COLONIAL SPANISH HORSE IN THE USA THE COLONIAL SPANISH HORSE IN THE USA: HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS CABALLOS CRIOLLOS EN LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS: HISTORIA Y SITUACION ACTUAL Sponenberg, D.P. Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Blacksburg, VA 406l. USA Additional Keywords Palabras clave adicionales Horse breeds. Razas equinas. SUMMARY Colonial spanish horses in the USA descend Colors vary widely, and indeed include variants from horses introduced from Spain during the not common in other populations descending conquest of the New World. They are a direct from spanish horses. The colors include black, remnant of the iberian horses of the 1500s, and bay, chestnut, sorrel, grullo, dun, red dun, conserve this type of horse in present populations. buckskin, palomino, cream, and an unusual The colonial spanish horses brought to the chocolate brown based series of colors. Patterns present United States of America all came from of white include grey, roan, ticked, frosted roan, the region of present day Mexico, and these in as well as tobiano, frame overo, sabino overo, turn descend from the original spanish imports and the leopard complex of colors. to the Antilles. Other south american and The colonial spanish horse type is registered caribbean horse populations had later, direct, in different registries: Spanish Mustang Registry, input from horses directly from Spain. Their less Spanish Barb Breeders Association, Southwest select origin makes the north american horses Spanish Mustang Association, Florida Cracker interesting historically as well as biologically, Horse Association, and American Indian Horse since they are closer in type to those horses Registry. These registries all register a similar originally introduced into the New World than type of horse, but all have slightly different are other present types and breeds. emphasis or exclude certain different The colonial spanish horses in the USA are subpopulations from registration. The registries generally small and compactly made, with convex are open, but only horses of colonial spanish type to subconvex facial profiles. Muscling tends to that have accurate histories and phenotypes can be long and tapering, and the croups slope be entered into the herdbooks. Therefore, in distinctively with low set tails. The horses are spite of the open herdbooks, these registries are used for a wide variety of uses, although endurance all involved in true purebreed conservation of and pleasure riding are the most common tasks. the colonial spanish horses. Archivos de zootecnia,Arch. Zootec. vol. 41, 41 núm. (extra): 154 (extra), 335-348 p. 1992. 335. SPONENBERG RESUMEN sólo pueden incluirse en los herdbooks caballos de tipo criollo con historias y genotipos muy Los caballos criollos españoles en USA, precisos. Por eso, a pesar de permanecer abiertos descienden de los llevados desde España durante los registros están todos implicados en la la conquista del Nuevo Mundo. Son un remanente conservaciónde la pureza de los caballos criollos. directo de los caballos españoles del descubri- miento y conservan este tipo de caballo en las poblaciones actuales. Los caballos criollos de GENERAL HISTORY origen español en USA proceden de los del actual México y estos, a la vez, de las importaciones The spanish colonial horse descends originales españolas a las Antillas. Otras poblacio- from the once vast population of nes de caballos caribeños o sudamericanos spanish horses in the USA. The tuvieron, posteriormente, impacto de caballos ancestors of these horses were brought traídos directamente desde España. Su origen to the New World by the spanish menos selecto hace a los caballos norteamerica- conquistadors and were instrumental nos interesantes desde puntos de vista históricos in their ability to conquer the native y biológicos, pues son más parecidos a los civilizations (Cunningham-Graham, caballos originalmente introducidos en el Nuevo 1989; Denhardt, 1975 and Dobie, Mundo que otros tipos o razas. 1952). The source of the original Los caballos criollos españoles en USA, son horses was Spain, and this was at a generalmente pequeños y compactos con perfiles time when the spanish horse was convexos o subconvexos. La muscultura tiende being widely used for improvement a ser alargada y delgada y la grupa cae of horse breeding throughout Europe marcadamente con inserción baja de la cola. Los (Loch, 1986). The spanish horse of caballos son empleados para una amplia variedad the time of the conquest had a major de usos aunque la resistencia y paseo son las impact on most european light horse tareas más frecuentes. Los colores varían types (this was before breeds). The ampliamente y, por cierto, incluyen variantes