Florida Cracker Horses were a special visitor to De Soto National Memorial over the weekend

BRADENTON -- People, dogs and horses all joined in the celebration of Five Centuries of Florida History at De Soto National Memorial on Saturday. But the horses took the show, since they were direct descendents of Hernando De Soto’s Spanish horses.

Judy Allison, from left, Bob Boston and Nicole  Acevedo shared with people at De Soto National Memorial the special breed of the Florida Cracker Horse.

Now they are called the Florida Cracker Horse, and both Yucatan Blue, a 19-year-old stallion, and Dixie, a 15-year-old mare, trotted along the park’s grounds in the same way they would have done in 1539.

Over the years, Florida Cracker Horses have been known by a variety of names: Chicksaw Pony, Seminole Pony, Marsh Tackie, Prairie Pony, Florida Horse, Florida Cow Pony and Grass Gut.

Bill Boston is dressed as Muneo De Tovar, a soldier from De Soto’s 1539 Calvary, and he is joined by Dixie at the heritage day festival.

”These are Florida Cracker Horses and they are the heritage horse of Florida,“ he said. ”They are descendents from the horses that the Spanish brought over in the 1500’s.“

Riding Yucatan Blue is Conquistador dressed Judy Allison, as if she was part of the original group that roamed De Soto National Memorial.

She said that the reason they know these horses are genetically linked to the original Spanish horses is based upon DNA testing.

They did DNA research in the 1980’s they realized that these types of horses were going to go extinct

”The rare breeds group (American Livestock Breeds Conservancy) got involved and DNA-typed them and said they have all the genetic markers of their descendents the Conquistador horses,“ she added. ”There were no horses on the Americas before the Spanish brought the horses over.“

So, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy said to save them as a breed.

”The Florida Cracker Horse Association was formed to breed these horses and to preserve them,“ Allison said.

The Florida Cracker Horse Association was chartered in 1989 as a non-profit Florida Corporation. Its purpose is the preservation and perpetuation of the Cracker Horse as a distinct and unique Colonial Spanish breed of horse.

Erica Newport is a daily reporter for The Bradenton Times. She covers art, culture and community. If you have a story that might interest Erica, please e-mail her using erica.newport@thebradentontimes.com address.  She also takes your questions related to our weekly theme days and provides advice and opinions for our readers.

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