SOURCE: arkwild.org
Only one Abaco Spanish Colonial Horse left
Six decades ago there were 200 or more wild horses on Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. These horses were the time-capsuled descendants of the horses that Christopher Columbus brought with him to the New World, at the end of the 15th Century.
They lived independently and undisturbed until man disrupted the balance. All but three were slaughtered in the early 1960s.
They came back to 35 animals by the mid 1990s. But a hurricane pushed the horses out of their now destroyed forest habitat, where they had thrived for so long, into a lush and toxic citrus plantation that was hurricane-damaged and littered with chemicals, destroyed buildings, too-rich pastures, and poisonous plants.
It was the beginning of the end for the horses. Despite the best efforts of Milanne Rehor, the woman who has dedicated 20 years to rescuing the animals from their destructive circumstances, the herd has been reduced to one mare.
The Wild Horses of Abaco Preservation Society, and Arkwild, Inc., need your help to turn this situation around. The world has stayed at arm’s length for long enough; it’s time to step up, to recognize what has been lost, and to save what is still here: the last mare and her future offspring.
Their facebook page is HERE. Please take a moment to give them a LIKE. Lets do what we can to help.
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
How sad to think of this mare left alone – the only one! Hopefully this organization will be able to implant her eggs in these other mares & bring them to her. The socialization would make her life a lot happier. Cannot imagine slaughtering a whole herd because some kid was so ignorant as to try to ride a wild horse!
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This bloodline of horses lived on an island of people emotionally motivated. They did not and do not see the horrses and now, Nunki, as anything special. It will be up to us, to protect her.
The foundation now has the collaborative assistance of an American reproduction specalist who has examined Nunki and foud that she will be capable of producing eggs for collection. A stallion has been located with bloodlines that also touch back to the Spanish Colonial. The effort to preserve and reintroduce is on plan.
Right now, maintenance funds are badly needed. We risk losing the last horse. Sign in and donate 10 a month, please do this. We WILL lose Nunki if Milanne cannot pay for the repairs to the fencing or the salaries of the men who guard and feed her. This effort is running on fumes and has been for decades.
It is RIDICULOUS that some wild horse nonprofits rake in millions a year for admn costs to race around the country and this woman who (like Wild Horse Annie) has put her sweat and tears into this remote jungle residing herd of horses whose bloodlies are seen NOWHERE else (per Dr. Cothran and UC Davis). It is up to us now. The fencing has been torn down and cut in the last week. The threat is very real. Those who want the land her Preserve is located on may not be wealthy or businessmen. They could very well be squatters who want to pitch their camp and see Nunki as a resource.
Please share, sign up to put your money on the table and make this stand for NUnki.
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I sincerely hope the Stallion is the answer to helping them …….I have read and followed the Abaco Horses for many years ….will continue to follow and cheer them on ……..I can and will write and sign whatever will help them …not able to financially contribute at this time…but absolutely will when $$ loosens up …..To the people directly involved……there aren’t enough kind words to express what you are trying to do and how wonderful it is …….Good Luck and I hope this is a new beginning for the Abaco Horses………
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Evil. Total evil. Inexplicable and unforgivable evil. The people who are orchestrating the eradication of America’s wild horses began experimenting with different methods to eradicate species they claimed could not be native to a place where found on islands in the 1960’s.
Of course, it could be random…
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See Jan Windsong reply
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With only one mare what are the plans to save her and keep the
Breed pure?
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Well, I guess a question that was not answered here is if you only have one mare left…how will you save the purity?? What kind of stallion would you introduce to keep at least half the breeding. Could it not only be possible that because the herd that was close to extinction and was down to a stallion mare an foal, which then re bred back up to 35 were all extremely inbreed??? Nunki did not look very healthy…but also she is by herself, I can imagine she is extremely depressed??? How do you know she is healthy to conceive…there are so many questions here. It is sad because from the earlier footage, they were beautiful horses. It is too bad they did not have an adoption program then, trough the bloodlines would have been diluted most likely with domestic breeding.
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I have to wonder…if this mare is the only descendant, why would they expect her to have “her future offspring”…I would have thought you needed a stallion..
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Dear RT – I want to send a check for help with breeding the 1 Sp. Colonial horse left. What address can I send this check to? Patricia Burge earthsong@wildblue.net
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article says she is a Spanish horse has anyone Iooked to Spain to see if they have any ancestors that could be close to her bloodline?
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As an outsider, there is only one thing you can do. Donate! I just did and I feel so good for it.
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What’s the point now? One mare left, the herd is extinct, even if she can breed new horses will only be less and less AB with each generation or they will be too inbred. They lost their chance by not removing them when there were 35 and creating a breeding program then on a safer piece of land, preferably in FL!
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The future is bright for this line if we can continue the financing. The control of the genetics will be in the hands of scientists know exactly how to maintain the genetics found in Nunki and her ascendents, who remarkedlyNOT inbred and incredibly genetically diversified. The death of this incredible society was due to toxic herbicides, overrich forage when they were restricted to a plantation to protect them from eating an invading lantana and then the lantana itself. These issues are in the past. This herd was a self sufficing herd of medicine hats, warshields and splash whites. No bad thing can be said about this horse and the lineage she is from. Yes, she is alone – we will, we can change that. And I agree, that is a bad photo of her, she is actually very beautiful, dark bay with white socks.
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And this is the same fate that awaits our horses courtesy of a government so corrupt and in each other’s beds so much…
If you ever read Star Wars (A New Hope–the original) George Lucas talked about how the corrupt politicians brought the whole thing down. It was done slowly and methodically and so corrupt that no one even realized it until it was almost too late.
Sure it was fiction but George was absolutely spot on in the introduction.
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Yes, Margaret. We cannot expect the governMents or even many people to know what is truly at stake. Imagine this mare of Abaco were one of the Pryors, Sand Wash, Placito, Calico horses.
We can’t allow this horse, carrying the genetic bank vault that she is, to leave us.
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It’s so sad – she needs to be saved.
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