The Future of Conservation Of The Colonial Spanish Horse

The future most rare strains of Colonial Spanish horses looks bleak--not Vally Forge bleak, but bleak still. I have no ability to predict the future so I do the best I can to understand the past and apply the lessons that I can discern from them. I do believe that these horses can be saved and that the model that so many of us have used, which is to essentially try to copy other productive strategies used by the established horse world will likely not be the best route to achieve that preservation.

At Mill Swamp Indian Horses we are taking a bold and dramatic turn in our program. The path we take might also fail but it seems that other paths would nearly assuredly fail in the very long term. Our reasoning behind our approach is based on what appears to me to be recognition of several significant facts which I will set forth below:

1. I am going to die. Maybe not for fifty years or maybe before lunch. As we have been structured for years, my death would terminate our program and would be a huge blow to efforts to conserve the Corollas and even some other strains that we have taken an interest in. My vague idea that some of my riders would keep things going was not realistic. Those young enough to do the physical work that I do on my own to keep costs down do not have the financial resources to support the effort during times that it fails to pay for itself. I have no doubt that several of my riders will end up running a program like mine on whatever scale their future allows but none of them are in a position to take over tomorrow. I realized that last winter when I was pondering giving the entire business to one of the more impressive 18 year old kids I have ever known and had to come to the realization that, as dedicated and impressive as she is, she is not in a position to hold this thing together.

We are converting to a non profit corporation that will allow a structure to exist when I am dead. That structure, depending on the volunteers that are involved, might be strong enough to keep things going on the right track. It is no assurance of permanency, but it gives a realistic hope of permanency.

2. Restricting supply by ceasing to breed horses that on the verge of extinction in response to the established horse world's model of annual over production to producing winning competitive horses while seeking a slaughter market for their culls, is very short sighted. Colonial Spanish Horses do not contribute to the false crisis of the "unwanted horse". There simply are not enough of our horses to do so. If every Colonial Spanish horse in the world were neutered tomorrow it would have no impact on horse slaughter or excess supply. To do so would not even be to put a finger in the crack in the dike. In fact, it would have no more impact than putting an eyelash in the crack in the dike.

3. Long term efforts to impress the established horse world have not lead to success for our horses. With the exception of endurance competition and competitive trail riding there is no chance that competitors will want to switch to our horses in sufficient numbers to impact their existence. Even worse, were such a model to succeed our horses would still become extinct de facto.  Their pedigrees might show their lineage but the established horse world would seek to "improve" them by making them bigger and breeding for the fad or fashion of the moment that they would lose everything that distinguishes them from a modern horse.

4. The most important market is that of the family horse market. There is no breed better suited in size and temperament to be ridden by by experienced adults and their children who are just beginning to ride. That is the market that should be reached.

5. Untrained horses are difficult to sell.

6. Instead of merely terminating supply, we must expand demand by creating an entirely new class of horse owners--complete novices who are looking for meaningful experiences with horses. One may call them new homesteaders, hobby farmers, back yard ranchers--the title does not matter. What matters is that there are a significant number of people leaving the cities and suburbs seeking a connection to the soil. First they will plant tomatoes. Then they will raise chickens. Next a goat or two will appear. These people are the hope of our horses. Often they are homeschoolers. Their children have more time to put into learning natural horsemanship and riding.

7. We need to do more than just supply horses. We need to help supply a way of life to these people by providing them with trained horses, teaching them to ride, teaching them to train horses and the germ will spread among their network of friends who share their desire to raise children with dirty hands, smiling faces, and kind hearts. Not everyone can build a riding program, but everyone can encourage those who do not ride to give their dream a try. We need to promote natural horse care, natural horsemanship and natural hoof care. All three are of vital importance to health and happiness of the horse but all three also make horse ownership affordable and the knowledge of natural horsemanship gives that new owner the chance to move from novice to solid horseman in a very short time.

8. If I wanted to win the Kentucky Derby I would get a race horse. If my beer truck needed pulling I would seek out a Clydesdale. If I wanted a horse that would be perfect for programs to connect horses with people in emotional pain I would want a Colonial Spanish horse. Our horses are perfect for programs for young people with complicated backgrounds, victims of abuse, and those suffering with ptsd. It is their highest and best use. Their is no more service that a horse can give than to help cause an abused child to stop crying or too allow a veteran with wounds the eyes cannot see to let themselves go and cry for a moment as they hold tightly to the horse's neck. We are surrounded with people whose existence is merely a living space for suffering and if God has allowed you to have a Colonial Spanish Horse he has given you a safe,effective pain killer. It is wrong not to share that pain killer.  Deeply, deeply wrong.

I have considered other models. I have thought about simply trying to acquire enough land to allow a sufficient number of Corollas to live, breed, and keep the hope alive as we wait for someone to come on the scene to popularize these horses. That model does not give me any comfort. It still leaves a program that dies when I do. The model of constantly trying to get these horses in shows and competitions while begging the established horse world to bless our efforts to save what, at best, they will view as quaint little ponies for eccentric people who refuse to get "real horse" is not for me. We invited them to the banquet but they did not come. We piped but they have not danced.

Our model is to build a non profit that spreads the work around to a revolving group of people and exposes more people to the horses. We will continue to encourage the off site breeding of the Corollas and will do everything in our power to help people obtain stock and technical assistance to set up  breeding programs. We will teach riding and more importantly teach training of horses. And yes, we will teach little children to tame and train horses. (In every horse culture of the past the early handling and training of horses was the work of kids. It is only our sissy society that says it is too risky to do so and that kids need to do something safe and healthy like playing computer games, laying on the sofa, texting and developing type II diabetes). We will show how affordable it is to raise horses as they should be raised, using natural horse care and natural hoof care. We will not take any steps to reach out to the established horse world. Our door is always open to Ellie Mae, but Mrs. Drysdale had just as well stay away from the horse lot. And we will do it one horse at a time, one person at a time.

The best way to promote Colonial Spanish horses is to teach a kid to ride one.