Hello,

My name is Sarah Farman and I have set up a small breed preservation project of the Spanish Colonial Horse of America also known as the Spanish Mustang. I am British, living in southern Alberta since 2005 and planning to take six of the horses home to Devon, UK in 2010.

My story with these horses begins in 2000 when I came out from England to do research on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana. The horses' story begins with their ancestors leaving Spain for the New World with the conquistadors.

I would like to find a filmmaker who might be interested in telling this story which also includes the work of the equine geneticist Dr E. Gus Cothran of A&M University, Texas and my research paper for Univeristy of Bristol, UK - "Colonial Caballo".

If anyone is interested to know more then please do contact me but in the meantime I'd like to invite you to visit our websites for Farman-Arts incorporating The SCH Project.
www.farman-arts.com
www.spanishcolonialhorses.eu

I am researching the possibility of taking the horses back to Europe by ship as a symbolic trip in honour of their ancestors who arrived in the New World by ship. Finally, here is some info about the status and slaughter of these horses. Please see below a copy of the e-mail sent to me from the American Livestock Breeding Conservancy.

“As a group, the Colonial Spanish horses are categorized as ‘Threatened’ which means that there are fewer than 1000 annual registrations in the US and an estimated global population of less than 5000. As separate strains each are categorized as ‘Critically Endangered’ meaning fewer than 200 annual registrations in the US and a global population of less than 2000.”

Jeannette Beranger
Research & Technical Programs Manager
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
PO Box 477
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Tragically although this breed is now at critical and/or threatened status many still go to slaughter every year. This is largely due to over-breeding by some breeders who feel that this is the way to preserve the breed but then find they cannot afford to maintain as many as 200 horses. When any of these Spanish Colonial horses go to slaughter they take with them their bloodlines, heritage and a possible future. In the North America there is a crisis regarding horse slaughter as (a) less hay is farmed in favour of bio-fuels and (b) the slaughterhouses were closed in the USA due to pressure on the Senate and horses now pour into Canada and Mexico for slaughter. Last year in Canada 65,000 horses of various breeds were slaughtered a very small number of these horses have been brought to the EU already by individuals but sadly already some mistakes have been made and this is why we have designed a project that involves education and the arts.

Yours sincerely,
Sarah Farman
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