A Critical Mass

We now have Corollas that will be part of the off site breeding program in several states. I have had three foals born this spring and I expect to place one out of state, another in Virginia and I will keep Pasquenoke here. We will continue to urge people from across the nation to participate in the off site breeding program. However, a phone call that I received yesterday lead me to rethink the importance of wide geographic distribution of the horses that are part of the program.

Karma Farms will continue to do a great job at getting Sea King out in front of the public in Texas. I have decided to shift my emphasis by recruiting primarily participants in Virginia and the Carolinas. It is possible to spread butter so thin that it cannot be tasted. Perhaps for the next decade the best first step is to develop a viable core of foundation stock in this region.

The only practical difference that this will make is that we will concentrate our efforts at publicity and promotion in this region. We will still be delighted to place horses in other parts of the country and will do everything possible to make that happen.

The stallion in the picture above is what lead me to this shift in emphasis. He will have to be captured and removed from the wild within the next few days. He has a "problem" with his stifle that is more common with Colonial Spanish Horses than with many other horses. While it looks painful, it is not and is easily remedied by strengthening the muscles of the hind quarters. It is a situation that is difficult for a horse to remedy on its own but is about as easy to fix as any problem that a horse could encounter.

We will exercise him, gentle him, train him, and ride him. Then we will work very hard to place him with a person dedicated to the preservation of these horses. We have enough stallions from Corolla here in Smithfield. We will be looking to place him with someone that wants to ensure the survival of the oldest and rarest distinct genetic line of American horses in existence today.

We are looking for people that would see value in horses that:

1. are the gentlest and easiest to train of any horse with which I have come in contact;

2. are smooth gaited with extraordinary endurance;

3. eat little more than does a billy goat;

4. carry riders who weigh well over 200 lbs with the greatest of ease;

5. are the state horse of North Carolina;

6. are some of the foundation stock of the Virginia Quarter Mile Racer, which was part of the foundation stock of the American Quarter Horse;

7. are registrable with the Horse of the Americas Registry, American Indian Horse Registry and as foundation stock for the American Azteca Society;

8. produce spectacular half breed horses when bred to mares of other breeds and strains;

9. are a remnant of the horse that once populated all of the southeastern part of our nation;

10 are drawn to bond with people as naturally as they are drawn to eat grass.

Preserving these horses domestically is a safety net and not a substitute for maintaining a herd of wild and free Corollas. In fact, the more people see of these horses that have been tamed the more likely they are to support efforts to preserve them in the wild. The safest band of wild horses in America are the Chincoteagues. Because they are so well known, they have what amounts to an auxiliary army of supporters that would oppose efforts to extinguish them.

If the Corollas become as well known as the Chincoteagues they will also be forever safe in the wild. We have little time to make that happen. They are nearly gone.

For the off site breeding program to succeed we have to draw dedicated people into this effort. We have to breed and train and show off many horses--200 in 10 years?--1000 in twenty years?

We can do this thing.

Do you want to be part of something that matters?