spanish horse itself then became rare, que no son comunes en otras poblaciones que and was supplanted as the commonly descienden de los caballos españoles. Los colores used improver of indigenous types by incluyen negro, bayo, castaño, alazán, ceniciento, the Thoroughbred and Arabian. These pardo, pardo rojo, palomino, crema y una three (Spanish, Thoroughbred, and infrecuente serie de colores basados en el pardo Arabian) are responsible for the chocolate. Las formas de blanco incluyen gris, general worldwide erosion of genetic ruanos, overos y el complejo de colores leopardo. variability in horse breeds. The Spanish El tipo de caballo criollo está registrado en type subsequently became rare and is varias registros Spanish Mustang Registry, Spanish now itself in need of conservation. Barb Breeders Association, Southwest Spanish Following centuries of divergent Mustang Association, Florida Cracker Horse selection the horse currently in Spain Association y American Indian Horse Registry. is distinct from the Colonial Spanish Todos ellos incluyen un tipo similar de caballo, Horse (Cabrera, 1985 and Loch, 1986). pero cada uno de ellos hace énfasis sobre ligeras The selection presures and goals in peculiaridades o excluye ciertas subpoblaciones North America, South America, and del registro. Los registros están abiertos, pero Spain all differed from one another. Archivos de zootecnia, vol. 41, núm. 154 (extra), p. 336. COLONIAL SPANISH HORSE IN THE USA These differences in selection unexplored lands the conquest produced divergent horse breeds from endeavor became more highly regarded a single original base. The result is and consequently more highly selected that the current New World remnants horses were added to the original are very important to horse imports. conservation since they differ from In the case of North America the Iberian horses. The north american most common immediate source of remnants are especially interesting colonial spanish horses was Mexico since they probably most closely rather than the Caribbean. Even the represent the original, less selected, eastern populations brought into type of iberian horse brought to the Florida and the southeast were New World. imported from Mexico and not from The original horses from Spain the closer Caribbean sources (Chard, came to the Caribbean Islands where 1980). The general pattern of the populations were increased before development of horse populations in export to the mainland (Cabrera, what is now the United States involved 1985). The horses coming to the single event, direct introduction, with Caribbean varied in quality and origin, subsequent diffusion of horses to but most were from southern regions from one area into neighboring areas. in Spain. While the intent was to Once horses had been introduced into import horses of high quality this was an area there was rarely if ever sometimes frustrated by a tendency subsequent addition of horses directly for the horseowning conquistadors to from Spain into these local populations. sell the high quality horses in Spain This history of relatively slow before departure, replacing them with diffusion with little ongoing lower quality animals, and pocketing introduction is in contrast to the horse the difference in price (Cunningham- populations further south (Cabrera, Graham, 1989). Horse herds were 1985). Horse populations from most increased on the Caribbean Islands of the south american areas were and then were used to found mainland started by initial introductions from populations, fint in Mexico and then the Antilles as well as large elsewhere. introductions of selected horses which The conquest of the New World came directly from Spain. South was not viewed as a wholly worthwhile american horses also benefitted from endeavor in the early days of its repeated introductions of individual beginning, so very little care was horses of excellent quality from both taken in the selection of the original the Caribbean and also from Spain. animals sent to the West Indies These high quality horses were (Cabrera, 1985). If anything, poorer imported by wealthy landowners or quality animals were asured due to powerful political figures. The result the shortness of supply of horses in of the pattern of introduction is that Iberia at the time. Following the the horses of Central and South discovery of gold reserves and vast, America tend to be somewhat distinct Archivos de zootecnia, vol. 41, núm. 154 (extra), p. 337. SPONENBERG from those in North America since Carolinas to Florida, west through the northern horses descend from Tennessee, and then throughout all of horses initially less highly selected the western mountains and great plains than those further south. (Dobie, 1952). In the northeast and The distribution of