival in Corolla where they will demonstrate the methods that they use to gentle and train the wild horses.  
     
In the meantime, he will continue to train the three Corolla horses that have joined his other wild horses at Mill Swamp Indian Horses and urge horse lovers all across the eastern seaboard to plan for a Corolla Horse in their futures.  For further information, see

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"Croatoan"

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"Within 24 hours...took a child on his back."

Steve Edwards on "Croatoan"

Manteo, my Banker stallion colt

photo credits Rebecca Stevenson copyright (c) 2007