Books, Mud and Compost. And Horses.

I wrote  yesterday about Stacy Gregg’s book  Wild Horse Island, with its story about the Abaco Barb. I was intrigued by the idea of a breed of horses who had originated in Spain, and who were still galloping round the Abacos Islands today. There is no herd: there is one, single horse. Once, there was a herd of horses of Spanish descent, but a fatal combination of hurricane, invasive poisonous plants, ignorance and inbreeding has led to the horse’s catastrophic decline. Although the horses were indeed descended from Spanish horses probably brought over by Columbus, it’s not that likely that they arrived on Abaco in the 15 th century. Cuban logging companies who worked in the Abaco Islands imported horses to work the forests in the late 19 th century. These horses were of Spanish descent, as Columbus established horse farms on Cuba. The Abaco horses were genetically tested, which showed that they were indeed of Spanish descent. When the logging companies left in t...